Are you looking to make the most out of your money? Frugal living is about being smart and intentional with your money. Not only are you making a smart choice when you spend frugally, but it also allows you to enjoy the better things in life without spending too much. With frugal living, you can sift out the expenses and pick those that are important. If you must go on dates, you can schedule them once or twice a month to save money.
Here are the top five genius frugal living tips that you should adopt in order to save money.
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Make a Budget and Stick to it
Budgeting is a crucial life skill that everyone needs to learn. Frugal living requires that you come up with a budget and follow it. You should keep your eyes on the prize. As you set the budget, you should have your long-term goals set out so that you are not just drifting through life without an aim. If you save without a plan, the chances are that you will squander that money. Even better, a budget will help you reduce spending money that you do not have. As such, you gain better control of your finances.
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Cook Your Food at Home
Eating out or ordering delivery food is fun. However, if you do this everyday, it can be quite expensive. You will save a lot of money by learning to prepare your meals at home and going out every once in a while.
Make sure to buy only what you need when you go grocery shopping. Try looking for online coupons as well to get discounts and stretch your budget. Before you go to a supermarket or retail store, visit their website and check out their weekly ads. You might find announcements for upcoming sales or online coupons that you can use when you go shopping. Make it a point to check out their websites weekly, so you can find more opportunities to save money.
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Pay with Cash
Paying with cash allows you to keep your bills on hand. According to research, it has been discovered that physically handing over money and watching it disappear can be painful. If you transact using cards, the money feels less real as you are not watching the physical bills disappear. In most cases, you can swipe up a card and forget that you made the purchase. You can better adopt a frugal lifestyle when you use cash and know where your money precisely goes to. As such, you will eventually be able to see where you should make adjustments with your spending habits.
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Shop at Local Thrift Stores
A huge percentage of consumers shop at thrift stores in order to save money, and sometimes, they even get exceptional items. These stores are available in every town and city, and you can take advantage of this. Depending on the store you visit, most of them have an initial discount of 50% on their items. If the product’s price was originally $100, you would get it at the thrift store for $50 or less.
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Recycle and Reuse
Recycling saves you money. There are a lot of items that you can reuse in your household, such as glass jars, gallon jugs, plastic soda bottles, paper bags, and old furniture. Glass jars can store cereals or spices while plastic soda bottles can be used to store liquids. Old furniture can be refinished or repaired and turned into something new.
Conclusion
Congratulations on your decision to live a frugal life! Frugal living might seem like a hassle, but it gets better with time. Adapting to different spending habits can be tough at first, and you will experience a few hiccups in the beginning, but it will be worth it if you want to be financially stable. Start first with getting used to simple changes before moving onto more difficult money-saving habits.
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