I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t always live frugally! I have paid full price for some special article of clothing and I’ve even enjoyed a Starbucks fancy coffee now and then. Overall I do consider myself a pretty frugal person. How do you start living more frugally?
Understand it doesn’t happen overnight. You have to pace yourself and make little steps over time. Think about one area you want to take control of, for example your food spending. Start making more meals from scratch.
Cook extra and put some in your freezer so you’ll have meals on hand for those nights you just don’t feel like cooking.
Have a goal. What do you want to save for? Paying off your mortgage? Going on a vacation? Sit down with your spouse and come up with some simple goals and talk about how you will achieve those goals. Together decided on your common goal and what sacrifices are necessary to reach that goal.
Simple changes can go along way toward becoming more frugal. Reduce or eliminate some of your daily luxuries. Are you eating lunch out everyday? Bring a brown bag lunch to work.
Bring coffee from home rather than stopping for a take out coffee. Think about the regular daily expenditures you can easily cut down without a major impact on your life.
Do you drive to work or drive your children to school each day? Instead see if you can carpool. You will be saving on gas and helping the environment. I have to drive quite a distance just to do our grocery shopping; occasionally I’ve done the shopping with a friend. Not only is it more fun but also we save on gas. As the price of gas rises I will try to do this more often.
Take car of your automobile. By changing the oil and rotating your tires on a regular basis you will have a car that runs better, uses less gas and you can prevent costly car breakdowns.
These are just a few ideas to help you get started. I will continue to share ideas to help you save money and live frugally. There are dozens of inventive and useful ways to save, spend, reuse and live better for less.
“Being frugal does not mean being cheap!
It means being economical and avoiding waste.”
Catherine Pulsifer
Linked to: FrugallySustainable, TheThriftyHome, WeAreThatFamily, LocalSugarHawaii, FemineAdventure, HomemakersChallenge
Nancy on the Home Front 