The Cheapskates guide: 50 tips for Frugal Living

[bumplett]

my hubby won't cut my hair either.

[heartofmine]

1.Go with one car. Not going to happen. My husband works and I don't. He has to have the vehicle there because he has to sometimes make trips during the day. I would be completely without a vehicle except when he is home. For 10 years we had only 1 vehicle and I was stuck at home unable to go anywhere or do anything. Dh worked out of town so just to get the kids to the doctor I had to call family or friends. I live 8 miles from town. Basically it was a miserable existence for me. I felt completely helpless. I'm not willing to go back to that. I have my car and he has his truck. I don't go a lot because of health issues but I can if I want to.

2.Go with a smaller house. I have always had a small house. 1st home was only 450 square feet, This one is 900 square feet upstairs and 800 sf downstairs in the basement. Only a bit of the basement is finished. We are right now in the middle of building a much bigger home and I'm excited. Small has been good to us and got us this far but the bigger home will have features that will help me in my daily living with my health issues. Our home now has lots of stairs so the new one won't and have a ramp. A laundry room by our bedroom, a large walkin pantry beside the kitchen, handicap accessible with wide halls, a shower we can easily get to with a wheel chair if the need arises. **now this may not sound frugal but we are debt free and paying cash for the building of the new home. We are building on paid for land with lots of wood for wood heat, lots of room for a garden and an orchard. So many possibilities there...and it is 2 miles closer to town so gas savings too.

3.Go with a smaller car. With a family of 4...all adults a medium size car works better for us. Shop carefully and you can find a medium size that is about as cheap on gas.

4.Rent rather than own. I think its best to run the #'s on that one. It depends on the area of the country. Here owning is much cheaper than renting.

5.Look for used first. Always...with a few exceptions. Some things you are better off buying new...ex..water heaters

6.Eat out less. Agree with that one and it is one we are working on. We have been going out on Sunday's for lunch but its getting to expensive. I'm trying to cook ahead so we have a meal ready.

7.Eat out frugally. Agree with that too. I love water with lemon. Just the drinks alone can save my family of 4 about $8.00

8.Brown bag it to work. Agree. My dh takes his lunch about 3 days a week now and eats out a couple of times at less expensive places just to break up the monotony

9.Adopt a minimalist wardrobe. It might make sense to some but I get my clothing so cheaply at yard sales and thrifts. When I'm tired of them I resale them at a yard sale and normally make more than I've given for them. I've done this for years with my wardrobe and with my kids since my kids were small.

10.Stop online impulse buys. Not a problem for me. I rarely buy online. If I do its because its such a great deal or its a gift. Cheaper for me to buy gifts online than go out of town shopping for them. Add up gas, lunch out, and impulse buying...online is cheaper. I have a few online favorite places to shop.

11.Don’t shop. True...but sometimes a lady just needs a day out. I shop thrift and yard sales and only go to other stores if I have a good coupon etc.

12.Use a 30-day list. Have my own mental list. If its a need I'm going to shop around for the best bargain even if it takes longer than the 30 days.

13.Cut out cable. Cable and internet are my only entertainment and since I have no bills I can...but won't give them up.

14.Use the library. Good tip for readers.

15.Find free entertainment. My favorite forms of entertainment are free. I love taking our metal detector out and just walking around with it.

16.Frugal exercise. Agree...walking is best.

17.Stay healthy. That would be nice but the health issues are already here. Just have some good health insurance.

18.Commute by bike. Not if you live way out in the country away from everything...add in mountain roads of TN. Not going to happen.

19.Carpool or ride the bus. No buses and see #1 as to why carpooling wouldn't work for dh.

20.Walk. Not for those in the country.

21.Sell your clutter. Agree. You can make some good money with your clutter.

22.Frugal gifting. Not everybody appreciates homemade or used gifts. Watch for stores that have coupons or sales and you can get some nice new gifts to give. Its frugal but yet you can give a new gift. Also new with tag items at thrift or yard sales.

23.Quit smoking. no smoking here

24.Alcohol in moderation. never ever touched the stuff

25.Sweets in moderation. Coupons for ingredients to do homemade...yum

26.Drink water. Good tip.

