As I continue to try to live a more frugal life I want to share some more 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.
When I was younger I volunteered my time with a women’s organization that held a huge yard sale each year. This group was active in numerous towns and they all came together in the spring for this large sale. I volunteered to help out in the children’s clothing department. It meant sorting through all the donations and organizing the clothes. It was a lot of work but it also meant being able to have first pick of any clothes that came in. Our two daughters were young at the time and I was able to completely outfit them for the year at a minimal cost.
Purchasing used items is a great way to save money. Spend a Saturday morning checking your local garage sales. Spending a few hours on craigslist, ebay, freecycle or autotrader can save you thousands of dollars.
Buy in bulk. I have mentioned this before. Buying in bulk can be a great cost saving technique. This can especially be true for bulk items such as toilet paper, paper towels and detergent (if you don’t make your own). Know your prices so you can spot a sale and then stock up.
Spend some time going over your reoccurring costs. Can you give up your cable subscription? We gave up TV years ago and have never missed it. You can read the news on the internet, rent movies from Netflix, or even watch your favorite TV shows online with a website such as Hulu. There is no need for a hefty cable subscription. Go over your monthly subscriptions and start cutting where you can. Review your phone bills and your internet service provider and shop for the best plans.
A fun way to save some money is to set up a piggy bank. Put all your lose change in the container and don’t touch it for a year. Have that money go towards a specific goal. You will be surprised how much you can accumulate by saving small amounts of change throughout the year.
You may think living a frugal life is boring or to complicated. Take the time to learn more about frugality. There are numerous books and blogs out there devoted to saving money. Each Tuesday I share a frugal tip on my blog. Check back next week to learn more ways to save money!
“Being frugal does not mean being cheap!
It means being economical and avoiding waste.”
Catherine Pulsifer
Linked to: LearningTheFrugalLife, FrugallySustainable, TheThriftyHome, WeAreThatFamily, Thrifty101, FemineAdventures
Nancy on the Home Front 