In my life, I have only been frugal when I absolutely had to be. I grew up poor, which I guess drove me to have some measure of success in life, but also left me with a craving to have what I want when I want it. I find now, as I get older, that being frugal means something different to me than it did when I was growing up. Today it is a choice.
Frugal, as defined by Merriam-Webster’s dictionary, is “characterized by or reflecting economy in the use of resources.” Economy is “thrifty and efficient use of material resources : frugality in expenditures, also : an instance or a means of economizing : SAVING.”
In my brain, I associate frugal as not having enough money, when in all actuality, it’s about saving. I know what you’re going to say, it’s really all in the perspective, but now I chose to think about being frugal as saving and preparing for a future, not skimping because I don’t have enough money.
From that perspective, how can we be frugal? Here are a few ways to get started on “Saving” for the future.
- Grocery Shopping is a great example. I’m a huge Walmart shopper. Their prices are great. I remember one time when I moved up north to a new location for a job, I asked my peers where I could find a Walmart. Several of them laughed, but they pointed me in the right direction. What they didn’t realize was how much money they were losing shopping in their local city stores. Don’t get me wrong, I like to shop local markets as well and love Fresh Market and Whole Foods, but not for basics. I get everything I can from Walmart, then I visit other stores for specialty items that I can’t find at Walmart. Planning my shopping in this way helps me to save a ton of money.
Couponing is also great for saving, but if you are not into clipping coupons, there are other ways to save on groceries too. Try Ibotta or Rakuten, both are apps you download to your phone that allow you to scan in your receipts to get cashback. By being frugal and shopping in the right places, you can get cashback through these apps. Great start to saving.
- Shopping for bigger ticket items. If you’ve never used Facebook Marketplace, you should give it a try. I’ve purchased several items from people through Facebook Marketplace, nice items that I love, but purchased for a significant discount over new. Buying this way, I get the benefit of having something I want but paying less for it. Win-win. You will probably have to sort through a ton of photos to find what you are looking for and then go look to be sure it measures up, but you can also negotiate the price down while you are there. While shopping for new things is fun, sometimes you find a better fit for something you want, as well as cost, on some gently used items.
I purchased a sofa recliner a while back through Facebook Marketplace for $125, La-Z-Boy brand with recliners on both ends. I’ve had it now for five or six years, no issues and I love it. At the time, we had gone through about with bed bugs (picked up in a hotel—always check the mattress when you stay in a hotel), so I was a little paranoid about it. I decided to have it professionally cleaned. It didn’t cost much since I cleaned a couple of other pieces at the same time, and it made me feel better about it. All in all, I was able to get a sofa that would have cost me $900+ new for about $200. I was very happy and still am.
- Shopping online is another great way to save, but be careful of shipping costs. I love Amazon and purchase a ton of things through them, it saves me not just money, but also time and gas in my car. Luckily, I have an Amazon Prime membership, so I get free shipping in most cases. As an example, I had been purchasing some vitamins at a local health food store that I now get on Amazon for one-third less. You do have to compare as they don’t always have the best prices, but when they do, it’s worth it.
- There are so many choices for television these days that it’s easy to pay more than $100 for cable or satellite, then turn around and order Netflix, Prime, Hulu, Vudu, etc., and spend even more. Suddenly, you can find yourself paying $200 or $300 dollars if you are not careful, just for streaming video services. Last year I dropped satellite service and purchased the Spectrum streaming service, along with their internet service. I love it. The user experience is good, and I get to choose ten channels to watch in addition to local networks and some basic network and music channels. For both the streaming service and the internet, I pay approximately $100. I still subscribe to Prime, Netflix, and Hulu, too, so I pay about $140 in total. The change saved me more than $100 per month.
Another way to approach savings on cable or satellite services, if you don’t want to drop them altogether, is to call and ask for a discount. Before I dropped my satellite provider, I would periodically call to get discounts applied to my account. They were more than willing to do it, to keep me as a customer. Definitely do your research in this area as there are lots of savings to be had.
- Insurance is a great place to save, too. I had been using the same insurance company for years for both home and auto insurance. They were responsive to any questions or needs that I had, and they were generally just nice people. However, when I finally decided to shop around, I was shocked to see how much I had been paying that I didn’t need to pay. My homeowner’s insurance dropped by $600 annually, and my auto dropped about $300 annually. Take the time to look around for insurance, make sure you are only paying what you need to pay for good coverage.
- Credit cards are good, but not. Credit cards are great for helping you build your credit score, but not great for so many other reasons. If you have credit cards, think long and hard about using them. Can you pay for what you are charging, or are you only buying an item because you can charge it? If you end up paying interest on your purchase, you will be paying a premium just to pay with your credit cards.
Now that I understand that frugal means saving, it all makes sense to me. There are so many ways to look for savings in your day to day life, you just need to be aware of them. It is really a challenge to see who is smarter, you or the person selling to you.
Remember, from groceries to insurance, always try to shop around and get the best price. A site that I like to recommend for additional tips and resources is Living Well, Spending Less. They do a fabulous job of detailing real ways to manage your money. I also highly recommend Dave Ramsey. His philosophy of being debt-free is based on biblical principles and is truly inspiring. Check out both sites for some great information.
You will be surprised how much you can save just by looking a little more closely at where you are spending.
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