Best Frugal Living Tips for DIY
- Join a group where you can exchange your services for a service you need.
- Restore or build your own furniture. This frugal living tip can be the gateway to learning new skills and possibly acquiring a new hobby.
- Give homemade gifts instead of store bought gifts.
- Take it one craft at a time. When you get on a DIY kick don’t rush out and buy tons of materials for 100 different projects that you may or may not get around to.
- Exercise your creativity and repurpose items.
Best Frugal Living Tips for Entertainment
- Utilize your library for books, DVDs, Internet access, and in some cases even CDs – all for free.
- Instead of heading to a restaurant with the kids pack a picnic basket and head to the park. This frugal living tip encourages added family time and possibly some physical fitness before or after the meal.
- Check out free activities in your area, and instead of going on vacation go on a “staycation”.
- When you do want to go out, know which days are “cheapest”. For example, some restaurants offer certain days when kids eat free and some movie theaters have “bargain” days.
- Skip expensive after school programs or sport camps and explore Pinterest for loads of fun and educational ideas on how to keep the kids active, engaged, and having fun.
Best Frugal Living Tips for Being Mindful
- Use less. Be conscious of how much toothpaste you squeeze out of the tube or how long you leave the water running when you brush your teeth. Make this frugal living tip into a family competition to spot wastefulness.
- Adjust your thermostat. Throw on a sweater or open up the windows to save on your utility bill.
- Don’t waste, use every last bit. Use every bit of that hand lotion before you toss the bottle.
- Unplug appliances when not in use.
- Recycle – did you know that you can actually get paid to recycle? Join programs like Recyclebank to earn high value coupons and other rewards.
Best Frugal Living Tips for Your Attitude
- Be a proactive DIYer. Ask yourself how can I make this myself instead of buying it?
- Think each day how can I save money? For inspiration see Freebie Finding Mom’s weekly savings chart articles where she shares how she saves money each week by making simple smart money decisions.
- Make a frugal living tips goal list. Defining your frugal living strategy will help ensure you achieve your goals.
- Get rid of clutter. Embracing a frugal lifestyle involves removing items you don’t need.
- Before you buy anything ask yourself, “Do I really need this?”
All of the frugal living tips in this article are practical and easy. Implement these frugal living tips in your life and you’ll soon be saving money.
Can you think of other realistic frugal living tips? If so, share them in the comments!
Thanks,
Daily Finance, Zenhabits, Savvy Sugar, and Life Hack!
Richard Buse says
These are wonderful tips. Thanks for sharing them. There are also many ways to enjoy gardening while keeping out of pocket expenses and time commitments to a minimum.
• Many common items, such as used coffee grounds and egg shells, work great as soil conditioners and pest repellants. That eliminates the need to purchase fertilizers and pesticides.
• Many perennial flowers, such as day lilies, hostas, iris and black-eyed Susans, multiply on their own. If you’re patient and allow a few years for those plants to multiply, you can keep plant purchases to a minimum.
• Annual flowers, such as zinnias, vincas and marigolds, drop seeds into the ground. If you’re patient, “volunteer” plants will sprout from those seeds the following year and you won’t need to replant a container or flower bed.
• Herbs can serve multiple purposes. Peppermint, for example, can used to flavor food or as a tea. Peppermint also repels mice and other rodents. Small mesh sachets filled with peppermints leaves will keep mice and other pests out of garages, attics, cupboards and closets.
Lucille says
I do quite a bit of these money saving Tips! Since I’m living on a Strick Budget, I make sure that I don’t need to buy Name Brands when I Grocery shop. I look at Prices and find that Generic is just as good or even better! And I must say…I do pretty well for myself! I don’t have a sewing machine..(can’t afford one). So, when I close shop…I go to places like ROSS where I find Great Bargains for outrageously LOW Prices! I also shop at Walmart. I never pay over $14.00 for a Blouse! My pants I purchase for $15.00…great! But, I love going to ROSS! Thanks for all the Information you guys on Saving for the Future.
