8 Tips for (Really) Frugal Living
Jeff Yeager doesn't clip coupons -- surprising for a frugal living expert whose books on the subject have landed him on The Today Show.
Using coupons leads to unnecessary spending, and Yeager, author of The Ultimate Cheapskate's Road Map to True Riches and The Cheapskate Next Door, preaches spending a little and reusing a lot. Give him an orange rind and he'll use it to shine copper pots. Show him an empty toilet paper roll and some dryer lint, and he'll stuff one with the other for a homemade fire starter.
A pared-down lifestyle isn't solely about saving money. It's also about getting happy, he says. "It's about choices. Every time you get your wallet out and decide what you're going to spend on, you're making a choice."
To get into the frugal habit, Yeager suggests going a week without buying anything, what he calls a "fiscal fast." Pay bills that are due and buy prescription medication ahead of time. Otherwise, don't stockpile food or anything else. Fix meals from what's on hand. Stretch the gas in your tank by telecommuting, carpooling, biking, walking or taking public transportation. For fun, play board games or read a book. When the week's over, use any money you saved to pay down debts, or put it in savings, Yeager says.
Here are some other not-your-run-of-the-mill frugal living tips that Yeager shared at the recent AARP Life@50+ convention in Los Angeles:
1. Do a 'What was I thinking?' audit. Once or twice a year, look through your checking account or major receipts to see what you're spending on. If you're buying things you don't really need, use the information to stop yourself from making similar purchases in the future. "Americans regret 80 percent of their discretionary purchases within a year of making the purchase," he says.
2. Make it hard to buy things. Force yourself to wait at least overnight before buying something, and pay in cash rather than on credit. "Research has shown that it's easier to put something on a credit card," he says.
3. Eat lower down the food chain. Consume more beans and legumes, which cost less than meat and are healthier for you.
4. Go paperless. Read magazines and newspapers online or at the library. Sign up with 41pounds.org to take yourself off of catalog and junk mail lists that may lead to unnecessary purchases.
5. Plant trees around your house. The additional shade "will decrease your energy use, and trees increase the value of your house," he says.
6. Finish in your starter home. Instead of graduating to a bigger, more expensive home or retirement home, stay put, and pay off your mortgage as quickly as you can.
7. When it comes to gifts, think "free." Instead of buying your kids or grandkids more stuff, give them a day at a park or the beach. "Possessions decrease in value, and experiences tend to appreciate," Yeager says. For more on this philosophy, he recommends reading Daniel Gilbert's book, Stumbling Onto Happiness.
8. Get creative. When it comes to reusing things, think outside the box. Yeager takes that advice quite literally, drinking boxed wine and blowing up the empty plastic liners to use as neck pillows on airplane flights or poking holes in them to create a slow-drip irrigation system for plants.
Read more: 10 Cool Sites For Frugalistas.
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Comments:
Your tips will really be very much fruitful for those who follow frugal living,but i dont personally believe in it ,i think going frugal is like killing your self.
I do most of these already. I do like #1 and will be doing this. Thanks for the ideas. I am always looking for new ideas to use my money wisely!
Sounds great, but being married with two young kids, there's no way I could live on $400 a month. Try about $7,000!
going frugal is like killing your self. better start planning how to control your budget...
What a gr8 post, bit i tink woking for par time wold also help...............
Just dropping smoking, buying coffee by the cup, magazines at the checkout counter and little things like that make a huge difference over time... Also keeps you from cluttering up your home. Everytime you buy something, something has to go. This has stopped me from making many impulse buys...
I will check with mine, my car has actually had to be driven, it should be sold, but in this ecomony it hasnt happened yet.....Thanks
How much did you save on the water heater?? Does it cause any problems? I have to find more ways to cut, and most of the time its only me. I need some more cut back, and am really liking it. I need it to help with expenses, and to try to get even on the curve..........
I live on less than $400 a month, and could do with even less than that if needed. That includes shelter, utilities, food & medical. I don't clip coupons and haven't had debt for years, and I don't have a car--just my feet, my bicycle, or an occasional taxi. I do have internet and cable, keep pets, donate to charity, and volunteer in my community. I live in an energy efficient home, and reduce, reuse, recyle. I never buy new. I eat mostly vegetarian from my own garden with occasional salmon imported directly from Alaska, or herring from the EU, and quinoa from South America. I'm 55 and very healthy so my medical costs are practically nil. I work online, but don't have to anymore. I used my extra money to install solar water heating and electric generation, a water collection system, a composting toilet, a greenhouse, a screened garden, a built-in solar oven in a south facing kitchen wall, a wood stove in the winter kitchen that uses downfall, and various other utility conscious technologies over the years.
:O I don't want to live this radically! I'd rather spend the few extra bucks to make me happy now rather than save it for later. Being a person who's had cancer, I've come to appreciate the now like never before. However, I do save...but I will not, by any circumstances, drink boxed wine ever.
I'm mulling this now - my 20yo car, worth $2500, cost me a total of $2500 to run last year and I only drove 1800 miles last year, so that's like $1.40 a mile. Put another way, it cost me $20 per day to drive my car to work and back compared to $5 or 8 return train ticket (off/peak). I'd get rid of the car tomorrow except my dodgy knee tends to give me problems if I walk / take the train every day, so I tend to alternate. One saving grace is that being old and cheap, the depreciation is low compared to new cars which I've read tend to cost anywhere from $4-10,000 a year all up to run (insurance, registration, fuel, service, depreciation).
We turn off the hot water heater for 3 days and then back on in the evening after dinner the 4th day. Adding an insulation blanket to it keeps the water decently hot for 2 days and acceptably hot for the 3rd. Obviously we have have learned to bathe w/ a minimum of water and this would only be practical for a one or 2 person household to get the hot water in the tank to stretch for 3 days. We load the dishwasher and run it on a hot water evening- takes a small family a couple days to fill one anyhow. This is saving us a lot and we are going to use it to get an on demand hot water heater eventually if nothing else more urgent comes up. You will be amazed how much this saves you and how you can learn to reduce your use of expensive hot water.
Great idea for those living in the city.
Great tip. Some car insurance companies have started offering pay-as-you-drive policies, pegging annual premiums to how many miles you drive in a year, so the less you drive, the less you pay - another way to save.
If you want to get radical consider going car free! Just Google it and you'll see that you can save thousands of dollars by switching to public transportation. We went from a 2 car to a 1 car family, but the car stays parked 4 days a week. I ride the bus to work, and this is subsidized through a program with my employer. This has dramatically reduced the costs of owning our car.
I like your tips.
I'm in the same boat w/no wood-burning fireplace. But you could use them for camping, and if you don't camp, you could probably find a local Boy Scout or Girl Scout troop that does and might appreciate them.
Great tips! I only wish I had a fireplace to use the toilet paper roll/dryer lint tip!