The Ultimate Guide to Frugal Living — How to Live Free and Fulfilled in 2020
Frugal living doesn’t sound like much fun does it?
You may have an image of spartan, minimalist rooms and monkish life, isolated and quiet, eeking out an existence on homegrown food.
Good news — Frugal living doesn’t have to be (but it can be).
Many people these days are embracing a frugal lifestyle meaning a smart, cheap and fulfilling way to live life. It is about freedom and happiness through good choices and careful management.
Simple frugal living is possible without being cheap. It is not about skimping or settling; cheap living can be rich and satisfying. It is a life philosophy related to deciding what you want and ultimately creating more freedom in your life.
Frugal living can open up early retirement, reduce your debt, help you live in a more environmentally friendly way, can improve mental health and ultimately is a way to be happier.
Can you embrace Frugal Living?
Frugal living is hardly new and people have wondered how to love cheap for many years. You can find many frugal living tips from the Great Depression in the late 1920s which centre around self-reliance, optimising choices around food, recycling, and reframing experiences by removing money spend.
There are many different versions of frugal living ranging from those who embrace ultra minimalism and live within certain tight rules to those who are more focused on saving a bit more money and enjoying life more. If there is just one of you earning money, frugal living on one income makes a lot of sense. It can also help stretch pension for seniors and can transform retirement.
You can enter the world of simple frugal living on your terms and take it whichever way you like irrespective of age, social background or culture.
There are hundreds of different actions that you can take as part of moving to a more frugal lifestyle. The following is a blueprint containing frugal living tips and ideas.
No Money? No problem. 9 ways to Stretch it, Save it, Dominate it.
Money is at the heart of frugal living and the most important. A certain amount of money is needed to pay bills and get by. Having a bit more, having some saved, and not having to worry about it are great goals to have which can be achieved through frugal livng.
- Budgets — make specific budget targets in a simple spreadsheet and write everything down. Look at your income and outgoings. What does it tell you? Using a guideline like the 50–20–30 budget rule can help. This means that of your income 50% goes to necessities, 20% goes towards certain financial goals like paying off a mortgage early. Finally, 30% goes to savings. Savings — no matter what the amount start putting an amount of money into savings every month or on a schedule that suits.
- Reducing debt — look at how you can pay off or reschedule debt. Remember there is good debt and bad debt. The bad debt to pay attention to is the really expensive type — credit cards, and short-term loans.
- Money management — consider just eliminating credit cards and keeping them for emergencies. Don’t buy things until you can actually afford them. Consider saving for them and then buying once you have the money.
- Shopping — Consider Google freebie sites and use the various offers. People manage to score free holidays and other treats. Freebie sites are in the resources section below.
- Shopping skills — knowing the best shops, how to find deals, coupons, online rebate sites. Become an excellent researcher. Never rush purchase decisions. Become a good buyer which means understanding value over price. Buy quality and sustainable especially for key daily use items.
- Flight shopping — shop for flights on a Monday or Tuesday as this is when the best deals are available.
- Buying decision making skills — use the delayed gratification principle and save up for the thing you want rather than buyer it on credit — it will feel SO much better. Also, find people you trust for areas that you spend on regularly and heavily such as a good car mechanic, and house repair guy, etc.
- Products to buy which help with a frugal lifestyle — a deepfreeze, blender, energy saving socket power timer, food vacuum packer, reusable drinking bottles, hair clipper, thermal clothes, LED bulbs, and efficient appliances. There are many possibilities.
- Selling skills — become an excellent seller using sites or local selling platforms. Thi is an excellent way to declutter and get rewarded for it.
4 Frugal Living Tips to Help You Eat Well and Feel Well
What we eat and drink provides lots of possibilities for frugal living. We do it 2 or 3 times a day and implementing frugal living ideas related to eating can lead to health benefits as well as saving money
- Eating out — make eating out a treat and plan to eat more at home. In many households, eating out often happens when you don’t plan then you end up having to eat at a certain place and overspend. If you plan better and then schedule treat times to go out you will feel much better. Likewise, be sensible when eating out. Go home for dessert or the nightcap.
- Garden or allotment — growing your own food can be immensely rewarding in many ways. There is something different about food you have grown yourself and the act of gardening is meditative and healthy.
- Regrow food from scraps — many foods can be regrown from scraps such as onion, ginger, garlic.
- Brew your own beer — compared to buying beer from the shelf it is pretty cheap to buy a kit and starting a mini brewery in your garage.
The Money pit of car ownership — 6 ways you can climb out
Or maybe don’t buy a car at all if you are serious about cheap living. Many of us can’t avoid car ownership but the first tip is to do so if you can. Owning vehicles is one of the great money pits and big differences can be achieved by eliminating or optimising.
- Cars — if you buy a car do the research carefully. Once you own the car, pay attention to the tires and be sure to inflate them regularly and read articles about how to drive more efficiently. By slowly accelerating away from a stationary position you can save a lot of gas.
- Car sharing — if you go the same direction at the same time as a neighbour or friend then car sharing is a good idea. It also reduces congestion, and takes the pressure off parking.
- Bikes — free transport and free exercise plus character building when it rains. Electric bikes are also becoming an excellent alternative.
- Public transport — if you are lucky to live in a place where this is available, is good and is cheap, then it is a no brainer to use.
- Reduce insurance costs — if you have not looked at your insurance for a while it is worth digging it out and getting some quotes.
- Learn basic car maintenance/repairs — I am sure we all swoon when we get quotes from our local garage and yes, many cars have more tech in them than in the old days meaning you need to be a programmer to fix your car. There are still some things you can do with cars and if you car is a little older, you can do a lot more.
