Frugal living is winning popularity day by day, because of how expensive everything is becoming today. The wages aren’t growing as much as the prices of your everyday needs, which is problematic, and therefore, a little frugality here and there might be of great help to you.
Suppose you can save some money at the end of each month, good for you! But if you can save even more money, that’s even better, right?
Frugal living tips can come in handy to save a few dollars here and there, which really adds up in the end! Some frugal living tips might even save you a whole lot of money to let you come closer to reaching financial freedom.
I’ve written another blog post with frugal living tips that you should check out as well if you want more tips on how to keep your money in your pocket!
This post may contain affiliate links, which means if you make a purchase through these links, I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Please read my disclosure for more info.
14 Great Frugal Living Tips
1. Borrow books from the library
This is an amazing frugal living tip if you love to read.
If you read one of my previous blog posts, you might already know that I love public libraries! All those books that you can borrow for almost no money, how amazing is that!
Most libraries will ask for a low fee once a year, so the price you pay to be a member is lower than the price you would pay to buy only one book. If you are a bookworm and love to create your private book collection, I get that. But this way, you can be more selective about which books you buy after reading them from the library first.
The collection in the library is ever expanding and every year new and great books are added to the collection. Use it to gain more knowledge or escape from a boring everyday life. Frugal living doesn’t mean you don’t get to enjoy your precious books any longer!
The trick I use before visiting the library is looking for inspiration on bol.com or amazon.com which books are popular or new right now, and then look them up in the library! You have to wait a little bit longer than you would when buying them instantly, but it will save you a lot of money and if the book turns out to not be that great, you didn’t spend your money on it.
2. Practice delayed gratification
Delayed what? Delayed gratification, in the context of frugal living, is when you postpone buying things you want at a particular moment to enjoy them even more after saving for them or looking forward to buying them.
It means postponing feeling good about something you bought because you wanted it at that moment. And why on earth would you do that you might ask? Well, if you buy everything you want without giving it a thought, you will probably spend a lot of money on impulse buying things you don’t love.
It’s about spending enough time thinking about it, whether or not you really would love to have a specific item, because you might not want it that badly after a few days. This delay in buying things can help you spend less because you realize you don’t need to have some things.
Another way of looking at delayed gratification is by saving for things you would like to have. Even if the things you are saving for don’t cost that much, because of the anticipation and the reaching towards a goal, it will feel more satisfying when you can buy it finally. Plus frugal living is all about living with less and saving more.
You can practice delayed gratification in other areas of your life as well to reach more of your goals instead of focusing solely on living in the moment.
3. Try out free hobbies
Living a frugal lifestyle doesn’t mean you can’t have fun hobbies! There are so many free or cheap hobbies available out there, that you should look into those for entertainment.
Walking is an example of a free hobby that has many benefits to your overall health. You don’t need a fancy smartwatch to track your steps, you can start walking and enjoy the views you get along the way.
Most hobbies require a little investment but things like drawing, writing, singing, and dancing, can be as good as free. Joining the local football club, boardgames club or reading club can be pretty cheap as well.
You could also look for a hobby that could be monetized later on if you want to make money from stuff you like to do. Make a side hustle out of your hobby to up your income so you can cut down on frugal living a bit.
4. Invest in high-quality items
This may sound counterintuitive because high-quality items often come with a higher price but they can be worth it in the long run!
Buy high-quality items when you need things to last long or when low-quality material just won’t do what it’s supposed to do.
Think about the cost per wear when you buy clothes. If you buy a pair of shoes that you wear every day until they are worn down, the cost per wear will be very low. I’m not saying you should buy designer items just for the brand name, but invest in decent quality and you will be satisfied for a long time.
When you buy something low-quality and it breaks very soon, you will have to replace it, which might cost you even more in the end.
5. Drink your coffee at work (if it’s free!)
At my last job, the coffee at work was good and best of all, FREE! Instead of buying an expensive coffee every day at Starbucks, drink free coffee at your job if this is possible.
If your workplace doesn’t offer you free coffee, bring your own instead of buying it from a fancy barista place. It doesn’t seem like much money when you buy one, but if you have the bad habit of doing this every day, the costs really add up!
You can treat yourself once in a while to a delicious coffee from a coffee shop but don’t make it a daily habit if you want to adhere to the principles of frugal living.
6. Re-use your bathwater
This tip is good for your wallet and the environment!
I am a big fan of taking long, relaxing baths, but this requires a lot of water and your water bill ain’t free.
You could also say, take a shower instead to use less water and save more on your water bill, but hey, nothing can relax me as much as a bath can so it’s worth it in my opinion.
You can however re-use your bathwater to get the most out of it! When you are done taking your bath, scoop some buckets of water out of it that you can use later on for things like mopping the floor, washing your car, etc. Just ensure you don’t shave yourself if you want the water to be hair-free.
7. Stop wearing make-up and perfume
As a woman, I get how much fun it can be to make yourself look your absolute best and smell great with a touch of perfume, but these products can be very expensive to buy!
I’m not saying your skincare has to go because of course it is important to take care of yourself and your body, but the extra things like make-up and perfume don’t have to be on you all the time every day of the week. You can save it for more special occasions or even stop wearing it all together to embrace your natural beauty.
