Frugal Living Tips

A guest post by Vern:

Frugal Living is Just a Matter of Managing Your Money Intelligently

Most people waste a lot of money because they don’t think about their spending. Then, when it comes time to spend money on something they really want, like buying a home or a family vacation, they don’t have the money to do it because they’ve squandered so much in their day-to-day lives.

Creating Everyday Savings

If you just change your habits and lifestyle in a few simple ways, you’ll be surprised at just how much you can save in your personal finances by adopting these tips.

Cooking at Home

Don’t eat out very often. If you looked at how much you spend every year eating out, you’d probably be shocked. The average American lays out around $2,000 dollars every year just on eating out. Going to restaurants is an expense most of us can do without, especially when it comes to eating at fast-food places. It’s much, much cheaper (not to mention healthier and better for your waistline) to eat at home.

When you are eating at home, try to stay away from pre-prepared foods and make it yourself with fresh ingredients from scratch. Planning a weekly menu is key, along with take a day like Sunday to cook a bunch of meals ahead of time to freeze and have ready for the following week. You will save not only time and money, but you will also be eating healthier.

Grocery Savings

Plan your food budget in advance before you go shopping – this way you will only get the things you need and not splurge on added, unnecessary expenses. Use coupons from the newspaper or from advertising flyers that come in the mail and buy what is on sale at your local store. Buying in bulk is always cheaper unless you are not going to be able to use it all – if you are throwing away half of a bulk item, you really should look at how a smaller amount is less expensive in the long run.

Eating Out Frugally

If you must eat in a restaurant, plan for it and employ a couple of easy techniques to spend less.

• Drink water instead of ordering soda or an alcoholic drink.
• Instead of ordering two dinners, buy one dinner and an appetizer and then split the dinner. Most restaurant portions are big enough for two anyway.
• If you must have two dinners, start your meal with a salad and the complimentary bread, then eat your veggies or other sides. Start on your entree last. The chances are you may be full by the time you’re attacking that steak or plate of lasagna, so you won’t be able to finish it. This will lead to a nice take-out box for tomorrow’s lunch.

And last, but not least, skip the dessert. Most restaurant desserts are too expensive. Pick up some fresh fruit or frozen yogurt on your way home for a less costly, more healthy dessert!

Smart Shopping


Don’t insist on buying new items from name-brand stores like big name department stores. Go to stores that carry top-quality items at reduced prices. Or, shop at places like Goodwill or used clothing stores and thrift stores. You can often find exactly what you want in decent condition for a fraction of what you’d pay for something that’s new.

You can also help unclutter a friend or family member’s closet or storage room by e-mailing them to see if they have something you need that they’re not using. Garage sales on the weekends are also fun, and it’s good exercise. You can really wind up saving some serious cash, assuming that you don’t get tempted to buy something you don’t really need just because it’s a great deal.

There are also a great websites, like Craigslist and Freecycle, that enable you to share your cast-offs with others or find some no longer wanted items that will also help you save.

If you can change your buying and spending habits just a little bit and learn to manage your money wisely, then you can get into the groove of living frugally and find that you’ll always have the few extras bucks you need to live well without feel deprived.

Your Top Ways to Save

What ways do you save money when it comes to shopping for groceries or other household or personal necessities?

About the Author:

This guest post is by Vern, a student currently studying everything to do with finance for his New York mortgage test this fall.

Tags: frugal living, saving money, saving money at a restaurant, tips for frugal lifestyle

This entry was posted on Monday, July 26th, 2010 at 6:28 am and is filed under Planned spending aka budget. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.