Looking for ways to live more frugally? Keep reading to learn simple frugal living tips to save money instantly!
I believe that the desire to live more frugally is widespread. Especially as prices continues to rise and quality (seemingly) continues to drop.
Everywhere we look, we are constantly bombarded by what we can buy. Even being off of social media, I still get tempted to spend money every day.
Living frugally is difficult in a world that constantly has something to sell.
But how does the saying go? The things that are the most difficult are also the most worthwhile.
I believe that living frugally has many benefits that do in fact make it worthwhile!
This post is all about frugal living tips that will help you save money!
Frugal Living Tips
Somewhere along the way, we have been sold the myth that buying more will make us happier. On the contrary, we are probably more unhappy than we’ve ever been.
The reason being the more we have, the more we want. It is a vicious cycle.
So how do we break the cycle?
We choose to live frugally!
What is frugal living?
Frugal living is the effort to live within, or below, your means. It is a lifestyle where you spend money in a way that is thoughtful, responsible and wise.
Frugal living is counter-cultural. Our world tells us we are one product away from our best life.
Frugal living challenges that idea and embraces gratitude for the things we already have in our lives.
Living our best life comes from feeling in control of our finances, living within our means, and giving to others from the heart.
What are the benefits of living frugally?
Frugal living has many benefits! Here are my top 5 benefits:
- You feel in control of your money, instead feeling like your money controls you
- You learn to appreciate what you already have and realize it is more than enough
- You feel free from consumerism
- It inspires creativity
- It helps set up your future
Easy ways to live frugally
Here are my top 21 ways to live more frugally!
1. Check your habits
My husband and I love getting tea and coffee out and about. It was a habit we started in our younger years. Deep down we knew it wasn’t a good habit, but it took us having kids to realize that our money could be much better spent. It is eye-opening how quickly a cup of coffee adds up!
We had to break the habit of spending our money on things we could easily do ourselves. We have been working on creating new frugal habits, like making our drinks at home.
What are some habits that are costing you? Re-evaluate if those habits could be made into new ones that will help you live more frugally.
2. Declutter often
It’s funny how decluttering can make you feel like you have more.
The reason it feels that way is because you have what really matters. The rest doesn’t weigh you down anymore.
I believe a key component to living frugally is getting rid of what you don’t use (even if you have the space)!
On the other side of decluttering you gain MORE space, freedom and mental clarity (which will help you be on your best frugal game!).
What is one item you can declutter right now?
3. Set a budget
Hearing the word budget will either make you feel excited or completely overwhelmed. I’ve been on both sides!
A proper budget can provide so much peace! When you know where your money is going, you realize how quickly it goes when you spend it in the wrong ways. A one-off purchase here and there can throw off the balance more than you realize. Tracking your money helps you to make better decisions for your wallet!
Over the last couple of years, we have been trying to stick to a very specific grocery budget. We do so by doing online ordering. Before I check out, I make sure that we are within our budget. If we are over, I will take things off items that we don’t need right away.
What are your favourite budgeting tips?
4. Cook at home
Cooking at home is a great way to save money!
I have come to appreciate meals out so much more now that we are mainly cooking all of our meals at home. Meals out feel like a real treat!
Cooking at home has given us the ability to stick with our budget, even with the rising food costs.
What is your favourite restaurant meal? Could you recreate it at home?
5. Pick an area to be minimalist
We all care about certain things more than others. Lean into this!
Choose to be a minimalist in certain areas of your life that you don’t really care about.
Maybe you really care about travel but don’t care about makeup. Choose to be minimalist about makeup!
Maybe you prefer to keep things simple by having less. Try a capsule wardrobe!
Toys, skin care, perfume, kitchen supplies, home decor are all areas that you could choose to be a minimalist!
What thing would you choose to be a minimalist about?
6. Create goals for your money
“If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail” – Benjamin Franklin
Deciding what your goals are for your money is a great way to be motivated to stay frugal.
Perhaps a money goal would be to live without debt. This is a hard task but absolutely do-able with a plan in place, patience and time.
What goals do you have for your money?
7. Find free activities
If you are in a season with young kids (hi! let’s be friends!), there are so many free activities!
