how to start being frugal shopper

How to Start Being Frugal: 10 Easy Tips

If you’re looking for the easiest tips for how to start being frugal, you’ve found them. You’re never too young or too old to embrace frugality. Making simple changes to your spending habits will make it easier to save and invest. 

1. Create a Budget

how to create a budget piggy
Image Credit: Krakenimages.com – Shutterstock.

First and foremost, create a budget and stick as closely to it as possible. Being frugal means being careful with your money. It’s not about buying the cheapest option available. Frugality involves establishing and maintaining your spending boundaries. 

2. Do Your Homework Before Making Purchases

how to start being frugal price comparison
Image Credit: PeopleImages.com – Yuri A – Shutterstock.

Stop shopping at the first moment of interaction with a product. Do your homework before committing to your purchases. Read reviews, shop around for the best pricing, and sleep on purchases.

When scrolling online and targeted ads tempt you after you’ve searched for them, resist the impulse to buy. Allow things in your shopping cart to sit there for 24 hours before you buy them. Often, you’ll realize you don’t need them, or they’ll have lost their luster before you wind up wasting money on them. 

3. Choose Quality Over Quantity

quality first how to start being frugal
Image Credit: Dilok Klaisataporn – Shutterstock.

Similarly, choose quality over quantity. When researching purchases, don’t be tempted by low prices on items of lesser quality accompanied by many negative reviews. You will end up spending more when you need to replace it long before a quality item you invest a little more in.

4. Buy Secondhand When You Can

thrift store glass cookware
Image Credit: BearFotos/Shutterstock.

One environmentally conscious way to start being frugal is to always buy secondhand when you can. Between fast fashion, plastic pollution, and everything in between, our planet is dying under the weight of our poor choices.

You can find almost anything on Facebook Marketplace, and several apps exist for secondhand clothing. My most recent score was a $40 dining room table and four chairs with no damage. Shop around and wait patiently. It took me three weeks of checking the marketplace before I found that major score, but it ultimately saved me hundreds of dollars and possibly eliminated unnecessary waste in a landfill. 

5. Reduce Entertainment Expenses

cut cable ways to save money on entertainment
Image Credit: J.J. Gouin – Shutterstock.

One of the biggest money-wasters in America today is excessive streaming and entertainment expenses. Many Americans are paying for services multiple times without knowing it. Streaming started as a way to cut cable and save significant money. However, it quickly escalated into numerous streaming services and a heftier bill. Look for ways to save money on entertainment and take advantage of free events. 

6. How to Start Being Frugal About Groceries

save money on groceries budget
Image Credit: grinny – Shutterstock.

Groceries have skyrocketed more than 30% since 2020. Make a conscious effort to cut food expenses. Shop around for optimal pricing, use coupons, buy generic, buy in bulk, and utilize these other ways to save money on groceries.

7. Start Cooking at Home

cooking pasta at home
Image Credit: Just Life – Shutterstock.

After saving money on groceries, come home and prepare delicious home-cooked meals. Stop eating out every chance you get. Pack your lunch! Say no to drive-thrus, coffee outside of the home, sandwich shops, and using food delivery apps. If you only dine out once in a while, eating out becomes an exciting date again for married couples.

8. Regularly Declutter

declutter donate
Image Credit: Andrey_Popov – Shutterstock.

Declutter your spaces regularly. Frugal people tend only to keep what they need and use. Create a decluttering schedule that works for you. For example, declutter with the seasons or only once a year. Once you’ve determined what you don’t need, sell your gently used items on secondhand platforms and apps. 

9. Use Reward Apps and Loyalty Programs

cash back and rewards apps
Image Credit: Tada Images/Shutterstock.

Sign up for loyalty programs wherever you regularly shop to optimize savings. Also, dozens of reward apps like Ibotta and Dosh find discounts and give you cash-back rewards for your purchases. Use them to maximize savings and get something in return for the dollars spent. 

10. Learn to Do Things Yourself

online video tutorial
Image Credit: panuwat phimpha – Shutterstock.

One of the basics of frugality is learning how to do simple repairs around your home and vehicle. People who master using free YouTube tutorials to sew a button, hem their pants, change their oil, swap their garbage disposal, etc., save hundreds to thousands of dollars while building abundant, valuable knowledge. 

Read More: 18 Things You Should Absolutely Never Buy Secondhand (And Why)

woman disgusted disbelief reaction
Image Credit: Ollyy/Shutterstock.

Popping tags at the thrift store and garage sale hunting are activities I’ve enjoyed indulging in over the years. However, there are plenty of items that you should never buy secondhand. Here are some top offenders and why you should opt for brand-new options on these items.

18 Things You Should Absolutely Never Buy Secondhand (And Why)

10 Items to Stop Buying at the Grocery Store to Save Massive Money

happy grocery shopper
Image Credit: Zoom Team/Shutterstock.

Is anyone else leaving the grocery store in the fetal position? Whoa. Groceries have skyrocketed to absurd amounts with no relief in sight. Finding ways to cut grocery costs is imperative between inflation, shrinkflation, and price-gouging. Here are several items that you should never buy at the grocery store.

10 Items to Stop Buying at the Grocery Store to Save Massive Money

12 Things That Are No Longer Worth It Because of How Expensive They’ve Become

broke empty wallet
Image Credit: Shutterstock.

What is no longer worth it because of how expensive it has become? I’ll go first. EVERYTHING! Ugh. At least, it feels that way. Every time I go to the grocery store, I twinge at checkout. But wait. There’s more.

12 Things That Are No Longer Worth It Because of How Expensive They’ve Become

 

+ posts

Elizabeth Ervin helps people embrace a change in money mindset to achieve their financial goals. After struggling for a decade as a single mother, consumed by the American debt cycle, she recognizes the value of financial education and lifestyle changes and aspires to motivate others to make those changes to obtain financial freedom. She heavily advocates for praying about and over your finances and speaking positive money affirmations to manifest abundance.

Similar Posts