Completely altering your lifestyle to embrace frugality is daunting for many people. Everybody would love to save money, but it can be challenging to know how to start. Luckily, thrifty people recently met in an online discussion to reveal effortless ways to be more frugal with your spending instantly!
1. Brew Your Coffee at Home
Once you stop and think about how much money you spend at Starbucks or your local coffee shop each morning, you'll realize it is wiser to brew your coffee at home. The four or five dollars a day adds up over time, and you don't necessarily need an expensive espresso machine to brew quality made-at-home beverages.
2. Take Shorter Showers
Americans spend an average of over eight minutes in the shower each day, which equates to a lot of time just standing in steaming hot water. You can reduce your monthly water bills by cutting your shower time in half, leading to significant savings.
3. Replace Single-Use Items With Reusable Items
It's shocking to realize how much money people spend on single-use items that are immediately thrown out after use. Instead, consider investing in reusable products! “I say this a lot, but slowly replace your single-use items with quality reusable things,” advises one woman. “Not buying things like razors, paper towels, sponges, tampons, cleaning wipes, and drinking straws saves you hundreds of dollars over the course of a year.”
4. Find Cheap Hobbies
If you spend too much money out and about because you're bored of staying at home most nights, it's time to find something new to occupy your time! “Find a hobby that doesn't cost much money,” explains one man. “So many people go shopping when they get bored. I like video games, so I buy a new games occasionally. It's way cheaper to spend $30 here and there than to spend money every time you get bored.”
5. Use Everything You Buy
Countless people are shocked over how much food they throw out every week. One of the easiest ways to be more frugal is to use everything you buy. “I'm super guilty of this, and I'm resolving to do better: People just keep buying food when they already have a ton at home,” reports one woman.
“Sometimes, it's because you have a craving or want to try a specific recipe that requires new ingredients, and sometimes you just forget you have stuff in the fridge. The natural consequence is that stuff has to be thrown out eventually, and you spend way more on food than you need to.”
6. Delete Food Delivery Apps
Food delivery apps like DoorDash and Uber Eats are convenient, easy to use, and, unfortunately, prohibitively expensive. You'll be less likely to order food through these apps if they don't exist on your phone, so do yourself a favor and delete them now.
7. Stop Eating Out So Much
The first step for most people on their road to being more frugal with their spending habits is they cut out eating out as much. Preparing meals at home leads them to eat healthier and without as much damage to their wallets!
8. Hold Yourself Accountable
If you're struggling with keeping your expenses down, it's probably time to start keeping a budget spreadsheet. “Start tracking every time you spend money; write it down in a notebook or on your phone. You can easily see how much money you're spending on unnecessary things and can make changes accordingly.”
9. Utilize Cash-Back Credit Cards
As long as you pay off your monthly balances in full, cash-back or rewards credit cards will give you free money! There's no catch; most financially-savvy people swear by these cards. It's not too good to be true — make sure you don't spend more than you can pay off each month.
10. Invest in a Programmable Thermostat
Smart thermostats don't exist only to give you the option to adjust your home's temperature from your mobile devices; they also can be programmed to automatically adjust your temperatures when you're not home or during certain hours of the day! A small investment in one of these thermostats will lead to significant energy savings.
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Source: Reddit.
