12 Simple Tips for a Frugal Life That Still Feels Good

Doing a complete financial overhaul can be incredibly overwhelming. There’s a lot that needs to change and it can be frustrating when you feel like you’re the only person in your friend group or family that actually cares.

Because once you start trying to cut back on spending, they continue to head out for matcha lattes or show up with a new, cute online purchase.

But I promise you, learning to live a more frugal lifestyle is going to make you so much happier. Because while your sister or good friend seem to be enjoying themselves, I guarantee you that they’re also living with financial stress. Also, you get to serve as a good example when it comes to taking control of your spending.

So if you want live a more financially healthy and frugal life, then here are some tips and ideas that’ll help you get started.

1. Do a Lifestyle Audit

Take some time today or this week to do a simple lifestyle audit, and figure out where you’re living beyond your means.

Side Note: This will probably end with you making a budget.

So look for ways you’re overspending on groceries, monthly bills, toiletries, and even interest rates if you’re paying off credit card debt.

And then look for the non-necessities and where you can cut back. So this could be how often you’re grabbing coffee with friends, online shopping, ordering UberEats, or random online subscriptions.

Then set a frugal living goal for yourself. So this could be “I want to put back $600 in savings every month,” or “I want to pay off my $5,000 in credit card debt in 7 months.” Doing this will help you figure out what’s actually important to you, and what you want to cut out of your current lifestyle.

2. Be Honest With Your Friends About Your Budget

Be honest about your budget with friends so that they actually understand why you’re not going out to eat with them as often. If they’re actually good friends, then they’ll get it.

Also, this will help you keep your budget and not make allowances for outings you can currently afford.

3. Buy Quality Clothes

Buying quality clothing doesn’t mean buying designer. It just means spending more money on high-quality pieces that are gonna last longer than that $9 shirt that’ll wear out after a few washes.

Just make sure to do your research before buying a specific brand and understand what materials to look for.

4. Maintain Your Clothes

Once you have higher-quality clothing, you now need to maintain it so that it can last as long as possible.

And you can do this in two ways:

1. Have at-home clothing. These could be sweats or anything you enjoy lounging in. But this helps your wardrobe to last longer in general since you won’t be wearing it out as fast.
2. Learn simple techniques for maintaining your shoes and clothing. This could be as simple as forming good habits around how you wash your pieces, learning a specific type of stitch, or even how you hang your sweaters. And if you want more ideas, then here are a few clothing hacks you can learn.

5. Do the 2-Week Wait Method

I honestly love this method when it comes to curbing impulse purchases.

If I see something I’m really drawn to, I’ll wait at least two weeks to see if I still wanna make the purchase. This has stopped me from making emotional buys and saved me good money.

6. Find Ways to Exercise That Don’t Include a Gym

There are so many enjoyable ways you can stay active that don’t include the gym.

This could be walking along beautiful paths, biking through pretty parts of a city, or doing Youtube pilate sessions at home.

7. Start Figuring Out What Foods You Can Easily Grow

Growing your own food can be a great way to cut costs at the grocery store. But what you grow definitely does depend on where you live.

So if you live in an apartment, then this might mean you’re buying herbs and peppers you keep in pots by the window. If live in a small home with a bit of backyard space, then you have a bit more freedom to grow things like zucchini or tomatoes. And of course, if you have a good sized home, then the only real constraint is your climate and time commitment.

And if you want a bit of help when it comes to growing your own food, then here are some helpful gardening hacks you can try.

8. Maintaining Your Home

Keeping on top of your home can actually save you money. If you’re maintaining your space, then that means you’re taking proper care of your appliances, or quickly cleaning a potential stain so you don’t have to spend money on an expensive cleaner.

9. Figure Out What You Like Making from Scratch

Last year I realized that I liked making my own homemade pasta and dumplings. It was fun and while it was also a process, something felt so gratifying about enjoying something I made.

And this could be so many different things for you, but you just need to test.

So you might like making your own pasta, but you might also like making your own sourdough bread, kombucha, yogurt, or even granola.

Just make a list and start figuring out what makes you happy, and what will also help you to live a more frugal life.

10. Spend More on Coffee

I love having a good coffee at a nice cafe. But if I’m trying to be more frugal, then just learning how to make good coffee with a French press or moka pot is what I’ll be doing.

And that also means I’ll need to buy higher-quality coffee so I’m not tempted to go to that third wave coffee house down the street. Because while you can have a good coffee brewing method, if the coffee itself is low-quality, it’s not really gonna improve all that much.

So while this might seem counterintuitive, it will save you a good amount of money in the long run.

11. Figure Out Where You Can Use Less

Go throughout your house and belongings and figure out where you can use less and save money.

So this could be things like toothpaste, clothing detergent, or dish soap. People tend to use a lot more than they actually need.

You can also:

• Cut back on paper products by cleaning with reusable rags or using cloth napkins when eating.
• Use less electricity by plugging as many electronics as you can into power strips and turning them off when you’re not using them. A lot of devices draw “phantom” power even when off.
• Stretch your leftovers in creative ways like making your own bone broth, saving veggie scraps for stock, and turning stale bread into croutons. And if you want more ideas, then here are some creative ways to cut back on food waste.
• Rewear your lightly used clothing or just hang items to air out between wears so you don’t have to wash them as often (saving you on energy, water, and detergent).
• Share streaming accounts with your family or friends.
• Batch your errands so you can use less gas and time.
• Repurpose old containers like glass jars for your pantry storage, candle jars for makeup brushes, or takeout containers for weekly meal prep.

12. Focus on Preventative Care

Taking care of your health is so important on so many levels. But since we’re focused on living more frugally, then I’ll just focus on the money aspect.

Not ignoring health issues, living an overall healthy lifestyle, and practicing proper bodily maintenance will really save you so much money now and down the road.

I actually knew someone who put off having dental care for years thinking they were fine, and ended up having to spend thousands to repair their teeth. So take the necessary steps to take care of yourself now so that you’re not regretting it in the future.

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