10 Jan

How To Be Frugal: Back to the Basics

We talk about a lot of different aspects of frugal living here on this blog. We talk about how to save money on very specific things. We talk about how to make money (even if you’re just a kid). We talk about how to learn more about frugality. But sometimes it’s important to get back to the basics. We need to remember what exactly it means to start off being frugal. The beginning of the year is great time to get back to those basics.

Here are some of the things that we should all remember when it comes to being frugal:

1. Learn to budget. The most important part of being frugal is that you know where your money is coming from and where it’s going to. You have to learn to track your income and spending. It’s also important to start learning to create a realistic budget and to stick to it. Most of us do this again and again, always tweaking it a little bit to get it right. If you haven’t looked at your budget lately then it might be time to go back to this first step of frugality and to re-do it for the New Year.
2. Stop paying full price for most items. Frugality involves always trying to get the best deal. Buy things on sale. Use discount codes to save money when shopping online. Barter. Buy used. Figure out how you can get the things that you need to get without paying the full price for them. Many of us do this already. Challenge yourself though. Figure out if there are places in your life where you’re still paying full price and figure out how to get a discount.
3. Be creative about re-using things. Being frugal means that you reduce the amount of waste that you have in your life. One of the keys to doing this is to get creative about re-using items instead of throwing them away or recycling them. Turn old plastic bags into crocheted tote bags, re-use jars as glasses and find other ways to re-use as many things as possible. This prevents you from having to buy many items and keeps life frugal.
4. Reduce all other waste. Re-using items isn’t the only way to reduce your waste and to live frugally. Try not to waste at all. Turn off the heater in your home to save electricity. Stop using gas to power your car and start using your feet to pedal a bike instead. Buy only those items you truly need. These methods of reducing waste in your life will lead to saving money.
5. Scale back the size of everything you can. Yet another way to reduce waste and to live more frugally is to start thinking small. Look into getting smaller versions of the things in your life that cost you a lot of money. A smaller home, a smaller car and smaller consumer electronics are going to help you to truly live a frugal life without actually giving up any of the luxuries that you might consider to be necessary right now.
6. Live a healthy life. Frugality doesn’t exclude healthy choices. In fact, being healthy is a key part of being frugal. You save a lot of money on healthcare costs, medicine and so forth when you choose to spend your money on making sure that you stay healthy in your every day life. It’s better to spend money on healthy food and fitness than on health care. What can you do today to get back to the frugal basics and start living healthier?
7. Get smart about discussing money. Frugal people are people who talk about money. They find online social communities where they can share money-saving tips. They discuss methods of reducing the household budget with their spouses. They communicate often and effectively about money because they know that an open discussion leads to a more conscious way of frugal living.
8. Make conscious choices about spending money. Ultimately being frugal is all about paying attention to the way that you spend your money. It’s about making very conscious choices about how and where you choose to do your spending. It’s about consciously finding the best deals and making the smartest purchases. Let’s go back to the basics by asking ourselves why we’re choosing to live frugally and how we can make more conscious choices about doing this.
9. Delay spending. One key way that frugal people may make conscious choices is that they delay their spending. They do a “no spend” month to save money and effectively defer a month’s purchases for thirty days. They may use a 30-day list where they list all items they want to buy and then delay the purchase for 30 days to see if they really want the item (and therefore avoid impulse spending). Ask yourself how you can delay your spending this year in order to make more conscious frugal purchases.
10. Frugality means different things to different people. Remember that there is no one “right” way to be frugal. The things that we’ve mentioned here all get to the heart of being frugal but they aren’t requirements of living the frugal lifestyle. Some frugal people will take them to the extreme and others may implement them in small ways. Consider what your own frugal living philosophy is and be true to that this year as you work on getting back to the basics of being frugal.

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