Living frugal is not about sacrifice. it’s about spending smarter and living smarter. So you can afford to do things you love and have always wanted to do. It’s about stretching your money as far as you can. It’s about knowing how to get the best deals on everything that you buy.
- use coupons when things are on sale to get even better deals
- use rebates on sales with coupon for a great savings
- shop clearance racks
- shop at thrift stores
- shop at yard sales
- learn to barter
Learn when to shop and when to not shop. Knowing when something is not really a good deal. A few dollars saved here and their adds up fast. Some people save thousands of dollars a year living frugal.
Here are some tips to get you started. I will be adding more as I continue the Frugal Living Series
25 Uses for Baking Soda: Useful tips for using baking soda in ways you never thought of.
1001 Uses for White Distilled Vinegar So many uses!
2000+ WD-40 Uses From Gum, Stickers, Crayon Removal, Cleaning Grease and Corrosion Protection!
10 Uses for Newspaper About 9 million tons of newspaper get recycled each year. Here are other ways to consume the news.
25 Uses for Fabric Softener Dryer Sheets
Birthday Day Freebies How to get FREE stuff on your Birthday.
Save Without Using Coupons
-Always shop with a list and stick to it. Making a list and sticking to it is one of the most effective ways to save money.
-Never go grocery shopping when your hungry.
-Watch out for impulse buying. Grocery stores are very smart, they will place things at the checkout that we do not need and is probably not on our list. But we all seem to buy them. And this stuff adds up quick! Its OK to get some gum or a candy bar but just stick to what you wanted. Research show that if you touch something you are more likely to buy it. That’s why we see products like stuffed animals toys & candy are placed within easy reach of children. at the grocery store checkout. Don’t touch it or look at the price unless it’s something you planed on buying. Out smart them!
-Don’t be afraid to try different brands. Lose that brand loyalty. I love Tide but why always buy Tide when several other brands may be on sale that week. One product may work a little better than the other but they all have basically the same active ingredients.
-Plan weekly menus, buy only what you will be making that week. You will waist lest food and by planning these meals in advance you will be so happy to see how much money you save.
-Shop less often going to the store once a week will save you more and only sticking to the list.
-Pay attention to whats on sale each week and only buy only whats on sale for your weekly menu planning and stick to the list you have made.Remember store have new sales each week, so don’t worry you wont be stuck eating chicken all week.
-Try shopping at discount stores you will be amazed buy the deals you will find and the money you can save. And if you get Food Stamps so many discount stores now accept Foods Stamp even Dollar stores, Family Dollar, Dollar General & more.
-Don’t buy name brand if your not using coupons. Generally you will always find that the store brand or generic brand is cheapest compared to the brand name product. This can easily save you lots of money on your grocery bill.
-Avoid convenient store last minute shopping trips. Just needing a simple loaf of bread at a gas station can cost you almost $3 verses paying $1 or less at the grocery store, or a box of cereal for $5 or $6 dollars at a convenient store when you would only pay $2.50 to $3.50 at the grocery store. Even better If you used coupons you would pay under a dollar for a box of cereal.
-Do some comparison shopping to save big on all the items you buy including food.
-Invest in a small deep freezer if you don’t already have one. Did you know you can almost freeze anything, and this will save you a bunch of money instead of throwing those items out because they went bad in the refrigerator.
-Value sizes are not always the best value. Always check the unit price because smaller sizes go on sale a lot and the unit price is sometimes much cheaper.(and if you used coupons imagine how much cheaper it would be compared to the value size)
-Keep a close eye on prices every week so when the items you regularly buy go on sale you can stock up for a while and not have to buy that item again till it goes on sale again. By stocking up when its on sale your saving a ton of money by not having to pay regular price.
-Watch out for tricks stores use to get you to spend more money. For example how about the 3 for $6! sales. Why not just say $2 each? Its because most of us will buy all 3 when you need not to because the one will only cost you $2. You don’t need to buy 3 to get the sale and as always check with the clerks to make sure. This is just one example of tricks retailers use to persuade you to buy more. retailers hire experts like Paco Underhill, author of Why We Buy , and his company Envirosell to follow shoppers around every year to observe there every move so they can find new ways to get you to shop longer and buy more. These experts are so good at what they do they can tell retailers what will entice people to enter the store, which way they will look once there inside and more. The music,lighting and displays are all designed to pull us in and keep us spending. Don’t browse. Just get in,get what you need and leave. True needs are not discovered while standing in the store aisle.
-Pay attention to prices. Stores count on the fact the most of us assume words like “Special!” or “Hot Deal!’ mean the same as “On Sale!” Don’t believe it. A big display of picnic items that reads the words “Summer Blow Out!” Is not necessarily filled with great bargains. Keep track of regular prices of items you buy, this way you will know if something is truly a sale or not. Also if your not sure check the shelf sticker to see what the regular price is.
-Make sure to check your cart a couple of time while shopping just to ask your self do I really need this. Just to keep your self on track.
-Pay attention to strategically placed merchandise. Some retailers will place the most expensive items in the front of the store making everything else seem inexpensive afterward warns Robert Cialdini,PhD, author of Influence:Science and Practice. It’s another trick we get pulled in by the promise of a sale. Most often they don’t seem like much of a sale, but because we have already mentally decided to buy, we often still buy something else. Eye level items will tend to be more as well so make sure to check prices and look up and down not just eye level.
-Always always check your receipt before leaving the store because if something went wrong your less likely to go back into the store once your items are in the car.
-Do price matching and save time and money this way by getting the same item at one store that has it on sale at the store your already in. Walmart and Target do price matching just be sure to bring the store flier to do your price matching with.
-Stock up when something is on sale stockpile it to save big in the future. If your regular cereal you buy is priced at $3.50 to $4 a box and is on sale buy one get one free, stock up on it. You will save big this way.
-Freeze and eat your leftovers later this will save lot of money and make for some easy cooking nights for mom or dad, just grab what you want heat it and eat it.
-Do you like to have quick and easy dinners a few times a month. Save money by not going out to the fast food restaurant and spending $20 to $30 on a family meal. And pre making meals at the beginning of the month or when it’s easier for you and freezing them so when you want an easy dinner night just take something out of the freezer and bake it or heat it.
-Cook from scratch it saves so much money. Here are some great website with easy cooking from scratch recipes and more. hillbillyhousewife.com, oldfashionedliving.com, recipesfromscratch.com, 18-everyday-hacks-for-cooking-from-scratch.
-Use your Crockpot more often saves money and time. Here are some great Crockpot recipes sites for you. http://familycrockpotrecipes.com/, a-crock-cook.com/crock-pot-recipes, http://www.tastycrockpotrecipes.net/.
-And most of all shop clearance at your grocery store or for other shopping needs, you will be surprised what you can find on the clearance rack. And if your using coupons most all stores will let you use coupons on clearanced items. This is how I get a lot of unadvertised deals for free.
©Angela Harris and Angie’s Angel Help Network, 2013. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used with written permission from this blog’s author, provided that full and clear credit is given to Angela Harris and Angie’s Angel Help Network with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
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