Since this is a frugal living website, I decided it was high time to answer some common questions I hear about my little niche of the financial world.
There are a lot of misconceptions about frugality online. I see claims that frugal people never tip waitresses or only eat rice and beans. That’s not true! Sure, there are some extremely frugal people who choose never to vacation or reuse plastic baggies. But for every person like that, there are a dozen who just use coupons, carpool, or have other, more mainstream frugal habits.
If you’d really like to understand frugal living, let’s look at into some commonly asked questions. There are a lot of different answers and beginner-friendly frugal living tips here, so feel free to jump ahead to whichever section of this article matters most to you:
- What does frugal living mean?
- Frugal vs cheap
- 10 Examples of frugality
- Can frugality make you rich?
- Does frugal living pay off?
- Frugal living for beginners
What Does Frugal Living Mean?
Simply put, frugal living is the habit of living simply, wasting little, and being thoughtful with money. People who live a frugal lifestyle don’t try to “keep up with the Jones” and get trapped into constantly buying more. They’ve made a plan for their money and have stopped buying stuff they don’t need. Because of this, frugal people can enjoy buying things that really matter to them.
One common motto for the frugal lifestyle from the Great Depression is “Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without.” This describes a frugal person’s desire to be resourceful, to recycle, and see how far they can stretch every dollar.
Frugal vs Cheap
Some people mix up the terms frugal and cheap, but they’re very different. Being cheap means trying to save money at someone else’s expense, like not tipping a waitress. Being frugal is saving money by cutting your own costs, like living more simply and not being wasteful.
The definition is slightly different when you’re talking about products, however. A cheap product is something that’s poorly made and will probably break before you get home. On the other hand, a frugal person doesn’t buy cheap products when they can help it, since they cost more money in the long run.
10 Examples of Frugality
Sometimes, you just need to see some examples for something to make sense. Here are some scenarios that describe frugality (and links to other posts I’ve written on the topics):
- Buying clothes at the thrift store.
- Turning the thermostat down a few degrees to save money on heating costs.
- Carpooling with coworkers.
- Cooking inexpensive family meals instead of getting fast food take out.
- Growing herbs on a windowsill instead of buying fresh herbs at the store.
- Learning to buy inexpensive meat, then freezing it for later.
- Sewing a button back onto a shirt instead of throwing it away.
- Giving thoughtful, homemade gifts.
- Saving up for a desired purchase instead of putting the expense on a credit card.
- Learning to do simple home repairs yourself, instead of hiring a professional.
Can Frugality Make You Rich?
No, frugality alone cannot make you rich, but cutting costs and living on less than you make is important to increasing your wealth. In fact, studies show frugality is common among millionaires. 94% live on less than they make, 93% said they use coupons all or some of the time, and 85% use a grocery list to save money on groceries.
Think about it like the offensive and defensive players on a team. The offensive line is the money you make– the more you can increase your income, the higher your chances are at succeeding. But without a good defense– living frugally– it will be harder to become wealthy long-term.
Does Frugal Living Pay Off?
Yes! If you’d like to have less financial stress, stop living paycheck to paycheck, and get rid of debt, being frugal is a good lifestyle to consider. The Millionaire Next Door has a whole chapter on how a frugal lifestyle is correlated with self-made millionaires. But I also know this on a personal level.
When we got married in 2018, I was a teacher in a rural school district and my husband was an administrative assistant. We had two brand new cars, a new (to us) house, student loans, credit card debt, you name it! And then on top of all that, we had a honeymoon baby on the way. We kick ourselves for our poor financial decisions in those early newlywed days.
But then we got serious about being frugal. We took Dave Ramsey’s “Financial Peace University,” learned how to budget, cut up the credit cards, and started spending the bare minimum while increasing our income. Frugal living is what got us out of all non-mortgage debt, allowed us to pay cash for both pregnancies and deliveries, and now enjoy our family. Being frugal definitely has paid off for us, and is now our way of life.
Frugal Living for Beginners
If you want to test the frugal life out, let me welcome you to the club. There’s nothing special you need to buy, courses you need to take, or requirements for membership.
I know the list of following tips might seem overwhelming, but you don’t have to do it all (or even EVER do certain hacks if you don’t want to). Frugal living is a do-it-yourself adventure, and you can choose what and how much to take from the following list.
