Easy frugal living tips to save money everyday

Frugal living is all about being intentional with money, cutting costs where possible and living economically. Some people choose to live frugally whereas for others it’s borne out of necessity when the cost of living means cutting back to live more sparingly makes it possible to keep on top of the bills.

For some, adopting a frugal lifestyle is a step along the road to financial independence.

For us as a family, although we’ve always tried to be quite careful with money, we needed to start being a bit more frugal when children came along.

As well as making it easier financially for me to stay home with our children while they’re small, learning how to be frugal has helped us to save more money and pay off debt quicker, which in turn will improve our finances in the long term.

Dropping down completely to living off one income makes budgeting and being a bit more careful with money more important, and probably one of the easiest ways to live on less is to start making more frugal lifestyle choices.

How do you live a frugal lifestyle?

The Oxford dictionary defines frugal as:

• sparing or economical as regards money or food.
• simple and plain and costing little.

So frugal living is simply about being careful with your money, knowing where it goes, and finding ways to spend less.

But isn’t frugal living boring and only for cheapskates?

When I used to think of frugal living I would imagine used teabags drying on little washing lines ready to reuse later. You don’t have to go that far though; it’s perfectly possible to be frugal without being cheap.

It took me a while to realise that you don’t have to compromise on every little thing just to be frugal – I still buy my favourite tea bags – I just make sure to buy in bulk whenever they’re on offer.

And actually, it can be pretty simple to just change a few habits or products -once you’ve got into the swing of it, living frugally wont even seem like a challenge anymore , it becomes second nature. Some people have even used frugality to help them reach financial freedom!

And the best part?

Those savings that you make by using these frugal tips all add up over time and can be used to fund things that might not have been affordable before, like days out or even a holiday. Another great way to use frugal savings is to put them towards paying off debt faster.

Why choose to live frugally?

There are so many benefits of choosing to live a frugal lifestyle:

• It gives you more appreciation and value for what’s important to you
• Helps you save money to achieve financial goals faster
• Helps to reduce stress over money matters
• Encourages you to make the most of what you have
• Frugal living is often more environmentally friendly

There are so many ways you can be a little more frugal in order to make some extra savings; here are some of the easiest and best frugal living tips that provide simple ways to save money at home, on the move and with your grocery shopping.

The Best Frugal Living Tips To Save Money Every Day

1. Give your home a frugal makeover

There are so many things you can make some easy changes to that will make your home more frugal. Here’s where to start:

• Replace your light bulbs with LED bulbs
  
  LED use much less energy than traditional lightbulbs, meaning they cost less to run – replacing all your bulbs with LEDs can make a significant saving over the course of a year.
  
• Turn off the lights when you’re not using them. 
  
  This sounds so simple, but if you have kids anything like mine, you’ll know it’s near on impossible to get them to remember to switch off the lights! We’ve got a timer on some of our lights now, so they go off automatically.
  
• Replace baths with showers or take shorter showers
  
  You could try using a shower timer or choose a water saving shower head.
  
• Turn off the radiators in rooms that aren’t used
  
  If you have thermostatic radiator valves you can set the desired temperature for each radiator, but it’s also easy to just switch off the radiators in rooms not being used to save wasting heat.
  
• Wear a jumper
  This one sounds pretty obvious but it’s surprising how many people don’t do this. Put on a jumper or layer up before turning up the heating.
  
• Get one of these squeezing tools to make sure you use up all the product in tubes such as toothpaste.

• Evaluate your TV subscriptions
  
  Do you make the most of your TV and cable subscriptions? Consider switching to a cheaper service.
  
• Go energy efficient on appliances
  
  Whilst this frugal living tip isn’t one that you can implement straight away – it wouldn’t be practical to rush out and replace all your appliances – it is one that can make a difference long-term. When it’s time to replace appliances, choose ones with the best energy efficiency ratings. The price is usually only slightly higher, but the cost of energy you will save over the years of use make it a good money saving investment.
  
• Always check whether it’s worth switching energy or broadband and telephone provider
  
  I find that a quick check each year when it’s time to renew usually means it’s cheaper to switch. You can often find good cashback deals for these kinds of providers too. If you’re not signed up to cashback sites, you’re leaving money on the table. I’ve earned hundreds in cashback over the years, simply by taking a few seconds to check Cashback sites before making purchases, especially for major things such as phone or broadband contracts, credit cards and energy providers.

2. Get Crafty With Your Cleaning

Save money on expensive cleaning products by simply making your own – it works out cheaper and uses less chemicals too!

3. Become a frugal grocery shopper

Grocery shopping is one of the biggest expenditures for any household. Choose to be adopt some of these frugal living ideas for shopping and eating and you can easily cut down on your grocery spend.

• Make a meal plan each week
  
  Create a meal plan, to avoid food going to waste and not buying unnecessary extras in the supermarket.
  
  You don’t save to compromise on your diet either – it’s possible to still live frugally and eat well while spending less.
  
• Don’t buy bags at the supermarket
  
  Avoid the plastic bag charge by remembering to take bags with you when you go shopping. Keep some in your handbag or the boot of your car so you’ve always got some handy.
  
