Frugal Ideas for Living on a Budget

Getting Started

Get started on the path to a personalized frugal lifestyle by coming up with a budget system that works for you and your family, regardless of income. Even people who make six figures can end up in financial ruin if they do not have a workable budget. Figure out your household budget and then stick to it.

On each payday, divert the portion of check into retirement accounts, savings and debt payments that you came up with when making your budget. Then, withdraw the rest in cash or create a system of accounts if you continue to use your debit card. Have envelopes (or accounts) ready labeled food, entertainment, clothing, etc. Once the money is gone, you cannot spend any more in that category/account until the next payday.

Do this for several months in order to help you fine-tune your budget to your particular lifestyle. Instead of just following recommended advice for putting particular percentages of your paycheck towards certain areas, you can reroute leftover money from one category into another where you have shortages in order to personalize your budget.

Frugal Ideas for Living on a Budget

After determining a personalized budget, you do not have to stay home, eating bread and butter in the freezing cold and dark. Extreme money saving stereotypes are often what scares others away from accepting frugal ideas for living on a budget. But, you do not have to change your entire life to find ways to save money. Anyone, with any budget, can benefit from cutting expenses without cutting out his or her life.

Use the ideas that are listed below to help you find activities and ideas for incorporating frugality into your daily routine without having to adopt an entirely new lifestyle.

Beauty and Skincare

Just because you are pinching pennies does not give you an excuse to ignore hygiene and maintenance. Save money by exchanging services (perhaps yard work or babysitting) with a friend who wields a scissors in order to get a haircut. Pick up hair care products at the local dollar store or buy generic brands. Clip coupons to find “buy one, get on free” makeup essentials.

Learn how to give yourself a manicure and pedicure, and read up on how to make a face mask out of fruits, milk and honey. Finally, if you really want to splurge on spa beauty treatments, designate a particular jar and save “found” money so you do not have to take money away from the budget. “Found” money can be anything you want, from birthday or holiday gifts to dryer change.

Clothing

Everyone on a budget knows that living frugally involves purchasing items second-hand, whether from eBay or consignment stores. But if you are used to having a designer wardrobe, this can be a difficult adjustment. Ease into it by looking for consignments in upscale neighborhoods and going to yard sales in high-end housing developments.

Another way to get new clothes is to arrange a swap meet with your friends. Have everyone bring clothes that they no longer wear or do not fit. Group items by size or type (or both) and let everyone take turns trying things on.

Entertainment

Living frugally does not mean you must sacrifice everything fun in your life. Even if your current interests are expensive, you can find ways to continue them without spending a lot of money. For example, if you like going to NASCAR races and spend hundreds of dollars on tickets, consider watching the sport at home. When you have spare money, try getting involved in local racetracks, where tickets are cheaper.

Movie lovers can always find cheap rentals. Online movie rental companies, such as Netflix, offer low-cost options for picking out the newly released to video movies. It will save on gas costs from going to and from the rental store. Even better, think about renting them from the local library for free! Get together with a group of friends and rotate homes to make it a social event. Trade off having one couple be the designated babysitters if your circle includes children.

You can find plenty of free entertainment in your own community as well. Check newspapers and television stations for their community datebooks. Special events, like summer music in the park, are often listed. Make a habit of looking for something new to do several times a month.

If your main form of entertainment was traveling, you can do this in a frugal manner, too. Instead of flying overseas or to the coasts, become a tourist in your local city and state. From county fairs to art museums to zoos, you can usually find local attractions to fit almost any budget.

Fitness

Giving up a gym membership, personal trainer or selling home equipment to save money seems counterintuitive. After all, having good health will save you hundreds upon thousands of dollars in the long run. But you do not have to bust your budget to do so.

Two of the best cheap exercises are walking or jogging. By varying your pace, stride and route, you can easily stay in good shape. Biking and hiking are other options for getting in some fun exercise. Use jars of pasta sauce or old milk jugs filled with water as hand weights for home exercise and search yard sales for exercise videos.

Small Changes Mean Big Budget Savings

By changing the way you think about your current expensive interests, you can almost always find easy ways to save money. You do not have to adopt an entirely new radical lifestyle in order to use frugal ideas for living on a budget.

Of course, these ideas are for people who are not in extreme debt or financial crisis. If that describes your situation, you should consider speaking to a qualified financial advisor and making big lifestyle changes.

If you have any suggestions on small daily changes to help anyone live frugally, share them with LoveToKnow readers by adding a comment at the end of this article!