21 Best Frugal Living Tips To Retire Early!

Saving extra money is a real passion of mine. Having extra money gives me choices.  Choices to travel more, spend on my loved ones and save for my future. I have created a list of best frugal living tips which can help you save a little extra too.

What is Frugal Living ?

Frugal living is about prioritising and making choices about your spending. You spend on things that are important and save on things that aren’t.

But frugal living doesn’t mean being a tightass.

I hate stingy people, I stay far, FAR away from them, as they bring out the angry person in me!

I love being able to spend on my family and friends. What’s the point in making money if I can’t create more smiles eh?

My biggest dream is to buy my mum a house in NZ, but I can’t do that .. if I’m frittering away my money on things I don’t care about.

Frugal living is being mindful on what you spend your money on and not wasting it on unnecessary things.

While you are on this frugal living journey, here are some thrifty living tips to avoid.

With that in mind, here are 21 best frugal living tips:

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Best Frugal Living Tips

1.Save money on bank fees

2.Repurpose your dinners

3.Grow your own herbs

4. Get on the homemade coffee wagon

5.Get into virtual fitness and ditch gym membership fees

6. Ditch hard cover and download e-books

7. Rent out your car parking space/ garage

8. Consider car pooling

9. Follow the 50/30/30 budget

10. Use credit cards to your advantage

11. Plan your cooking methods properly

12. Go vegetarian 1-2 times a week

13. Eyes on the prize

14. Clear out your food cupboards

15. Skip the name brands

16. Make your own flavoured water

17. Plan free activities

18.Declutter and sell your items

19. Get a shopping bag alternative

20. Throw some dinner parties 

21 . Consider cable alternatives

 

1.Save money on bank fees

I used to work in a bank, so know exactly how much customers would spend on bank fees… A LOT!

If you need to send money abroad, don’t use a standard bank transfer.

Cheaper and safe alternatives are TransferWise and Xendpay.

Also, Revolut, Monzo, TransferWise allows you to withdraw money abroad for low to minimal fees, compared to a bank.

Get with the fintech* programme and start using alternative payment methods.

Ps; they are protected by the government and are legitimate.

*Financial technology

2.Repurpose your dinners

Cook meals that can turn into multiple meals for the week. For example:

Monday                Dinner : Roast chicken with potatoes and vegetables

Tuesday               Lunch  : Chicken sandwiches, Dinner: Chicken soup

Wednesday       Lunch  : Chicken Pasta

See, one big roast chicken meal has turned into 4 meals !

If you need some guidance on how to make cheap, frugal meals in under 30 minutes, check this book out :

The book can be found on Amazon and comes with a free 2-day shipping with an Amazon Prime Membership

Don’t have Amazon Prime? You can grab a 30-day FREE trial here.

Tip– You could order everything you need on and get free delivery and after the free trial is over, you can cancel.

Don’t fancy a hard cover?  Save money by downloading it on your Kindle, much cheaper and easier to access and you get unlimited books to read.

3- Grow your own herbs

If you want your food to be tasty and healthy, it’s a good idea to include herbs. But a jar of herbs can be costly!

One of my favourite frugal living tips which saved me a lot of money was growing my own herbs and flinging them in my dinners with great gusto.

Here are a few easy herbs to grow:

• Parsley
• Basil
• Mint
• Oregano
• Rosemary
• Coriander
• Chives

My little herb garden has lasted me an entire season and it is so satisfying being able to nourish your body with good food , for FREE!

4- Get on the homemade coffee wagon

Most people need a coffee to get them though the day. But the average price of coffee is $3.12.

If you are swigging 2-3 cups a day, that’s money you could be spending on a trip to Italy. Where the coffee is actually really good…

So, get yourself a Nespresso coffee machine.I think it works out to be about $1 per coffee and tastes just as good.

This item can be found on Amazon and comes with a free 2-day shipping with an Amazon Prime Membership

Don’t have Amazon Prime? You can grab a 30-day FREE trial here.

