How to be frugal

That title might seem a bit silly, but I know we all struggle with it sometimes.  Like a diet (it IS a diet, just of money), there will always be temptations and times when you feel like you’ve lost sight of your goals.  That’s totally normal and also why you need to have strategies in place to deal with this.

For example, I really wanted to stop for a soda and bag of crisps on way back to work from lunch.  I wasn’t hungry, since I had just eaten, but I really fancied them.  But then I remembered the long conversation with G a few nights back about spending money and we both agreed to be more restrictive, and this helped me to not indulge.  It wouldn’t be right to get annoyed at my husband every time he indulges in a sneaky takeaway coffee if I buy random things, too.  Like the dieter’s manta “nothing tastes as good as skinny feels”, tell yourself that your goals (savings, paying off debts, paying for future big purchases) are more than worth whatever instant gratification you want now.

On a related note, but slightly different, I think it’s really important to be intelligent about your spending habits and realise when quality really is worth it.  As a random example, I used to buy cheap chapstick as I use it a million times a day and didn’t want to pay for an expensive brand every time I needed more.  But then I bought a good brand a few weeks ago when it was on sale and quickly realised that I was using much less than before because it was actually doing a good job.  Then I tried to think of other examples and G’s work shoes came to mind.  We used to buy cheap ones (£12?) from Shoe Zone that need replacing every 3 months.  Then a friend mentioned she buys her husband’s shoes from Brantano’s for only a little bit more, around £20, but only need to be replaced once a year.  So by spending a little bit more, she says money in the long run, just like the chapstick.  Rest assured, once these latest Shoe Zone ones have worn through, our next pair will be from Brantano’s!

Be smart with your frugality.  Why pay £2 for liquid soap when the 40p value version cleans your hands as well?  If you don’t want visitors judging you on your soap habits (!), just empty the cheap soap into an empty bottle of the expensive stuff!  Think your kids won’t eat anything but Heinz ketchup?  Try filling a Heinz bottle with value ketchup and I’ll bet they never notice.  Value paracetamol (16p!) is the exact same stuff as Anadin.  There’s so many little changes you can make that all add up to make a big difference.