27.Batch your errands. I always do that and only go to town when I have several things to do.

28.Stay home. I am sure that.

29.Stop using credit cards. 100% agree. Credit cards are the downfall of sooo many. I only have 2. 1 major for emergencies and the other a store one that I only use for store savings. I NEVER carry a balance. I NEVER purchase unless I know I have the money to pay that balance the minute it comes in...EVER.

30.Cancel subscriptions. I have only 1 that I pay for. All others were free. The one is my favorite magazine and its my little yearly splurge for me. At $20.00 a year it isn't much of one but I get so much enjoyment from it.

31.Make your own. Definitely!!! So many things......but I won't go into listing them.

32.Do it yourself. I am a diy'er!!!

33.Stop paying interest. see above credit card post

34.Reduce convenience foods. Only if its a good coupon and the food is almost free.

35.Travel frugally. I don't travel

36.Cut the cell phone. I only have a small tracfone for emergencies so its inexpensive.

37.Cut your own hair. I use to but my joints won't let me anymore. No way my dh is getting ahold of my head. No more than mine gets cut in a year I'll just have it cut by someone who knows how.

38.Maintain stuff. Yep...no brainer.

39.Save energy. agree completely. Every little bit helps.

40.Save gas. I plan my trips to keep gas costs down. I have dh or my ds pick up things in town when they come home from work to save myself a trip.

41.Only buy bargain clothing (when you need clothes). I'd be nekkid as a jaybird without yard sale and thrift clothes.

42.Telecommute. not my style

43.Plan ahead. Always! Grocery lists, coupons, trips (water in a cooler)...just everything.

44.Cook ahead. definitely...and even if I don't have it cooked I like putting things together so I can just pull it out of the freezer and pop it in the oven.

45.Wash clothes less. Not going to happen here. I do a lot of laundry with 4 adults here. My son has to wear dress clothing every day. With a suit on all day he sweats his shirts. For myself I'm ocd about cleanliness. I can't wear clothing more than 1 day. I do wear my gown 2 nights in a row.

46.Sun-dry clothes. Lots of savings in sun drying clothing. I do when my joints allow.

47.Eat less meat. I am in a house of meat eaters so its not going to happen. I do however add fillers as often as I can...mac/cheese/hamburger, casseroles, meatloaves with fillers of oats/crackers etc.

48.Save on groceries. Although I think this is a no brainer I do think families has to find out what works best to save for their own families according to what they will eat. Coupons, store brands. I advise parents with picky kids to try switching foods and see if their kid will like it.

49.Frugal Christmas. We have never gone overboard with Christmas. I think its crazy to go into debt for Christmas gifts. Save ahead and pay cash. My kids always made me a list of what they wanted and I had them right down their top 3 picks. I then went from there.

50.Eat a cheap breakfast. True. I buy inexpensive cereal which is cheaper for me when eating at home. Eating out we eat it for brunch and skip lunch.

[Face_Hole]

Very interesting for newer members, thanks for posting, however this is very basic!

As some know I follow Zenhabits.... I LOVE Leo's site anyway this was one of his posts that hit home for me so I thought I would share =) *** Note this was NOT CREATED BY ME the Author is Leo Babauta

1.Go with one car.
No car here.

2.Go with a smaller house.
I rent a 2 bedroom appartment very cheaply in the city.

3.Go with a smaller car.
Already addressed.

4.Rent rather than own.
Already addressed.

5.Look for used first.
Very good advice, however in this bedbug age I wouldn't rely on it as much.

6.Eat out less.
Obvious.

7.Eat out frugally.
Well I'd rather not eat out as often and splurge a bit when it happens.

8.Brown bag it to work. Instead of eating out for lunch, bring your lunch. Yes yes yes, very helpful.

9.Adopt a minimalist wardrobe.
Agreeing, I wear mostly black, pare down accessories, no biggies getting dressed in the morning and only 1-2 shopping trips to replenish in a year.

10.Stop online impulse buys.
That is rather obvious, peewee level frugality.
11.Don’t shop.
Agreeing but not everyone has poor impulse control, I can stick to my list..

