Here are some simple tips to help you lead a more frugal life with fewer money worries and unnecessary expenses (without depriving yourself of everything enjoyable.)
1. Buy house plants instead of freshly cut flowers that will wilt after a few days. Although, if you’re like me it’ll be a miracle if the plants outlive the flowers.
2. Buy your kids’ toys second hand. My kids’ favourite toy is a dolls house I bought in a charity shop for £40 including dolls and furniture.
3. If you want to go out for lunch, go for picnic using items you already have in your house instead. Bring fresh coffee or hot chocolate in a flask.
4. Stop drinking fizzy drinks all the time. I always see people carrying around bottles of fizzy drinks, everywhere they go. Try and save them for treats and bring a reusable water bottle instead. Add cucumber, lemon or blueberries to ice cold water to make it more interesting.
5. Stop making going to shopping centres an outing. Go to a museum, a nature reserve, the library, a new park, or a friend’s house instead. You’ll feel like you have spent your time in a much more valuable way.
6. Buy own-brand cereals; most of them taste the same and are so much cheaper.
7. Replace half of the TV you watch with reading, going for a walk or making something. It will make you feel more satisfied and energised.
8. Only buy books you can’t order at the library/read as ebooks for free.
9. Compare cinema ticket prices before booking a ticket. Save it for films you are dying to see so it feels like a treat. Get a discount card if they have one, to get cheaper tickets, popcorn or drinks.
10. Stop feeling pressured to keep up with others. Who cares if their kid has more stuff than yours? They probably just feel overwhelmed by it all and are already learning to be materialistic.
11. Don’t make over-complicated meals with a huge variety of ingredients that go to waste because they are only used in one meal. Simplify your life in whatever ways you can.
12. Learn basic sewing skills so you can fix clothes rather than throwing them out/ make friends with someone who sews 🙂
13. Check in newspapers for free local events. You might find a one-off event you would have missed otherwise.
14. Exchange magazines with friends so you each only have to buy one but still get to read a variety.
15. Get rid of any TV channels you are paying for but never use. Save the extra money towards something you really want instead.
16. Start buying value range long grain rice. It is less than 50p and is really versatile. You can easily make sticky rice and I have also used it in risottos and rice pudding.
17. If you are going to eat out, have one course and have dessert or coffees at home or at a friend’s house after.
18. Instead of having wardrobes that are specific to each season, make a wardrobe that can be used year-round, by adding layers in Winter and taking them away in Summer. It saves you having to find storage space too.
19. Stop drinking juice like it is coming out of a tap; the goodness of the fruit is cancelled out by the sugar content anyway. Buy different kinds of tea instead: it will last longer and give you more variety.
20. Don’t deprive yourself of everything you want just to save money; you will only end up splurging at intervals instead. Find cheaper alternatives that still make you feel like you are treating yourself, without the financial fallout 🙂
Hope these tips give you some ideas to help you to have a more frugal way of life with less stress 🙂
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The Funky Thrifter 