Turn everyday spending into college savings.

6 Frugal Tips That Will Save You Money

June 7th, 2009 | Posted in Frugal Living

chasing_dollar Everyone is trying to tighten their belts in order to save money these days and frugal is the new buzzword. But, after so many years of people spending rampantly beyond their means many are finding that they have forgotten or don’t know how to be frugal. So, here are six frugal tips that can help you save more of your hard earned money.

Spending on the little items

Many of us tend to pay special attention to the amount of money we spend on big ticket items. We may be very price conscious about forking over dough for a new TV, furniture suite, or vehicle; spending hours doing research and price comparisons. However, it’s the little things we purchase that add up quickly and put a dent in our bottom line. It’s those numerous $5-20 purchases that can cost you dearly over time. Think about it: if you spent just $15 a day on miscellaneous purchases that would add up to $5,475 in a year. Now, you may be saying to yourself “I don’t possibly spend $15 a day on little purchases!” Are you sure? Have you tracked every dime of your spending like a hawk? I think you might be surprised if you took a close look at your spending habits. Most of us spend at least $10 daily on little items that we could certainly do without. But, there is only one way to find out. Start keeping track of every dime you spend. Save your receipts or write it all down for the next 2 weeks and then take a look. In addition, you need to take a close look at your last few bank statements. You’re very likely to find lots of ATM withdrawals or small debit card purchases. Add up these totals from your bank statements. Next, add up the totals from your last two weeks of spending. My guess is that you’ll be shocked at how much you’re actually spending on “little” items. This leads me into the next tip…

Make yourself a budget

You absolutely MUST get on a budget and stick to it. It is amazing how many people know the value of a budget yet do not use one. I think it is safe to say that 90% of financially secure people in this world stick to their budgets. You can do it the old fashioned way and simply write a budget down on a piece of paper. If you trust storing your finances on the web then you can try a free budgeting site like Mint. Otherwise there is plenty of cheap software out there that can track your spending and help you keep a budget. Quicken Starter Edition is a scaled down finance software package that is well worth the money if you actually use it. However, if you’re not committed to tracking and controlling your cash flow then don’t buy any budgeting tools – you’ll simply be wasting your money.

Don’t practice sad shopping

Don’t go shopping when you are bored, depressed, or hungry. Buying something new and shiny seems to have a way of lifting us out of the doldrums – temporarily! Resist this temptation. Instead, find something healthy and active to engage in when you’re down. In addition, practically everyone knows it’s a cardinal sin to go grocery shopping when you’re hungry. You’ll end up spending much more money than you normally would have. If you want to shop frugally then fill your belly before you eat!

No kids allowed

If you aren’t specifically shopping for your kids then try to shop without them in tow. Naturally children aren’t frugal shoppers, but hopefully yours will be one day. Now I know this is difficult – you can’t just drop your kids off with your family or friends just to go shopping. The family would probably tire of that very quickly. However, you can try to save your shopping for the few times when you will be alone. Alternatively, whichever spouse is without the kids ask them to do the shopping. If you simply can never shop without the children around then you’ll just have to try to say NO more often (difficult, I know, but it will be better for them in the long run).

Don’t break the big bills

bills Try to go as long as you can without breaking your 20, 50, or 100 dollar bills. Consider it something of a personal challenge. We all know that once you do break a large bill the rest seems to disappear very quickly. Of course some of them will have to be broken, unless you insist that the bank give you smaller bills. However, try your best to minimize spending the large bills. One thing I like to do when I spend a large bill is this: I take all the single dollars from what I receive in change and tuck them away in an envelope in my dresser. By the end of the year I often have between $500 and $1,000 of disposable cash.

Shop honestly

For every purchase you make you should really be asking yourself “Do I NEED this?” not “Do I WANT this?” Be honest with yourself and try not to talk yourself into a purchase that you know in your heart you can do without. Now, some purchases will be in something of gray area and slip through this screening, but you’ll also end up putting many items back on the shelves and walking away.

Putting it into practice

So, how do you accomplish all of these things? Well, by exercising plain old fashioned discipline. Understand your triggers when you are out shopping. Pay close attention to your predisposition to buy things on impulse. In other words: know thyself and choose to be more aware of your actions. This may be difficult at first and you may not be able to resist the temptation to buy some things. But, every little bit helps and becoming aware of your shopping habits is the first step to controlling them. Eventually you will can attain complete mastery over yourself when you are out doing your necessary shopping. It may seem funny to hear this put in such Zen terms as mastery and discipline, but that’s exactly what it requires. Control your spending or it will control you. Oh, and don’t forget to keep on tracking your spending and using a budget after your first two weeks – this is a lifelong project. It will do you no good if you can’t gauge the progress of your efforts to spend less. In fact, you’ll be pleased as punch when you begin to see in black and white how much these frugal tips have saved you.

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