My advice? Start with one single tip, and get comfortable with it. They say it takes at least three weeks to form new habits, so be prepared for setbacks and trying again. Remember what you’re working towards!
Learn to budget
Remember: budgeting isn’t giving up the things you want, it’s making a money plan to PRIORITIZE the things you want. You can still put daily Starbucks in your budget if that’s important to you! The key is to plan for the Starbucks runs so you don’t accidentally spend next month’s electric bill on this month’s lattes.
I’ve found this to be the best explanation for budgeting on the internet, courtesy of Ramsey Solutions. I like how they break it down to just five steps and answer a bunch of common beginner questions along the way.
Save money on groceries
You have two available methods here: coupons or no coupons. Both have pros and cons, depending on your lifestyle. And you can always use a little of each method!
If you want to keep buying exactly what you’re buying now except cheaper, you’ll want to try the coupon method. I’d focus on using cash-back apps like Ibotta and your local grocery store’s app. Both of these will start to learn your preferences and give you coupons based on items you actually buy.
The no coupon method will eventually save you more money, but it involves making changes to what and how you buy food. Because your food budget can really make or break the rest of your budget, I talk a LOT about my no-coupon methods for saving money on groceries. Here are a few of my favorite posts to get you started:
- 3 Grocery Sales Worth Getting (And Which Sales are a Scam)
- Make a DIY Grocery Price Book [FREE Downloadable Template]
- How to Save Money on Meat: Tips from an Actual Butcher
Grow some vegetables
If you really want to save some money on food, take a look at growing your own! You don’t have to make everything look like Better Homes & Gardens, either. If you buy some inexpensive seeds and make a garden bed from scratch, you really can save a lot by growing your food instead of buying it.
Quit impulse buying
I know for some people, it can be really hard to stop buying stuff you don’t need. But curbing overconsumption can sometimes be enough all on its own to get an emergency fund together or save for a big purchase. There’s nothing wrong with buying things in general, but if you’re just spending, spending, spending without a plan for your money or thinking about your wants vs needs, that’s different. You might be shooting yourself in the foot of your long-term financial plans like saving for retirement, getting out of debt, or buying a new car.
Make homemade gifts
When the holidays come around, buying gifts for everyone can really put a dent in your wallet. Why not try making a few simple gifts for the next holiday? You can make gifts in batches, make food as gifts, or even create coupon books to encourage spending time with loved ones.
- 101+ Coupon Book Ideas To Show Everyone Your Love
- 5 Inexpensive Gifts for Teachers: What They Actually Want
- 25 DIY Gifts for Boyfriend or Husband That Say “I Love You”
Buy used
This is generally the rule when you’re trying to save money on baby stuff, but everyone can benefit from buying secondhand.
Thrift shopping is a great way to find high quality but affordable clothes, home goods, and entertainment like books and movies. I’ve written about my best thrifting tips previously, if you need help getting started, avoiding junk, and how to find the best prices.
Try “subscription swapping”
The common advice with subscriptions is to cancel them all. And while you definitely should find out exactly how many you’re paying for when you learn to budget, you don’t need to cancel them all forever. Instead, try keeping one or two streaming subscriptions current at any time, and binging a specific show or movie series hosted there. This strategy also helps with “what to watch paralysis,” the phenomenon where you stare at the screen for a half hour trying to decide what to watch across your five different streaming services.
Cook more at home
This goes along with your grocery shopping strategy, but cooking your own food saves so much money. When you order take out, you’re not only paying for the food, but for the cost of the labor, rent for the restaurant location, and dozens of other expenses.
Of course, there’s nothing wrong with ordering out occasionally, but you’ll have a hard time meeting your long-term financial goals if you’re spending all your money on take out.
If you need help coming up with frugal meal ideas, I’ve done a round up on some of my favorite dirt cheap meals for large families.
Reduce energy usage
There’s a reason your parents used to nag you about turning off lights in unused rooms. Paying for energy you’re not even using is expensive!
There are definitely ways to save money on heating oil, electricity, natural gas, or whatever kind of energy you have at home. Turning off and unplug appliances when they’re not in use, using LED lights, and only running dishwashers or washer/dryers when they’re full are some of the best ways to reduce your energy use.
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