12.Use a 30-day list.
Very practical advice for people who 'want' things a lot.

13.Cut out cable.
No cable in years.

14.Use the library.
Yes yes yes.

15.Find free entertainment.
Easy in a city, maybe less so in rural areas but still good advice.

16.Frugal exercise.
Obvious.

17.Stay healthy.
Great point, so many frugal people are overweight this needs to be addressed, because this leads to a lot of health problems.

18.Commute by bike.
Easier in a city and nothing useful for the older frugal people.

19.Carpool or ride the bus.
Fine yet see #18.

20.Walk.
See #18, however this does qualify as free exercise.

21.Sell your clutter.
This is important.

22.Frugal gifting.
No need to go whole hog expensive but I'd rather not cheap out in this category as these things impâct your future relationships. Some things are worth investing in. Being seen as cheap cuts you off from opportunities that may help you stay frugal in the long run, so being wise in the 'gift' category is better advice.

23.Quit smoking.
Obvious.

24.Alcohol in moderation.
Obvious.

25.Sweets in moderation.
Obvious. (This Babauta guy sure knows how to pad his lists to get to a round nice number, no? ;-).

26.Drink water.
Yeah, ok.

27.Batch your errands.
Good advice.

28.Stay home.
But not to the extent of being an hermit and spend all evenings drinking water, hopefully.

29.Stop using credit cards.
Obvious with a capital O. Or use rarely, rather.

30.Cancel subscriptions.
Paying the tremendous sum of 22$ for my National Geographic subscription that repays me 10 times this amount in knowledge/education/entertainment.

31.Make your own.
Yes.

32.Do it yourself.
Same as #31!

33.Stop paying interest.
Possible but sometimes hard to avoid.

34.Reduce convenience foods.
See #31.

35.Travel frugally.
Well yeah.

36.Cut the cell phone.
No cell phone here.

37.Cut your own hair.
Have cut my own (hard to style curly shoulder-length thick hair for years, and clip my boyfriend's and daughter's as well.

38.Maintain stuff.
Good advice.

39.Save energy.
I don't use AC and summers can be scorchers here.

40.Save gas.
Yes.

41.Only buy bargain clothing (when you need clothes).
I buy cheap crap such as Forever21 and they last half the time a Sears tshirt lasts for only 2 bucks less. Choose your battles here.

42.Telecommute.
Not an option for a majority of people.

43.Plan ahead.
Good, if abstract advice.

44.Cook ahead.
This list keeps repeating itself.

45.Wash clothes less.
Ignore if a blue-collar worker, a food service worker, a teenager, a toddler, etc. Basically ignore if not in the 20% of people who could actually use this tip.

46.Sun-dry clothes.
Yes! Smells better too.

47.Eat less meat.
Don't become a vegan though, this would end up costing more in medical costs.

48.Save on groceries.
I don't see a generic 'save on groceries' as a tip.

49.Frugal Christmas.
Yeah don't go crazy and charge it all up on credit.

50.Eat a cheap breakfast.
Breakfast is generally cheap but for cereals.

Sorry to have subjected you all to my unsolicited critique but this kind of padded-out, let's-drive-hits-to-my-blog-with-seductive-title tends to annoy me.

[KimZ]

Very interesting for newer members, thanks for posting, however this is very basic!




Sorry to have subjected you all to my unsolicited critique but this kind of padded-out, let's-drive-hits-to-my-blog-with-seductive-title tends to annoy me.

Um but it's not my blog............I like to share interesting posts

But ok

::::::::Kim thinking maybe a troll?::::::::::

[Face_Hole]

Thanks for the gratuitous troll epithet since I was thanking you for bringing it to attention in this forum....
but yes, I am very well aware this isn't your own blog post but something by Leo Babauta.
Obviously you didn't understand the intent of my post (was about how that article is kinda good for new frugal people but basic for people used to it).

[Gabe]

Face_hole,

Welcome to our community! I'm glad your jumping in the chat and willing to share ideas, critique and input with others.
If you need any help, don't hesitate to PM or use the Help option at the top right of the forums.

I do agree with your critique.