As you go about your daily life, you might want to ask yourself the following questions. These questions (and the answers) may just save you a lot of money.
Being frugal doesn’t have to be hard. It does take some commitment, or at least a committed mindset. Practice and creativity always helps, too. As you live the frugal lifestyle, you’ll find yourself almost automatically making frugal choices, especially when you are used to asking yourself the following questions.
1. How can we get this cheaper?
When you are looking to make a purchase for a good or service, could you find a lower cost way? Can you borrow or rent the item? Can you buy it used? Can you somehow cut out a middle man? Could you barter or trade for the item?
2. How can we make this last longer?
We just purchased new carpet for our family room. We can make the carpet last longer by properly taking care of it, placing throw rugs near the outside entrances, keeping food and drink out of the room and vacuuming it on a regular basis. In other areas, we can stretch consumable items, such as meat loaf by stretching it out with stuffing mix, or we could cut paper towels in half and use less that way.
3. What could we use that we already have?
Do you already have something that you can use instead of purchasing something new? A pretty juice bottle can be used as a bud vase, old CDs can become Christmas ornaments, cereal boxes can be used to store magazines. There are so many great ideas for reusing items that you already have. Also, consider the pile of books, CDs, DVDs, clothing, tools and other items that you have. Could you use something from your collection instead of buying one more thing?
4. What creative way can we make something work?
If you want new furniture, could you work part time at the furniture store and qualify for a discount? Volunteering at a museum or zoo could get you free family passes. Maybe you could trade your expertise and teach someone to sew in return for some baby sitting? Could you use discarded wooden pallets in your wood stove to heat your home? Finding a creatively frugal solution to a problem can be fun. One time when we needed a tree cut down, we traded in a 40-foot ladder for part of the cost of the service.
Mary Ann Romans writes about everything related to saving money in the Frugal Blog, technology in the Computing Blog, and creating a home in the Home Blog. You can read more of her articles by clicking here.
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