Look Around Your Home — Frugal living 101
We all spend a great deal of time in our houses. We mostly sleep but there are a host of frugal living possibilities for cheap living in our abodes.
- House — there are many ways to improve the energy usage and efficiencies in your house. Insulation is at the top of the list but you can also considering more effectively sealing your house, using green power, solar panels, and recycling water from the bath to wash your clothes.
- Declutter — create a calmer and satisfying living space by decluttering. If you can sell some of your unneeded or unwanted items so much the better. Of course, not buying the items that clutter up your house in the first place is the best way. You can also operate the ‘no in without an out’ policy. If you take something in then you have to take something out.
- Second hand furniture — buying second hand, or recycled furniture is a wonderful way to save money and get some great character into your house. Repurposing furniture is also a great idea
- Downsizing and reducing rent — it sounds obvious but it is surprising how many people are living in a place which is like a stone around their necks. Moving house is certainly a big drain and a wrench away from the life you have grown accustomed to but a downsize or rent reduction can dramatically alter your financial position.
You Can Do It. Just go ahead and learn.
At the age of 87, Michelangelo said ‘I am still learning’. There is nothing like learning a new skill at any stage of life. Reinvent your way to a frugal life through learning new skills. You can learn to fix appliances and machines, make clothes and other daily items, grow herbs and plants, and develop new ways to earn income. The possibilities are limitless.
- Learn: car mechanics, bread making, beer brewing, gardening, cooking, sewing.
- Make don’t buy: skin and beauty products, household cleaners, detergent, certain foods, pet accessories, Christmas decorations
You Can Change — You Are What You Do Everyday
You can approach frugal living from many angles. You can make small changes in a few areas of life and these can add up to a lot over time. Human beings tend to overestimate what can be done in a day but underestimate what can be done in a year.
- Easy lifestyle changes — use cold water to wash with, recycle bath water, turn off the lights, unplug appliances.
- Life pattern — just use less of the things you have. Squeeze a little less toothpaste or ketchup.
- Go for ‘old school’ entertainment — there are some wonderful card games to learn. These can be good for the brain and they are extremely sociable. Also, dust off those board games — it is amazing how many houses have a Monopoly board game or something entertaining lurking in a cupboard somewhere. Catan, the adventure and strategy game, is also great.
- Life pattern — consider fasting or going vegetarian for a few days. There is nothing like a change to help you think that reinvention is possible.
- Free entertainment options — it is amazing how much free entertainment is out there. You can often find concerts, exhibitions, talks, and other community events which are free or involve little cost.
- Local library — this is the most amazing resource if you are lucky to have a good one near you. Free access to newspapers, magazines. A warm place to sit. Just love libraries. If you are lucky to have one like below, The New York Public Library, then you are truly blessed and should use it as much as possible.
- Your free gym membership — This is an easy one. Step outside and go for a walk or run or anything. There are all kinds of accessories and gizmos that surround exercise and fitness but at its core is moving your body. Just do it. There are other benefits too, such as reducing your medical bills and creating a long-term healthy lifestyle meaning you live longer and healthier. Take care of your teeth too!
Supercharge you! Tech and Travel Tips
Tech Tips
Taking control of the net, our computers, devices and our phones is an important way to supercharge your frugal lifestyle giving you more time and helping you live in the moment each day.
- Nomad lifestyle — if you change location a lot, a compact and cheap way of replacing a computer is to get a bluetooth keyboard synced to smartphone. I recommend the set with the little phone holder.
- Declutter computer, phone and devices — delete all those unused apps, delete files you have forgotten about. Update your filing so you can find things more easily.
- Turn off notifications on your phone — easily done in settings
- Make apps work for you rather than interrupt you. Regularly review the apps you have on your phones
Travel Tips
Travel and the Frugal Life are Incompatible. Wrong! Travel can be one of the goals of frugal living and for many, seeing the world is a wonderful part of our lives.
- Best credit cards for travel — there is a huge body of work on the internet about how to choose the best credit card.
- How to get free vacations — one of the best options here is to become a master of loyalty cards and programs that airlines and hotel groups run.
- Take last minute deals if you can. Many companies try to fill up their planes, hotels and boats at the last minute. You can reverse this tactic and look out for far in advance early bird opportunities. Many companies use these too.
- Consider house sitting or home swapping.
Bonus Living Tips for Seniors
Frugal living can give a huge boost to retirement especially if you are a little tight on funds. All the tips above apply equally to everyone. There are some extras that you can find as a senior:
- Examine the taxes and other expenses that you have and eliminate them.
- Review your insurance and see what can be reduced or dropped.
- Safe Driving — you can take a safe driving course to reduce car insurance
- Look out for weekday and senior targeted deals and discounts
- Keep busy — there are local community programs and free deals and local sports centres offered all the time.
- Age proof your home to guide against slips and accidents and big medical bills.
So will you start the frugal journey?
If we lose the label ‘frugal’ there are so many things contained within the concept that are so good for you, those around you and the environment. You are probably embracing some elements of frugality already. Who doesn’t want a bit more money and the feeling they are living with a bit more meaning. This is more about making change. Many of these points apply to achieving any change in your life. Small and daily efforts add up to a lot. Start small. Start Big. But Start. Start right now!
- Everything starts with understanding where you are and what you want.
- Budgets are very useful to understanding where the money goes and tracking your improvements
- Good frugal living is generally accompanied by a personal transformation
- Use tools — calendars, journals and tracking
- Study and research regularly and gather inspiration from others
Keep your mind on the ultimate goal but enjoy the journey. There is a lot of fun to be had along the way!
You are good to go!
