Frugal tips
Don’t pay full price
Why pay full price when you can get the exact same thing for a lower price? That’s what all frugal people try to do, get the best price for the item they intend to buy, and there are plenty of ways to do this.
Love your thrifty lifestyle
When you love what you have and don’t always want what others have you are creating your own happy place. Thrifty living is about keeping your wants and needs small so you can enjoy your life and not be caught up in the debt and overspending cycle.
Eat Like a College Student
Do you remember those college days? You were living on ramen noodles in your dorm room. An extreme way of saving money is to continue living that frugal lifestyle, beyond college years! Many people do this. Do you ever read those stories where someone paid off $50K in student loans in 2 years? Or, another sky high student loan amount super fast? This is one of the ways they do it. Making lifestyle sacrifices for the short term can pay off in the long term. Here are some other crazy ways to eat cheap like a college student to save a lot of money fast:
- No eating out
- Eating once a day
- Drinking only water
- Eat from the dumpster
- Hop on the “No Food Waste” bandwagon and get steep discounts on unsold fold with the GoMkt app Check out these 16 apps that prevent food waste. They can help you support the No Food Waste movement and get free or super cheap food!
Haircuts at Home
Cutting your hair at home is a great way to save money. In our household, men’s haircuts are $30/week. That’s a whopping $1,500+ per year. It can be even more expensive for women and beauty salon appointments that can rake up to $100 or more per visit! Investing in some hair styling tools like clippers or hair cutting scissors is a good way to save money on your grooming expenses. Some have even gone so far as to shave their head, to keep maintenance and costs down. This includes men and women, by the way! Or, never cut it and just grow it out.
Don’t Wash Off Your Makeup
Speaking of grooming and self care, another way to save money for women is to not wash makeup off your face. Sound crazy? Makeup is expensive and wearing it everyday will make your supply go down super fast. Instead of washing your makeup off your face at the end of the day, just skip it, so you can stretch your makeup wear a bit further. This one sounds pretty crazy but it’s a way to keep your makeup longer and people really do this!
Start a Side Hustle
To save money, you can start a side hustle to make extra money. Aside from getting a second job, there are other ways to earn more income:
- Take online surveys (earn $300/month or more with these surveys) – some of our favorites our Survey Junkie, Vindale Research and Pinecone Research
- Babysitting
- Start an online store
- Start a blog
- Sell your stuff on Ebay
- Flip domains
Don’t Throw Out Your Clothes…Ever
Ok, so what exactly does this mean? Well, there are times when you need to replace your clothes.
- Holes in socks
- Ripped leggings or pants
- Buttons popping off your coat
- Gaining a little weight and “outgrowing” your jeans Don’t throw out those clothes. Repair them! Sew ripped or holey clothes, and yes that includes socks! Sew buttons back on your garments, and use a rubber band or try one of these 33 hacks to stretch your tight clothes a little longer.
Cheapen your Living Conditions
Lower of cost of living, literally. Here are some ideas to do this:
- Live in a small house
- Get roommates
- Don’t use A/C or heat
- Cut the cable
- Rent out unused rooms in your place with rental arbitrage You might wonder how some people can make such extreme changes but these changes won’t last forever. Some of these money savers can help reduce your expenses by thousands each year.
Move your Family in with Family
Living with family and moving back home is such a budget saver. You can potentially pay no rent or very little rent, while you or you and the family take up a spare room or the basement in your parent’s place.
Kick the Disposables
Keep nothing disposable in your home. This means no paper towels, tissue, or toilet paper? Yes, that’s right. Use permanent options like these examples.