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Frugal Living – What It Is and What It Is Not

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There is a lot of advice out there on how to live a frugal life. You can go from anything as simple as turning off the lights when you leave a room to grinding your own flour. There are forums out there where people discuss the way they use the rainwater they collect to do everything from watering plants to flushing their lavatories. These have their place.

Being frugal is not about washing out Ziploc Baggies and reusing them. It is not about grinding your own wheat or collecting rainwater. It is not even about that new dress you did not buy. It is about thinking before you spend. It is about conserving what you have. It is about saving money and managing your finances.

The point is that every household has to look at their own situation and then decide where they can – or need to – become more frugal. Frugal living does not mean doing without. It does not mean that you do not have what you need. In fact, it means the opposite.

Frugal shoppers are careful. They take care of their money and make the most of it. Many frugal shoppers actually have everything they want and the satisfaction that it does not hurt them financially. They spend time to make wise decisions. They learn how to make their dollars really work for them, instead of against them. They have more for less money.

Frugal living is about reducing what you spend, living within your means, using what you have and taking care of your belongings, including your money. It is about making goals and working to reach them. Which would you rather be: the person who decides when and where to spend his money or the person whose money is spent before he makes it?

Being Frugal Begins with Attitude

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When it comes to saving money, it doesn’t have to be all work. It can also be a little fun. I know that living frugally brings to mind all sorts of unpleasant things to many people. But those that live frugally often have a zealous approach to frugal ideas. They are actually excited by the idea of saving a little money. And it doesn’t matter how little it really is.

Frugal living becomes a game you play against yourself. You are looking for ways to save. I started out simply looking to see if I could really lower our electric bill. And I did with very little effort. Then I looked to our heating costs. Hey, I did it again. Then I looked to our driving expenses.

Frugal living isn’t something that is painless on a family when you take the attitude that you must do it. It is like cleaning house. It is something that has to be done. You can either make it a good experience or a bad one. With the wrong attitude you will probably fail.

Consider frugal living as a challenge. And the best thing is that you are improving more than just your financial situation. Many financial counselors and advisors say that when people gain control of their money, they gain control of their lives. That is because self-control bleeds over into other things. You simply begin to look at things differently.

Whether you are looking to a frugal life out of need or out of a shrewd money management plan, begin by simply tackling one area of your expenses. Then move on to another. Over time, you will find that your attitude changes and you look at things differently. And you start seeing that you can save money (to spend on things that really matter) without much exertion at all.

And that’s the best thing about the frugal challenge — you save money.

Supermarket Smarts

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We all have to eat, regardless of what the financial situation happens to be. When trying to reduce the amount of money you spend, you don’t have to sacrifice a lot in order to save money. Below are a few ways you can save at the grocery store.

Before you leave the house check your pantry and do a swift inventory so that you can see precisely what you need. Also, if you have some odd ingredient hanging out in the cupboard, you can purchase something to go with it while you are out.

Check weekly supermarket ads to see exactly what’s on sale. Combine that information with what is already in your cupboard, and you should be able to come up with some recipes for the week that integrate both.

When you see something on sale that you often buy, buy it. When you buy things that you would buy anyway on sale, you’re saving yourself plenty of cash in the future.

Do your best to avoid making small purchases at places such as convenience stores. These smaller stores usually charge more when it comes to their grocery goods.

When you make a grocery list, stick to it. Do your best to avoid impulse buys.

Red meat can be very pricey. If you’re looking for ways to get your protein without spending a whole lot, your best bet is to go for poultry, tuna, peanut butter, and eggs as an alternative.

When buying poultry, go for the whole chicken instead of breast meat. They are a much cheaper way of getting chicken.

When you see something advertised as a sale, be sure that it is in fact a deal. Compare the product to comparable products in the area to decide whether or not you’ll be saving money by buying the sale item.

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