What is frugal living? Thrifty, economical, sparing, careful, penny-pinching, stingy, frugal are all terms describing people that are saving money, or not living above their mean.
But what does frugal really look like. When I think of frugal I imagine Uncle Scrooge swimming around in his vault with all his hoarded money, but that’s not quite what it means.
Every person will have their own definition of what it means to be frugal based on their earning, home and family situation. Frugal or thrifty is more about knowing what resources you have and how best to use them. Here are a few areas where we can all be a little more frugal.
1. Frugal Living – food budget:
Have you ever looked at the USDA’s recommendation for a thrifty food budget for two? Check it out here. https://fns-prod.azureedge.net/sites/default/files/media/file/CostofFoodJan2020.pdf
According to USDA January 2020 a thrifty food plan for a family of two aged 19-50 $392.20 and 51-70 $370.70 a month. Too me this seems low, but to other families this maybe spot on.
Whatever your budget level and food needs we just don’t want to spend more than we have to, to feed our families. My family of 5 spends about $300 a week on groceries, something I would like to change, as we are spending too much money on food.
There are many ways to save on your grocery budget, and I have read many articles that offer the same advice: meal plan, don’t shop hungry, coupon, scour the ads, etc. Yes some of these work, but not for everyone. I’ll explore saving money on your food bill.
2. Frugal Living – Household products.
If you take a moment to think about all the things we purchase daily, I’m not talking about big purchases like washer/dryers we will get to that in a moment. I’m talking about hand soaps, toilet paper, make-up gas for cars etc. There are many ways to spend money without even realizing it and just as many ways to save money. Some people may choose to bargain shop, make their own products, or go without certain things.
3. Big purchases.
Luckily we don’t need to make big purchases every day, but they always seem to come up when you least expect it. One day you wake up and the dishwasher is leaking all over the floor or the car needs major repairs. If you don’t have money saved up for these emergencies or time to bargain shop you may spend more money then you anticipated or rack up further debt. Taking time to research the best product that have a long life expectancy is one way to save on big purchases.
4. Frugal Living – clothing:
When I was younger my mom loved shopping for clothes and took us kids all the time for something new. She was a shrewd shopper and always found the best deals, but her habit of buying so many clothes over filled our closets and I’m sure cost more than what should have been spent on clothing. As I grew up I hated clothes shopping and rarely went and when I did I hated every moment. Unfortunately we all need to wear clothes, but there are wonderful ways to save money.
5. Savings:
This is an area that I knew about since I was a kid, but some how I didn’t keep saving as I grew up. I always seemed to be a step behind. Raising kids, buying a home, making improvements on the home always seemed to come before putting money away in savings for when I wanted to retire. Now that I’m in my 50s I’m panicking because I don’t have as much savings as I would like to retire and have fun while I still can enjoy myself.
These are some areas I feel that we can be frugal in, I’m sure there are many more. What are some parts of your life that you are frugal? Feel free to share.
Tune in next week when I discuss why it is important to have a household budget.