• Use supermarket cashback apps
  
  There are lots of apps you can add to your phone which give you freebies and cashback when you shop.
  
• Buy bigger tubs/packets/tubes of things
  
  Buying in bulk is usually cheaper, so if you’ve got space, it’s definitely worth it. Things like toilet rolls, washing powder and other household essentials are often work out costing much less when you buy in bulk.
  

4. Experiment with the brands you buy

Take a look at shopping and see what brands you buy. Then buy the next brand that’s less expensive and see if you either notice the difference, or are bothered by it. For example, we were buying Weetabix, and now buy supermarket brands ‘Wheat biscuits’. There’s not much difference in taste, but there’s a lot of difference in price.

However, we tried buying supermarket brand baked beans, and I decided that the difference in taste wasn’t worth the saving in price, so I don’t compromise and carry on buying Heinz. Cola is definitely not the same as Coke or Pepsi, but my children don’t notice a difference between Robinson’s squash and supermarket own brand.

Here are some examples of the difference in prices of branded vs non branded items at one supermarket:

The more brands you switch out, the more significant your overall saving will be.

Start off by just switching one brand/price down – if it works out, you can always then repeat the process switching down again to the Smartprice/Everyday value etc ranges.

If you properly give this a go for all the branded products you buy, there’ll probably be at least a few things you’ll be happy with the downgrade on, and this could make a great saving on your grocery shopping month by month.

Even basic foods like pasta come in a variety of brands and pricing. Give it a try and see what savings you can make – I’d love to hear how you get on.

 

5.  Don’t buy what you can get for free

Before you spend your hard earned money, think about whether there’s a cheaper or free option. For example:

• Don’t buy newspapers and magazines
  
  If you have access to the internet, you can read the news on various websites for free.
  
• Use your library
  
  Similarly, live frugally by not spending money on books. You can make good use of your local library to borrow books for free. If you like reading eBooks, some libraries also have a eBook selection to borrow from, or you can get plenty of eBooks for free on Amazon Kindle or iBooks.

6. Travel frugally

Travel and transport can be pretty expensive, so here are some options to lower the costs:

• Walk or cycle where possible. This has the added bonus of keeping you fit and well as saving money.
  
• Take your own water bottle or even hot drinks flask with you when out and about to avoid getting tempted to buy expensive drinks.Avoid using motorway service stations for food, drink and fuel – you pay a premium.
  
• Drive economically
  
  Try to avoid unnecessary braking, keep car tyres inflated to the required levels. This will save (only a little, but it all helps, right?!) on fuel costs. Also, don’t leave it until the last minute to fill up for fuel. If you’re desperate, you’re more likely to fill up somewhere more expensive.
  
• Look into multi travel and discount cards.
  
  If you use public transport a lot, it’s worth looking into what discounts are available for frequent users. Bus services usually offer cheaper multi-trip tickets and you can get Rail Cards to save on train travel.
  
• Be a one car family
  
  Consider if you could save the the cost of running an extra car by walking, using public transport or even living closer to your work.
  
• Don’t pay for things you don’t need to.
  
  

7. Give your finances a frugal overhaul

Frugal living means taking control of your finances and making sure your your income, spending and frugal mindset are all aligned. Here are some of the key things you should do to have healthy frugal finances:

• Budget
  
  Budgeting is key, both to living frugally and managing your money in general. If you want to be in control of your money you need to make a budget. This is where you can work out the best places to make savings and adjustments and keep on top of your finances.
  
• Build an emergency fund
  
  Saving an emergency fund means you don’t have to panic and stress when things go wrong. Being prepared in advance for emergency boiler breakdowns, car repairs or needing a new washing machine, helps give peace of mind, as well as meaning you wont need to take on debt if that situation arises.
  
• Pay off debt
  
  Make paying off debt a priority. Living frugally is a great way to try and reach financial freedom, so if you have debt, the best and most frugal advice is to pay it off as soon as you can. The earlier you repay debt (in most circumstances) the less interest you’ll pay, so the more money you’ll save in the long term.
  
• Always live within your means
  
  Living frugally means living within your means. Use your budget to work out what you can afford, but if you don’t have the budget and can’t make room in the budget with a bit of rearranging, don’t spend what you don’t have.

How To Live Frugally Without Being Tight

So can you be frugal without being cheap?

Absolutely yes.

Hopefully from the tips above you can see that you don’t have to be a cheapskate or tightwad to live frugally. You just have to be more intentional with your finances.

For example, being frugal wouldn’t necessarily mean you stop donating to a charity you support – if you decide that giving is a priority, then you might look for an area that’s less important and make savings there, perhaps cancelling a gym subscription or buying less take out.

It doesn’t mean not being able to do anything or having to say no all the time either – if a friend invites you to go out for a meal you could still go but be a bit more frugal about it – perhaps suggest a less expensive restaurant, or even just buy a starter. Or if finances are really too tight for that right how, how about inviting them to your home for a meal instead?

Trying to find a frugal alternative usually means you can still enjoy the things you want to, just by being a bit more creative about it.I’m sure there are many, many, more frugal living tips out there, from the simple to the much more extreme (family cloth anyone?!).

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