Have regular money chats with your partner to keep your frugal living focus
- Create financial goals – give your money saving a purpose
- Have guilt free fun money every month (even if it’s only a fiver)
- Use the cash envelope system to keep your money focus
- Learn how to create a budget
- Don’t pay ATM fees
- Pay for recurring products annually, e.g car insurance as it is often cheaper than 12 monthly payments
- Switch bank accounts to get the best rates & take advantage of cash back promotions. Create a survival budget for future tough times
- Track where your money goes
- Make sure you have a rainy day fund in place
- The best way to be skimpy is don’t buy stuff!
- Learn to say no
- Don’t try to keep up with the Joneses – they’re in debt!
- Have no spend days each week
- Try a no spend challenge for a week or a month
- Don’t pay just the minimum on debt repayments
- If possible, refinance loans onto better terms and lower interest rates
- Pay off debt as fast as possible to save on interest repayments
- Learn to love living below your means
- Earn extra money with a flexible work from home job
- Pay extra off your mortgage each month to save interest
- Declutter your home and sell your excess stuff for cash
- Have a spending freeze
- Have a no spend weekend of fun
Ideas For Transportation
- Walk more – for all distances under 2 miles
- Don’t buy a brand new car – 3 years is the sweet spot
- Save up for your next car – don’t take out finance
- Learn to drive hypermiling style
- Don’t leave your engine idling when stationery
- Do your errands on the same day by combining car journeys to use your car less
- Wash your own car
- Do your own minor repairs such as changing windscreen wipers
- Keep your tires at the correct pressure to prolong their life
- Plan your route to avoid toll roads
- Research free parking for places you visit
- Find your cheapest local petrol/gas station and fill up there
- Team up with a colleague to carpool and take turns driving to work
- Clear out your car to keep excess weight down
- Keep your windows up to reduce aerodynamic drag
- Invest in a bike to extend the miles you can travel without a car
- Investigate and make use of public transport in your area (buses, trams, trains)
- Consider dropping down to become one car household
- Do your own oil changes
Best Skimpy Living Tips For Shopping
- Pack your lunch and healthy snacks everyday
- Stop buying coffee on the go – invest in a flask mug and make your own
- Don’t buy new clothes for work – create your own work uniform
- Instigate a new clothes shopping ban
- Always compare prices to find the best deal
- Have a smaller wardrobe with key pieces that can be worn different ways
- Use charity shops if you need a new (to you) clothing item
- Use the pound shops and dollar stores for cheap essentials
- Don’t buy single use products like paper towels
- Reuse wrapping paper or use alternative items as wrapping e.g. wallpaper samples, pretty magazine pages
- Use the 30 day rule for making big money decisions
- Leave your credit cards at home – less temptation to spend
- Buy for Christmas in January and throughout the year
- Don’t treat shopping as a leisure activity
- Don’t take extra cash or cards ‘just in case you see something’
- Shop at the season’s end for next year’s clothes
- Never buy clothes that must be dry cleaned
- Never pay full price – find a discount code or ask for one
- Have a camping holiday
Entertainment And Activities
- Use your local library instead of buying new books or magazines
- 2.Don’t buy a daily newspaper, read them online for free
- Close down your internet browsers before you buy anything
- Enjoy the outdoors exploring your local area
- Pack drinks and snacks when out and about
- Unsubscribe from your favorite store emails
- Rent DVDs from your library instead of going to the movies
- Have a BBQ or pot luck supper to spend time with friends
- Have a present drawer to take advantage of bargain buys ahead of time
- Cancel magazine subscriptions
- Don’t smoke or vape
Have an old fashioned games nights with games from your childhood
- Repair your clothes – sew on that missing button, learn to replace a broken zip via YouTube tutorials
- Recycle paper scraps and envelopes into your to-do and shopping lists
- Cut your own hair or get your partner to do so – YouTube tutorials will help
- Do your own nails or swap with a friend
- Read frugal books to gain inspiration
- Use Groupon for money saving deals
- Reduce the number of toys you buy
- Swap toys with friends and family
- Give your child time and space to get creative (without electronic toys)
- Reduce the number of out of school activities you sign your kids up to
- Declutter your home and sell unwanted items
- Reuse, re-purpose and repair your things to make them last and reduce the need to buy replacements
- Master the art of making homemade gifts
- Encourage adult family members to agree to a secret Santa
- Embrace free & frugal entertainment ideas
Laundry and Cleaning
- Use the sniff test to determine if clothes really need washing
- Wash clothes on a short 30c cycle unless they are really dirty
- Use less soap powder than the manufacturers recommend, my sweet spot seems to be 1/2 – 2/3 of the amount
- Use an all-purpose cleaner and forget about the different specific cleaners
- Wait until you have a full load before starting your washing machine
- Reduce or stop using your tumble dryer
- Use a wind and solar powered dryer (clothes line)
- Use an indoor drying rack to dry clothes on rainy days
- Make your own homemade cleaning products
- Don’t use fabric dryer sheets, use wool dryer balls (if you can’t line dry)
- Don’t buy and pay for air fresheners – fresh air is free to use by opening a window
Utilities Money Saving Ideas
- Keep your energy bills low
- Check you’re on the best energy price plan, if not use Look After My Bills to find the best deal
- Take regular meter readings to ensure you aren’t over-paying
- Turn down your thermostat a little in winter
- Turn up the air conditioning in summer (if you have to have it on)
- Wear extra layers rather than turning the thermostat up
- Increase the insulation in your attic/roof space
- Turn off lights when you leave a room
- Use blankets to keep warm
- Go to bed earlier instead of heating your house for longer
- Invest in thick curtains to keep the heat in and the cold out
- Keep doors closed to keep the heat in
- Only heat the rooms you use in winter
- Turn appliances off at the socket to REALLY save on the electric bill
- Don’t block your radiators – allow their warmth to circulate
- Unplug electrical appliances, don’t leave them on standby
- Install energy saving light bulbs
- Use an energy efficient power strip
- Buy energy efficient appliances
- When using your oven fill it with multiple meals
- Use pan lids so you can reduce the heat source, it also speeds up cooking times
- Don’t leave chargers plugged in
- Switch to a water meter
- Save water
- Turn the tap off while brushing your teeth or washing your hands
- Consider using the “if it’s yellow let it mellow” method of toilet flushing!
