5 Simple & Unique Frugal Living Tips
Save money with these simple and unique frugal living tips for beginners! It’s easy to live a thrifty life when you follow these life hacks that aren’t extreme.
Hey y’all, Tiffany here.
Everyone wants to save money! No one likes paying full price – life can be so expensive. However, in today’s busy world, it’s hard to take the time to clip coupons each Sunday or go to multiple stores for the cheapest prices.
So to help you out, I’ve got five unique tips to help you save money without spending tons of time in the process.
Frugal Living Tip #1: Start a gift closet
Have you ever had a kid surprise you with a last-minute birthday party invite? Or see a toy or diapers at a store on clearance for a great price, but you don’t have young children anymore? Go ahead and get it anyway!
It may seem counter-intuitive, but you can actually save money by purchasing discounted items that you may not need (at least, right away) and storing them in the closet for the future. That adorable infant dress may not fit your youngest child who is 8 years old, but it will be perfect in three months when someone at church invites you to a baby shower!
You can learn more about starting a gift closet here. It’s one of our favorite frugal living tips to prepare for a completely free Christmas!
Frugal Living Tip #2: Join local Facebook groups
Moving away from groceries a bit, one of the biggest ways I save is by purchasing things like clothes, furniture, etc. second-hand. I hesitate a bit with thrift stores (a lot of that can be junk), and Craigslist scares me!
However, many neighborhoods and towns have frugal Facebook groups that work a bit like Craigslist. The nice thing is that these people are usually closer to you, and it’s a little bit more difficult for people to run scams since they’re using their Facebook account.
These groups often have names like “Beg Barter Buy Sell” or “Online Garage Sale.” I get most my kids’ clothes from these groups, and I also turn around and sell a lot of items that my kids outgrow or that we no longer use.
If you’re interested in finding items brand-new on Amazon for lower prices than Target or Walmart, check out this Facebook group.
Frugal Living Tip #3: Manager Specials & Coupons
Make sure to check out the Manager’s Special areas of your local stores! Even better, ask the manager when they usually do markdowns (certain days of the week or times of day). This will help you stay in a $42 weekly grocery budget.
I try to get meat, fruits, vegetables, dairy, and breads for the 50% off (or more!) because they are about to reach the date on the package. This date doesn’t always mean it’s about to go bad, but you can freeze the majority of these items! I save a ton of money by purchasing manager’s special items and freezing them.
I also save a lot of money by using coupons, especially digital coupons online. This only works well if you have a meal plan set up (we like doing a monthly meal plan).
Frugal Living Tip #4: Do Some Research
You tend to buy a lot of items on a regular basis: pasta, flour, diapers, etc. It’s incredible how quickly these add up!
The best way to find the cheapest prices is by making a list of items that you usually purchase a lot of (flour, pasta, diapers, etc.) and their regular prices. Then go on the apps for Kroger, Walmart, etc. and look up the prices at each store. You may be surprised to find that they’re lower at one place than another!
Once you have this list, you can then use an app called Flipp. It collects the ads for different stores in your area, and you can search them to find out which store is currently selling certain items at the lowest price. Need more flour? Just search in Flipp, and any store that has flour listed in its ad that week will show up, telling you the best price!
Frugal Living Tip #5: Amazon’s Subscribe and Save
Don’t have time to make it to the store often? Or are you always running out of items that you purchase regularly? Things like laundry detergent, diapers, or others? Avoid wasting gas on extra store trips to buy items full-price!
Amazon Prime has a program called Subscribe and Save where you can set up recurring subscriptions for common household items. If you set up a subscription, then you get 5% off that item. Then if you have 5 subscriptions or more arriving in a single month, then you get 20% off the entire order!
If you don’t have an Amazon Prime account, you can sign up here for a free 30 day trial.
You can do it!
If you’re serious about wanting to live a frugal lifestyle, then you can do it! It takes a bit of effort to create a budget and stay in it, but hopefully these five tips will help you on that path!
An earlier version of this post was written by Tiffany on Just Save HERE.
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