10 Frugal Living Tips With Big Impact

INTRODUCTION

IS FRUGAL LIVING WORTH IT?

The answer is an overwhelming YES. Many people believe that to practice frugality is to live a boring life. While that may be true, frugal living, though boring in the short term, can help you live your best life possible in the long run. Best frugal living tips like cutting down unnecessary expenditure, living below your income, and avoiding debts can help you prioritize savings which you can then enjoy later on in life.

Though frugal living tips are great, they cannot, on their own, help you to build wealth, but they can serve as a solid foundation for wealth creation and building. Frugality keeps your expenses in check and maximizes your savings so that you can get the most out of your finances. So yes, frugal living is worth it in the long run. One app that can help you manage your money and be frugal is the GuardianWealth all-in-one personal finance app.
 

SO WHAT IS FRUGAL LIVING?

Frugal living blogs have different definitions of frugality, however, the core message is being mindful of your spending so that you can save, invest and build wealth. Frugal living means whatever you spend your money on has been thought through carefully and consciously. It eliminates impulsive buying, wasteful spending, and unplanned purchases. Though frugality and stinginess are not the same, many people confuse the two. While frugal living tips prioritize spending money on essential things, stinginess makes you feel guilty even if the money is spent on essentials.
 

BENEFITS OF FRUGAL LIVING

As with any awesome venture, frugality comes with a plethora of benefits. Scan through frugal living blogs and you’ll be amazed at the sheer number of benefits you can derive from being frugal. We have sampled a few benefits of frugal living tips which are common.

1. Saves you lots of money

Saving money is the trump card of frugality. Money which you may have spent on frivolities can be saved for more useful purposes in the future. Since frugal living emphasizes conscious spending, thinking through before making a purchase helps you avoid buying non-essentials. Thus, the money can then be save and use for a more purposeful venture.

2. Wealth creation and building

Money saved from frugal living can be used to create and build wealth which will eventually lead to financial freedom. You can use your savings to set up an emergency fund or pay off debts. Also, the savings can be use to create a passive income stream by investing to yield dividends that will generate wealth.

3. Earlier Retirement

It may not have crossed your mind, but one of the best benefits of frugal living is early retirement. By “starving” yourself of your wants, you save enough money that’ll help you retire early so that you can live the life you’ve always dreamed of.

These and many more are the benefits of frugal living that should encourage you to be frugal, but how do you become frugal? Here are the 10 best frugal living tips to get you started.
 

TOP 10 FRUGAL LIVING TIPS

Several frugal living blogs have highlighted many tips that promote frugal living and we have come up with the 10 best frugal living tips that are sure to save you some money and help you build wealth.

• • a. Create A Budget

The foundation to living frugally is a budget. A comprehensive budget gives you vivid details of your income and especially, your expenditures. Armed with this information, you can then look at areas of your expenses that are wasting your money and cut them off. Though it sounds easy, drawing an exhaustive budget can be an uphill task. However, that doesn’t have to be the case. Our GuardianWealth budget planner is an all-inclusive app that helps you to draw a comprehensive budget that lists all your income and expenditure. If you’re worried about overspending, the GuardianWealth budget planner has got you. You can set a spending limit per expense category so that you don’t overspend. Having a budget is basic if you want to live frugally, that is why it is top of the list of our frugal living tips.

• • b. Buy in Bulk and Use Discount Coupons

Though this is one of the best frugal living ideas, it is rarely practiced because it seems counterintuitive. “Why would you purchase things in bulk when you’re trying to save money?”. However, buying in bulk actually saves you some bucks. First, the price of items tends to be lower when bought in bulk. Also, you don’t need to make constant trips every day to the mall or store (which may cost you money). However, be cautious when purchasing bulk items because you may purchase more than you really need and that can prove counterproductive. Also, make use of discount coupons whenever the opportunity comes.

• • c. Set Savings Goals

Make saving money your priority. Set targets that are reasonable given your current income. Being frugal shouldn’t put unnecessary stress on you and your finances, therefore, your goals should be achievable. Break up your saving goals into monthly, quarterly, and yearly targets, and make sure you stick to them. Frugal living ideas are useless if they don’t lead to saving. So, be sure to set saving goals that would guide you.

• • d. Automate Your Savings and Investments

It is one thing to set savings goals and another to achieve them. No matter how realistic and achievable your goals are, refusing to actually save will render your goals but a dream. Many frugal living tips recommend you save, but don’t show how to actualize savings. Saving is very difficult especially when you have to physically set some money aside. That’s why it is prudent to automate your savings and investments. One way to do that is by using a wealth builder app.

• • e. Get A Side Hustle

Getting a side job helps to alleviate the burden on your main source of income. It helps you to save more and build wealth faster. It is one of the frugal living tips that, though doesn’t directly influence frugal living, enables you to become financially free. A side hustle will expand your streams of income and allow you to better manage your finances.

• • f. Pay Down Your Debt

Debts have a way of drilling holes in people’s pockets. They can cause poverty (which is not the same as frugality) and associated health problems. Debts can stand in the way of your saving goals and your desire to be frugal. As part of our frugal living tips, we recommend that you pay down all your debts if you aim to be frugal. First, pay off the debts that are smaller and gradually tackle the huge ones. Schedule the debt payments so that they don’t constitute unnecessary pressure on your finances.

• • g. Avoid Credit Card Debts and Improve Your Credit Score

Credit cards are largely responsible for the debts of many Americans. A lot spend most of their working life paying off credit card debts and are only able to save little come retirement. Our seventh frugal living tip recommends the avoidance of credit card debts if you want to build wealth. Preventing credit card debts also leads to high credit scores that help you save money on interests.

• • h. Save With Friends and Family

Saving with friends and family guarantees the discipline and encouragement that you need to save. Saving on your own can be challenging even if it is automated. However, joining a saving group gingers you and helps you to reach your saving goals quicker and faster. Group saving is one of the frugal living tips that helps to grow your money and provide a firm foundation for wealth creation. However, finding a trusted saving group can be tricky but you can trust the GuardianWealth group saving app to solve all your group saving needs.

• • i. Get Financial Education

One of the major obstacles to frugal living is the inability to make the right financial choices. Like every serious venture you need the right education to help you make the right decisions. Many people dream of frugality but are unable to achieve frugality due to wrong financial choices. Getting financial education is a great frugal living tip that’ll not only help you be frugal with your spending but teach you to become financially independent. Our GuardianWealth financial literacy program equips you with the best resources and apps to make the right financial decisions.

• • j. Explore fun for free options

Finally, one of the most productive activities that can also drain finances is fun. Releasing stress through fun activities is very crucial to our survival, but fun can also burn holes through our pockets. So, how do we undertake this all-important activity while maintaining frugality? The answer is in this frugal living tip: explore fun for free options. There are several ways you can have fun and release stress without putting undue pressure on your finances or betraying frugality. You can volunteer at an amusement park and combine ‘work’ with pleasure. You can also visit an aquarium or a museum on days that admission fees are waived. Getting a book or downloading a movie from a free movie site are other ways of having fun whilst saving money.

In short, living frugally is possible if you set your mind to it, stay focused and committed. These frugal living tips will help you manage your expenses so that you can build wealth and become financially free. You should leverage a money management app, to help you get the most out of your finances.