- Boil only the water you need
- Use an energy efficient shower head
- Have a 4 minute shower
- Have a cold shower!
- Fit a tap aerator
- Wash fruit and veg in a bowl instead of under a running tap
- Use a water butt to collect rainwater and use on your garden
Be Skimpy and Save Money on Household Bills
- Don’t auto renew insurances, find the best price each year
- Increase your insurance deductibles
- Work out how to cut monthly expenses
- Swap mobile/cell phone price plan to a lower contract
- Learn DIY skills
- Don’t pay for someone to groom your own pets, do it yourself
- Fix your broken stuff, don’t jump to buy new – use YouTube tutorials
- Cut cable or reduce to a basic plan
- Wait for your favorite movies to be shown on TV instead of the cinema
- Cancel gym memberships and find free ways to get fit
- Join your local ParkRun to get fit for free
How to Be Skimpy with Food
- Grow your own fruit and vegetables
- Exchange your surplus produce with neighbors
- Substitute ingredients in recipes if you don’t have something
- Create your grocery shopping list from your meal plan
- Only buy what is on your food shopping list
- Use coupons wisely – when you would buy the product anyway
- Grocery shop just once a week (or less)
- Always turn bottles of sauces and liquids upside down to use up every last drop
- Shop alone – others (especially kids!) increase the risk of impulse buys
- Don’t succumb to top up shops midweek
- Sign up for your grocery stores rewards/club card
- Check your fridge regularly for lost foods and the best before dates on open products
- Plan meals around the weather – don’t use the oven on hot days as you’ll want the air con on afterwards
- Don’t shop on an empty stomach
- Forage for food in season (e.g. blackberries and wild garlic)
- Buy produce in season – always cheaper than out of season goods
- Buy frozen vegetables, especially those out of season
- Cook your own fakeaways instead of buying takeaways
- Don’t eat out
- Forget about drive thru restaurants
- If you want to eat out, choose one where kids eat free
- Have a big freezer to stock up when you find bargains
- Cut out or down on your alcohol consumption
- Freeze home grown or vegetables and fruit or bargain buys
- Incorporate more meatless meals into your meal plan
- Create a meal plan around what you have in your pantry/store cupboard
- Build a pantry stockpile of regularly used foods, bought at the cheapest price
- Shop for clearance items – buy only if significantly cheaper than your planned meal items
- Always check your receipt for overcharging – it happens more often than it should
- Have a soup and toast meal once a week
- Cut down on food waste
Don’t buy pre-packaged convenience food / Cook from scratch
- Shop from your pantry to extend the time between grocery shops
- Use a slow cooker for cheap, tasty meals
- Batch cook to save time
- Make your own bread
- Grow your own herbs
- Bake your own cakes, cookies and other treats
- Drink more water
- Avoid buying sugary and fizzy drinks – see above instead
- Buy in bulk your pantry staples
- Create a list of frugal meals you can make from your store cupboard
- Focus on 5 ingredient or less recipes
- Make your own stock from chicken carcasses
- Use vegetable scraps and limp produce to add flavor to your stock
- Brush up on and save your top 10 cheap recipes
- Have a go to pantry meal for busy nights
- Grocery shop online to reduce temptation
- Use up leftover food
- Save money on your groceries by being guided by the unit pricing of products
- Cut out junky snacks such as crisps and nuts and stick to healthy ones
- Set a grocery budget you will stick to
- Give up or cut down on alcohol
- Drop down a brand on your food items
- Don’t buy paper towels, use microfiber cloths (or rags) instead
- Don’t use surface or floor wipes, use microfiber cloths (or rags) instead
- To save extra money focus on buying the best thrifty foods.