10 Frugal Lifestyle Tips That People Swear By

A 2023 report from Northwestern Mutual found that Americans are taking three major steps to address economic uncertainty: nearly 64% of respondents are cutting costs, 50% are building savings, and 41% are delaying large expenses. Since there's only so much that households can do, many often utilize multiple of these strategies simultaneously.

Exploring the topic further, a person who goes online by the nickname Severe-Unit911 made a post on the subreddit r/Frugal, asking its members to share the habit they've adopted that has significantly impacted their financial well-being. And their call was answered! Hundreds of people have shared their tips, so we decided to save you time and collected the most comprehensive ones.

10 PHOTOS

#1

Buy the high-quality version of the thing (even if it’s more expensive) and take good care of it.

I’ve wasted so much money buying and replacing cheap c**p.

#2

What I eat for the week depends on what is on sale at the grocery stores that week. Sure I might buy some things at regular price but a majority of my big ticket food like meat and produce are purchased on sale. I have tried so many different recipes and different kinds of produce that I would not have ever thought to try before simply because of this habit.

#3

Bringing my lunch. I've saved approximately $35k over my 12-year career by not going out to eat daily while at work.

#4

Learning things.

Most people pay for things because they are not willing to learn how to do them themselves.

Especially now that we have the internet, a compendium of all human knowledge accessible to our fingertips, learning has never been easier.

It can be any topic. Cooking, butchering, woodworking, 3d design and printing, programming, electronic board soldering, gardening. Learning is an investment in yourself that will always be a net benefit in the future. Even if it doesn't help you financially, it makes you more dependable which is an asset to your friend and family, but also to you. Even if you don't know enough to do something professionally, in case of emergency you can do enough to limit the damage. The difference between a pipe bursting that was capped within 15 minutes and one that burst and you had to wait for a plumber to cap it is very substantial.

#5

Basic maintenance and repairs of your home, car, and belongings.

Becoming a handyman takes only repetition of doing the basics around your home. You'll save a lot of money knowing how to do the quick and easy things rather than having to call someone.

#6

Using the library. It is free and is one of the last sanctuaries we can go to without an expectation to pay for a service or our time there. It's been a boon both financially and mentally.

#7

This sounds counter-intuitive but permitting myself to spend the extra money on semi-prepared fresh foods has saved me money. Examples include buying bagged coleslaw mix instead of having to grate cabbage and carrots, fresh pineapple chunks, marinated ready-to-cook chicken, etc. I am less inclined to stop and get food on the way home from work if I know I can just throw some tasty chicken in the air fryer and stir some dressing into the slaw mix. I eat more fruit and veg this way because most of the work is done.

#8

For online shopping, leave it in the cart. If you come back to it multiple times and think “Yes I need/want that,” get it. Most of the time it’s not necessary and I’ll remove it or orphan the cart.

#9

Clearing out my pantry every half/quarter year.

I love buying in bulk or when something is on clearance. I have a bad habit of forgetting what I own.

So I have fixed "clearance months" where I'm only allowed to buy fresh produce from the farmers market. Everything else needs to come from the pantry.

It's a great way to clear the freezers from vegetables and pre-cooked meals and use up all my dried beans, lentils, and rice.

I have a special diary and track what I like to eat or which products where the most versatile (rolled oats home made oat milk, cookies, and overnight oats for example).

#10

I've gotten in the habit of remembering prices. I can't say I have a super memory, but after buying the same thing at the same store 50 times, it seems to stick in my brain. This helps because if I'm at a different store, I can usually tell if their price is better than my regular grocery store.

Obviously, I can't remember every price, jy I can on the items I buy frequently.