My post “50 Little Ways to Live Frugally,” is my most popular post on this blog.
It started out with a few hundred page views per day, then jumped to several thousand, and now sits at several hundred views per day.
Hi there! This blog is where I help other make and save money! If you’d like to start your own money-making blog, check out this tutorial.
Apparently, a lot of people are interested in learning how to live frugally!
My pins related to the post have thousands of “repins” and still outperform all of my other images on Pinterest. So, since it’s obvious that saving money is never going to lose popularity (how could it?), I thought I’d follow up the post with another big list!
These lists are focused on little ways to live frugally so that people who are new to managing money or need to work on it can adapt easily and try things that work for them.
Enjoy!
Note: This post contains affiliate links.
50+ (More) Little Ways to Live Frugally
- Start a consignment hustle for clothing, home decor, etc. If you don’t have a consignment store near you, use ThredUp to sell your clothes.
- Check the library or thrift store before buying new books.
- Get free printables (Pinterest has tons!) instead of buying budgeting workbooks, planners, calendars, stationary, etc.
- Check SwapStyle to trade your used clothing for other stuff.
- Visit local swap meets for clothing, furniture, etc.
- Set up a babysitting swap instead of paying for childcare. Find sitters using BabysitterExchange.
- Trade your books for others at Paperbackswap.com.
- Find tons of free stuff on FreeCycle before you hit the stores.
- Try repurposing free Craigslist items.
- Find a local farm that does work-trades. (We have one that gives out fruit, veggies, and meat in exchange for work on the farm.)
- Use freebie + goodie sites like teenfreeway for free samples.
- Become a social media influencer and get paid (money or in products) to review items. Find out how I make money Tweeting in this post.
- Sell your old phones on GadgetValuer or Gazelle.
- Check the trade-in-value of your electronics at places like Best Buy before trashing them.
- Use the Listia app for quick mobile swapping.
- Borrow things from people near you with apps like Peerby.
- Compare your buyback prices for items before reselling. This site helps you compare offers.
- Repurpose old towels into dish rags + mop rags.
- Cut down unnecessary vehicles if you have “project” cars like my husband. 😉
- Meal prep to avoid going out. I love these meal prep containers.
- Unsubscribe from unnecessary advertising emails to cut down temptation to buy.
- Avoid the mall and other shopping temptations.
- Trade cable for Netflix or Hulu.
- Find cheap + free family activities near you using Red Tricycle.
- Skip the gym membership and exercise at home. If you want, invest in affordable workout DVD’s or an affordable treadmill. (This one, which I have at home, was around $250!)
- Budget in holidays and birthdays.
- Wash dishes with one sink full of water.
- Drink more water (instead of coffee, soda, etc.)
- Go back to a “dumb phone.” We did this a few months back and it saves us about $50/month.
- Cut back on hair cuts, dyes, salon trips, etc.
- Snag a free energy-saving kit from your local electricity company or an organization like this one.
- Make freezer meals that are quick and ready to use to reduce risk of going out to eat. Find recipes here.
- Buy the basics at the grocery store – no more imported prosciutto, wine, etc.
- Eat more protein to stay fuller, longer.
- Dry your clothes outside or on a drying rack indoors.
- Have a “stay-cation” when you’re low on funds or trying to save extra.
- Rent out an extra room if you have one.
- Unplug as much as you can throughout the day if you aren’t using it.
- Research as much as you can before getting a credit card/loan. Beware of interest rates!
- Buy bulk in order to get price breaks on items you use regularly. I like Amazon Pantry
.
- Check your phone bill and reassess occasionally for data usage. Change your plan if necessary.
- Buy generic over-the-counter drugs and household items.
- Enter giveaways and contests for cash or goods you can sell later.
- Avoid purchasing dry-clean only clothes.
- Refinish old furniture before buying new.
- Pay attention to daily deals and “happy hours” to get cheaper deals.
- Get rewarded for recycling with programs like Recycle Bank.
- Visit + clean your closet/dresser to remind yourself of how much you really have before “boredom shopping.” Try getting creative to mix and match new outfits.
- Invest in a deep freezer – it allows you to keep foods longer and buy in bulk.
- Pick your own food at orchards and farms. Prices are usually much lower than store-bought. Find places at Pick Your Own.
- Don’t pay full price for anything you don’t need immediately. Wait for a sale or coupon. (Figure out how local stores rotate periodicals/sales.)
- Consider a pre-paid phone if you don’t use a lot of minutes/data.
- Eat less meat. Here’s a great vegetarian cookbook.
.That’s it!
Have fun saving!
Some good useful new ideas but what is a “dumb phone”?
Ha! A dumb phone is essentially a basic phone that can only do phone calls and sms texts. The inverse of a smart phone 🙂
Instead of a treadmill (that uses electricity and very expensive) I go mall walking in bad weather. I go to our pretty parks when weather is nice.
Bought my treadmill off Craigslist for 100 dollars and its great! Thanks for the idea. I’m saving tons on that gym membership!
Thanks for sharing! The stay-cation is a great way to kick back on a budget!
I went to GadgetValuer and it attempted to download malware.
Thanks for sharing. I will be saving a lot of money in 2019
1. Make your own laundry detergent and home cleaning supplies.
2. Make/assemble your own personal care supplies – deodorant, moisturizers, face care, shampoo.
3. Save time and effort – follow blogs or youtubers who will put together store sales-coupons-rebates so you get the best deals with little effort. Why reinvent the wheel each week.
4. Don’t forget to ask for rain checks on sale items out of stock.
5. Most grocery stores have a 6-8 week sale rotation. During that time items will be regular price, sale price, and sale price with coupon, or seasonal price drop. Put together a cheap (but nutritious) food plan to cover 2 weeks, repeat menu plan for 6-8 weeks. Write out ingredients. Make a price notebook. Using the receipt and sales ad write down the cheapest each item goes to in the price book. During the next 6-8 weeks when an item is 1/2 price buy 2 until eventually you build up a pantry. Now you know your target price. For items that rarely go on sale, compare the price with other stores. Ex of seasonal is price of turkey at thanksgiving, $.37lb. Buy an extra to cook 3 mos from now. Eventually, I added a treat meal to each week ex., shrimp, steak, etc. This varies by area and family.
6. Use your food savings to buy a deep freezer and stock it. Next a small generator to plug in your fridge and freezer to in event of bad weather.
7. Add different meals to food plan to increase food variety, taste and nutrition. Continue with price book. Have a no spend month, use the pantry for a month twice a year. Work on your next seasons menu plan during your no spend month. This keeps pantry items within expiration dates or rotated.
8. Savings start the first week and increase with time. This takes time to learn but all skills do take time. Attitude is everything, think of this as a game. Enjoy the journey, not just the destination.