Kelli says
Very welcome, Lucille!
Sammy says
I think it would be cheaper to go to consignment shops looking for clothing and other items. I always say “What’s old is new!!” There are many clothing styles now days that I do not care for. I would rather find older clothing like in shops than any where else. What is changing buttons, a bit of seam sewing or shortening dresses, skirts or pants? This is what makes a new wardrobe personally yours and is a lot of fun also.
Lucille says
One last thing…Oops! I misspelled a word….I spelled, Close…when I meant, Clothes.
Kelli says
🙂 no problem!
Whitney says
Love these ideas… who said being frugal has to be boring!
Kelli says
I couldn’t agree more, Whitney!
Robert says
This is a great list!
I always encourage those looking to do home projects to spend a few minutes on YouTube watching how to accomplish the project as most things can be done yourself.
You also mentioned cooking at home yourself and I couldn’t agree more. Plus, most recipes are fairly straight forward.
My favorite frugal living tip is looking for free activities in your area. My nephew always has fun activities to attend that my sister and brother-in-law never have to pay for!
Sandra Stuka says
I have become very interested in living frugally. There seems to be so many money saving ideas, they are difficult to remember. When I grocery shop, I have gotten into buying generic brands and I have to say, they taste better. I have planned on going to a consignment shop for clothing, this will be a first for me. I have always bought my clothing in expensive stores, even though they are at sale price, they are still quite pricey. Anyway, I prefer older styles and I am anxious on starting this adventure. I have found budgeting for groceries quite easy. My monthly bills I have gotten down to four per month (we don’t have cable TV). The only thing I wish companies would do is to sent all my bills within one week, that way they could all be paid at once and I wouldn’t have to budget out my bill money every other week. I am retired and live on my retirement check only. I have a small savings for emergencies. I no longer have my hair colored, I am letting it go gray, which I think will look great. I wear less make up now that I’m not working, using only what I need. I have cut down on many of the beauty products I used to purchase and am getting along fine. Learning to live frugally is an adventure, but I am trying my best….and I seem to be enjoying the adventure!!!
Christina says
I love love love going to Goodwill. I don’t need to shop there but it’s like a scavenger hunt finding expensive brands for very little money sometimes with the tags on.
Kelli says
That’s awesome, Christina! 🙂 Kelli
Rick says
I could not agree more. My family is completely debt free after using tips exactly like this. It took about five years but has been worth all of the “sacrifices”.
Kelli says
Yep and congrats to your family! 🙂 Kelli
Lawerence says
Love these ideas.. We also want to implement frugal lifestyle. Hope these ideas will help us!!!!
Anders says
Hello Kelli!
Thank you for making this list. We do quite a lot of stuff on your list already in our family, but it’s always good to read posts like this to find new things and be reminded of old ones.
I fully agree with you Kelli, on creating a budget, and I think it’s one of the best moves for frugality there is. Of course, that’s just my opinion. But we have noticed in our family, that having a budget makes us way more conscious about what we do with money. And if you’re thinking about it, you are in a more saving mindset, which affects your decisions.
And, I have to say that I’m surprised with how little people seem to use the library nowadays. I’ve actually come across books in our local library that has never been opened. It’s like getting the feeling of getting a new book but without paying for it, and I love the smell of new books. 🙂
Sadly, we’ve noticed that the playgrounds in our area aren’t very well used either. I mean, I guess that’s good for us and our daughter that we get to use the all by ourselves. It’s just sad that not more kids are enjoying this simple, but very appreciated way of entertainment. And it’s not just for the kids, we all have fun when we go out to the playground!
I hope you have a great day!
Kelli says
Thanks for your message, Anders. We love the library and playgrounds too. So many great FREE kid activities that are available for us…so grateful. 🙂 Kelli
DNN says
I absolutely love thrift stores. You can find some of the most expensive stuff hidden in between racks of clothes that you can resell online and make a fortune. 🙂
Kelli says
Totally agree. Thanks for sharing! 🙂 Kelli