If you really can not leave your house with a hint of makeup, check out cheaper brands and try them out before spending a big chunk of your paycheck on expensive make-up products.
8. Schedule no-spend days
Frugal living goes hand in hand with no-spend days. You can challenge yourself to a certain amount of no-spend days a week or a month and drive up that number until you are keeping more of your money in your pockets.
No-spend days can have different meanings to everyone, but I mean days that you don’t spend money on ‘wants’. If you have to pay a bill for utilities, buy groceries, or maybe give your car some gas so can keep going to work, you can do this in a no-spend day.
These are the days when you live with what you have available and don’t go shopping for something fun to keep you entertained.
9. Lower your thermostat (at home)
When it’s cold outside and time to put the heat on indoors, many people crank it up very high to keep warm and cozy.
With frugal living, it will be beneficial to lower the thermostat and put on an extra blanket to keep you and your company warm. Only one degree colder than what you would like already saves you some money, and if you do this every day in winter, it will add up.
You can invest in long-lasting thermal clothing to keep you warm and fluffy blankets for even more coziness.
10. Become a DIY expert
DIY, short for ‘do it yourself’, is a niche on its own and has a lot of fun activities and challenges for you. You can learn so much from YouTube or other platforms that share their knowledge with you.
Frugal living has a place in the DIY world for sure, as the more stuff you can do on your own, the less money you need to pay a specialist to help you.
For example, look up instruction videos on home renovation tips and tricks and little technical how-to’s to fix broken appliances. You will also feel great when you can fix it all by yourself, so this is a bonus as well.
DIY can be a lot of fun, you could even learn to bake your bread, grow your vegetables, and knit your clothes, the options are endless!
11. Find a roommate to share housing costs
This frugal living tip can be a bit less fun if you are an introvert who loves to live by yourself.
Your cat or dog is not going to pay for their sleeping place, so it would be helpful to split the costs of the rent with a roommate! You can look for one who is as introverted as yourself, and who just likes to split costs with you or maybe even share your apartment with a family member you like.
Renting out a room can be a good way to make some extra income as well even if you don’t need the money for survival.
If you are still young and want to move out but can not afford it, you could also ask your parents to stay a bit longer and maybe adjust the house rules so that you will like it more at home. Who knows, maybe they would love it, if you stayed a bit longer.
12. Ask your friends or family for help
As I mentioned in the previous tip, you can always ask your family for some help, there should be no shame in that. But remember that you should be there to help them as well, it’s a two-way street!
Frugal living works best if you have a lot of helping hands in your circle of friends and family. Ask your family to help you with moving or maybe you can borrow their car if you need it on occasion.
If you have a family member who is as handy as Bob the builder, you can ask him to help you fix something in your house and do something back that they need help with or pay them a family price for their services.
Having a good circle of friends and family is so important, invest in those relationships, cherish everything you get from them, and give back.
13. Get rid of your car
Having a car is an ongoing big cost, it’s not only the price of the car but also the yearly insurance, repairs and maintenance, gas, taxes, etc. Frugal living and having a car are therefore difficult to combine.
If you live in a rural area where every store is miles away and public transport doesn’t have good connections, by all means, get yourself a cheap but well-functioning car. But if you live in a city where everything is close and you can bike or take public transport to work, why buy a car?
I know that with having a car, you will feel like you have more freedom to go wherever you want whenever you want it, but maybe, it’s not worth it. You should of course determine this for yourself.
A car is often seen as a necessity but this isn’t always the case. And if you live together with someone, maybe you can share one car to cut the costs and still have one available when you need it.
14. Don’t buy brands for the sake of the brand
All brands will ask you to pay more money for them, just because they are a brand. Don’t you think it is ridiculous to pay a ton more money for a sweater with a certain logo on it, just for that logo and image that comes with it?
This goes with clothing, but also with food products and beauty products, for example, the list goes on and on. Everything that has a brand will ask you for more money just because they are a brand and people love to show off their brands (because most of the time this equals having money).
Another reason why you might be buying brands is because you think the quality is better or the food is tastier. A lot of these things are made in the same factories as the non-branded products and are of the same quality actually, so don’t get misled by a pretty brand.
There are always exceptions of course, where you can trust certain brands to have extremely good quality and then you get what you pay for. Do your research before buying brands just because of the brands and not for better quality. You can save a lot of money and this will help you with your frugal living journey.
Conclusion
Frugal living is a way of life. It is not for everyone, but it can help you big time with reaching your financial goals faster.
It doesn’t have to mean that you don’t get to spend your money on anything fun anymore, but it does mean that you make more conscious decisions about your spending and save money where you can cut expenses.
Frugal living can help you save more money by picking out certain things in your life that you can cut your costs on. You can do this for a specific period or keep doing it the rest of your life, depending on how much effort it takes to follow your frugal living rules.
You can combine frugal living with increasing your income, this way, you don’t need to live very frugally and have more budget for fun things as well. There are only so many things you can save money on, at a certain point you can’t cut down expenses anymore.
I wish you the best of luck with your frugal living journey and hope these tips can help you out.
Please let me know in the comments if some of them were helpful to you!