One of my favourites is the local library. They are always hosting free events and also have a ton of free resources (beyond library books!).
Our church offers an indoor playground that is free to the public.
There are many free activities – you just have to find them!
How can you utilize free activities to benefit your budget?
8. Consider the amount of waste
Consider how much waste is happening in your home.
This is a big conviction of my own. I’m trying to get better at this!
Maybe vegetables never get eaten and go bad in the fridge.
Or perhaps paper towel costs are too high to justify when you can switch over the cloths.
What is something that you feel goes to waste in your home?
9. Check over your bills
Sometimes what companies get away with charging their customers is frustrating!
It is worthwhile to check in on your internet bill, phone bill, cable bill and insurance bill often!
My husband is the “phone person” in our relationship. He will hop on the phone to verify our bills. He is also not shy about asking for deals! This is one of my favourite frugal living tips – simply ask for deals!
Are there any bills that you could find a way to reduce?
11. Ask yourself if you really need it
In the moment, it is so easy to convince ourselves that we need something.
The key is to ask ourselves the tough question: do we actually need it? Do I already have something like it?
More often than not, we don’t need it. The things we need, we don’t usually feel torn about. That’s how I determine the difference between it being a need or a want for myself.
What are the items you truly need?
12. Add to cart (but don’t buy right away)
Playing off the last tip, when shopping online, add to your cart and then let it sit there for 24 hours or more.
This gives you time to really determine if you need it/can afford it.
The added bonus? Sometimes companies provide you with a coupon code if they see something sitting in your cart. Win-win!
How can you adopt the add to cart rule?
13. Evaluate subscriptions
I think we have all been caught by sneaky subscriptions!
Just the other month, I had a subscription auto-renew for a whole year. I could have easily avoided this if I was on top of this subscription.
What is a subscription you can re-evaluate?
14. Pay on time
Paying on time is one of the most important frugal living tips.
When we delay payments, it throws off our budget.
It also gives us the allusion that we have more to spend than we really do.
There are moments where life gets in the way and some bills need to be prioritized over others.
That being said, it is a good money goal to work towards paying everything on time.
What bills seem to always sneak up on you? How can you make a plan to pay on time?
15. Use less products
I’m so big on this one!
So many of us have more products than we will ever know what to do with.
Start by only buying products that actually work! Check out this post to learn more about my thoughts on choosing the right cleaning products!
What is one cleaning product you can stop buying?
16. Minimize mess
Staying tidy is a major benefit to our wallets!
Did you know that mess often leads to spending?
We spend more when there is a mess because we simply can’t find what we need when we need it.
Minimizing mess means everything has a home that it goes back to. This way, you can always find what you’re looking for.
Visual clutter leads to spending.
Check out some of my favourite small space storage tips!
What is one room you can commit to minimizing the mess in this week?
17. DIY when possible
DIY is good for the budget and for confidence!
There’s nothing like figuring how to do something yourself and saving money at the same time.
I recently added picture ledges to make a reading corner in the playroom. I was so happy to accomplish this by myself!
What is something you could DIY to save money?
18. Take care of the items you have
One really great way to save money is to take care of the items you already have. Oftentimes fixing something is more economical than buying new! Only replace if it’s beyond repair!
What is an item that you can take better care of?
19. Thrift!
My favourite frugal living tip!
I wrote a whole blog post about how to thrift your home decor.
Thrifting and frugal living go together like PB&J!
What are you favourite items to thrift?
20. Use coupons and cash back
There are so many great websites and apps that offer coupons and cash back!
The extra step of couponing and using cash back websites like Rakuten can pay off big time!
How can you use couponing and cash back in your routine?
21. Stay accountable
The key to reaching any goal is to stick with it! Even on the hard days, remind yourself why living frugally will better support you and your long-term goals.
What will keep you accountable to reaching your financial goals?
Start living more frugal
Choose one item from the list above. You do not need to do everything to make a big impact. I am still working on some of my own suggestions because life changes on a dime (see what I did there?).
It’s okay to grow and change, add and take away, depending on what the season needs!
While not always easy, living frugally is worthwhile!
What is your favourite frugal living tip from the list above? I would love to hear in the comments below!
