Frugal Living
How to Live on Less

Being frugal. It sounds like a restrictive, cheapskate way to live doesn't it?

There are times in most people’s lives when they will have to really reduce how much money you need to live on.

After I left my wife was one of those times for me. I know there were a lot of other times for me also, especially during college.

The knowledge of how to live on a lot less money and being very frugal can be one of the most important skills that you can have and the most empowering.

Just knowing that it is possible to live on a lot less can be the difference between living a life in an abusive situation in a comfortable home versus a life of living without abuse but in a lot less comfort.

There are so many cases of people staying with the wrong person only for the money. If you knew you could survive with very little money, you may choose to live your life in a way that makes you happy rather than not.

I think I stayed in a bad marriage partly because of money. I certainly thought about staying because of money.

Think about women and men all over the world who stay in terribly abusive relationships because they don’t want to give up the relative comfort that they have. They don't think they can survive. They don't know how to be frugal.

You can survive on not much money for however long it takes you to get to the point where you have more.

It can be hard. You may be embarrassed at times. You may wonder how you will survive. But you will.

Now let’s get into the ways to be frugal.

I cook at home most of the time. Whenever I do go out to eat I keep the cost under control by using coupons, rarely having a drink, no desserts and by ordering the less expensive items.

I shop the sales at the grocery store. I use coupons. I buy food at Wal-Mart, ALDI’s and at the Dollar Store. I know what the low cost of the things I buy are and stock up at their lowest price.

I used a price book for awhile to learn the low price of the food I normally buy. You use the price book to write down the groceries you buy often and then note the price you paid for them. You will determine the cost per unit to compare. Click on the price book links for a good explanation of how to set one up.

It’s a great tool to get the most out of your grocery money. You will have a readily available list of what you normally buy and the price you have paid. When you are at the store and you see that the price of the item is much lower than normal then you would buy more of that item.

Keeping a price book really helps to keep the cost of your food to a minimum and be more frugal.

I base what I have to eat on what’s on sale and what I have on hand. I like to make a game of it, seeing how long I can go without going to the store.

I watch for and keep a container of restaurant coupons.

Everything I need for the house I can get either get at the Dollar Store or at Wal-Mart.

I get the most inexpensive items that I can find. I don’t really think there is that big of a difference between toothpaste, soap, toilet paper and all those types of things.

I look for great deals on the things I need by shopping on-line at stores like organize.com listed below that offer big discounts:

With this mindset you will be able to save big on normal needs and survival needs.

You may be at a point where you are just surviving or you may be working to have more money for your goals. In any case it can be done.

A big way to save money is to just do less entertainment.

Concerts and professional sporting events are very expensive.

Eating out can be expensive. I love to go out to eat so look for ways to minimize that cost.

Going out for drinks can be expensive. I choose to have beer most of the time. It is less expensive than other drinks as long as you don't have the fancier brands. I also limit how much I have to drink. It's better for me not to drink so muchanyway.

Hobbies are expensive.

Collections are expensive.

Owning a large house is expensive.

I am continuing to drive my old car instead of getting a newer car.

I do not have cable TV or a satellite dish. I watch what is available on free TV. I also use HULU quite often to watch my favorite shows on FOX and NBC.

I do have high speed WIFI. I just started with this earlier this year. The expense is worth it. There is nothing better than the Internet. Having high speed internet access is one area I am not frugal.

I don't buy a lot of books. I do a lot of reading from free sources on the internet.

I have used libraries extensively. I had times where I checked out 2 dozen books at a time, read some, skimmed and returned them in a few days. If I bought those books it would have cost hundreds of dollars.

I go to Barnes & Noble to read the latest books there. It is so nice to browse through the store on a winter day, sit in their comfortable chairs, maybe have a cup of coffee and read whatever I am interested in.

I find that when I am drawn to a book at the bookstore a number of times and end up reading most of it at the bookstore then it is a book that is worth the money as a resource. So I buy it and keep it. I read it at home and want to keep it.

I only buy clothes when needed.

I avoid spending a lot of money on my kids. I try to balance what they want with what they need. I am using hand me down furniture instead of buying new furniture.

I furnished my apartment after leaving my wife with castoffs from other people.

I don't really find my frugal lifestyle that restrictive. I think of it as empowering. I look for ways to save on costs so that I have more money to do other things. I don't think of it as restriction I think of it as investment in a freer future for myself.

There are some improvements I will make when my finances improve but I doubt that I would not continue to live in a frugal way.

Return from Frugal to Getting Organized Financially.

Return from Frugal to Organized-Way.

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