What Are You Willing to Do to Live the Frugal Lifestyle?
These are things I do:
1. Reuse aluminum foil
2. Wash and reuse freezer baggies
3. Turn off the hot water heater during the day
4. Wash all clothes except whites/sheets in cold water
5. Hang up sheets, blankets, rugs, etc. to dry instead of in the dryer
6. Coupons, coupons, coupons
7. Grow my hair longer so I don't have to get it cut as often (This is about to change because sweet Camryn likes to pull and puke in my hair.)
8. Shop yard sales
9. Shop thrift stores
10. Open my windows instead of the air conditioner when it is 80 degrees to 65 degrees outside
11. Borrow books at the library (might not be so frugal when I incur late fees)
12. Get movies at Redbox with free rental codes
13. Borrow stuff from others rather than buy big ticket items
14. Cook from scratch most of the time
15. Recycle my kids clothes as hand-me-downs
16. Use half the recommended amount of laundry soap, dishwasher detergent, etc.
17. I don't use fabric softener unless it was free
18. Make my own cleaners.
19. Read articles online or subscribe to free magazine offers
20. Get recipes online not from cookbooks that I would have to buy
21. Keep my kid's Christmas stockings in a locked trunk easily accessible all year. When I get free samples or cheap stuff I throw it in the stocking. Usually they are full by December.
22. Make my kid's birthday cakes (usually)
23. stockpile!
24. Dear husband changes our cars' oil and filters
25. Pay bills online (no stamps)
26. 90% of house is using Compact Flourescent bulbs
27. Procrastinate and make due when I "need" something
28. buy marked down produce from the $1 a bag table (I got 10 cucumbers for $1 last weekend)
29. Menu Plan (most of the time)
30. Buy gas at Wal-mart with a wal-mart gift card for extra $.03 off each gallon
31. Vacation close to home
32. Eat the leftovers in the frig. I usually recycle them into something else.
33. Wash my own car (well, actually dh gets this pleasure)
34. Bring lunch to work (dh is better at this than me)
35. Natural baby feeding (no formula here)
36. CVS and Walgreens
37. Send in for rebates
I'm sure there are more things I do but so many things are now second nature that I generally don't think of them as stuff other people don't do.
Do you do these things? Some of them? Have something to add? I'm always looking to add more frugal changes to my life.
10 frugal-minded friends say:
You know something people don't think about---unplugging their scented plug ins at night. Coffee pots, tosters, dvd players, even though things are off they still pull electricity.
I do many of those things....I make my own laundry soap. We were doing most of our bills online, until some of the companies started charging a surcharge for online billing! Our electric, utilities, and propane companies all add anywhere from $1.50 to $4 for paying via Internet. Not cool!
Where do you find marked down produce? Publix and Wal-Mart around here "pride themselves" on throwing out nearly-bad produce so that they only show and sell the freshest.
It's called 'phantom load' .... the elctricity that's used even when you think something is off. I just read about this. The article suggested turning all your 'stuff' off. Then walk around the house and see what is sitll lit up somehow. The coffee maker's clock; the microwave's clock; the wireless internet box; the VCR or TV; the cell phone charger; the wireless phone charger; the printer; computers; etc.
One other thing we're going to do is find a credit card that has really good rewards and start paying our mortgage AND our utilities on that one card. Pay it off every month, but use the 'free stuff' you get. If it works for those things, we may just end up using it for groceries, other bills, etc. As long as we pay it off and get those rewards, it seems like a smart thing to do.
I'm sure you implied this in the list, but NOT eating out is a big one for me. Especially, those fast food, it's not that much meals. It is so easy to let one slide here and another here. So, we have just cut them all!
Great list! I do many of the things you mention. I agree with Cassie on the eating out thing. And when you do eat out, order water only. It is better for you and you can't beat the price!
I have been doing several and I 've just started a few of these. I second the ordering water when eating out. Most places around here it's $2 for a soda. Me and hubby always get water and the kids only get to choose if it's included in the kids meal, otherwise it's water all around(and it knocks about $8 off our bill!) Another frugal thing I do, I love to read, magazines are a weakness. My mom, mil, and myself split magazine subscriptions 3 ways and just pass them around.
I'm starting to use the Kroger gas station that is on my way to work to fill up our cars. It's $.05 off a gallon if I use my card and have spent $100 in the last 30 days. It may sound like a little, but on our 15 passenger van it will add up over the course of time.
I also resale some of our kid's clothes (hand-me-downs that don't fit) to Once Upon a Child and use that money to buy what they need. I can always find barely worn shoes for church for around $3.00 and the occasional unworn pair of tennis shoes.
Great post, with some really good ideas. Here's my list, from a while back: http://smallcents.blogspot.com/2008/01/25-frugal-things-i-do.html
Something I didn't include: I make my own cloth diapers for my daughter. Not sure if that makes me frugal or crazy actually...
Small Cents
Great list and comments! I highly recommend using Rewards Credit Cards! We use Citi Drivers Edge card for groceries and gas (6% back for 12 months, 3% after that) and $0.01 for every mile you drive (up to $500 year). The catch is you have to redeem the rewards by sending in a receipt for either a new car or car maintenance, we use it to get "free" oil changes. We use our Chase Freedom for all other purchases (3% off some stuff / 1% off everything else). Though, you can redeem $200 in rewards for a $250 check.
I do many of these things as well. I only cut my hair 2-3 times a year and it stays pretty healthy because I use very little hairspray, gel, etc. (I've had the same hairspray bottle for 9 months). I also rarely buy books, I go to the library instead and take the kiddos. Once in a while I'll pick them up cheap at a garage sale or something. We also shop and sell at Once Upon a Child - love that place - I go there every season.
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