Tip– You could order everything you need on and get free delivery and after the free trial is over, you can cancel.

5. Get into virtual fitness and ditch gym membership fees

Virtual fitness training and fitness apps are all the rage. A lot of them are FREE.

If you want to keep fit and get those bum cheeks so solid you can bounce a tennis ball off them, utilise FREE fitness apps that can guide you through your workouts.

 

Fitness Apps

• Abs Workout– Helps you get abs so sharp you can grate cheese off them. They block workouts into 4-8 minutes so it’s more manageable.
• Nike Running– Tracks your tunning and send motivational speeches after your workout
• Gaia yoga-A mindfulness app which also helps you with yoga
• Down Dog– Another yoga app which has 30,000 different configurations so you can find a yoga session that suits you
• 7 Minute Workout– Consolidates whole body workouts into 7 minutes. Great to get your heart pumping in a short span of time

I have used most of these apps and they have been instrumental to my fitness and health.

FREE You Tube Fitness Channels

FREE YouTube fitness channels also allow you to workout at your own pace from your own home.  A few really good ones I follow are Boho Beautiful and Yoga with Adrienne.

They both provide videos on specific issues like tight joints, back pain and yoga for pregnant women etc….the best part? They are FREE!

6. Ditch hard cover and download e-books

E-books are a lifesaver. They are cheaper and you don’t have to weight your bag down with heavy books. ALL the books I buy now are e-books and it means I can switch between books when I travel or even buy e-courses to help develop my mind, at a fraction of the price of a normal hard cover book.

Save money by downloading books on your Kindle, much cheaper and easier to access and you get an unlimited number of books to read.

7. Rent out your car parking space/ garage

If you use your car to go to work .. there is an empty car space just waiting to make you money.

If you live in the city, rent your car space out on these apps :

• Parkpnp
• Bookgaragetime
• Parkme
• Justpark
• Parkwhiz

8. Consider car pooling

One of the best frugal living tips is to reduce your transport costs by ride sharing. These apps below connect passengers and drivers traveling the same directions so they can split fuel costs.

Some even match the driver and passengers according to musical preference !

• Gocarma
• Side
• Treesforcars
• Zimride

9. Follow the 50/30/20 budget

Many people don’t realise how much money they should be saving or spending. The money goes in, they spend it and hope they can use the rest to save.

But every month, there is nothing left.

So how much should you be saving ?

Follow the 50/30/20 rule

• 50% of your income on essential living expenses (rent, mortgage, groceries, bills etc)
• 30% of your income on wants ( shopping, dining out, entertainment )
• 20% of your income on saving and debt repayments

So, whenever your salary comes in, at least 20% should be saved or used to pay off existing debt.

Ps; If you want to track your finances you can use this super cute budget planner!

10. Use credit cards to your advantage

When people hear credit cards, they freak out and start calling the debt police.

However, certain credit cards offer cash back rewards on spending.

For example, my credit card in NZ (ANZ Cashback Visa) gave me 1% cash back on my spending. Money that I spent anyway. I spent $30, 000 and received $300 in FREE money.

So, pay everything with your credit card and MAKE SURE you pay off the balance in full at the end of the month.

It is extremely important for you to pay the balance off in full every month to avoid any interest payments.

TIP- Go for the credit card that has $0 annual fees or has a $0 introductory fee for new customers.

Close the credit card once you have received your cash back reward for the year

11.Plan your cooking methods properly

I am a big fan of roasting my meals. I throw everything in a tray with a bit of meat/seafood and seasoning and then wail along to Shania twain for the rest of the evening while the meal cooks itself.

But this is a waste of electricity

A lot of meals can be cooked in a frying pan , which saves electricity costs .

Salmon, chicken and vegetables can all be fried in a pan instead of being left to roast for an hour

12. Go vegetarian 1-2 times a week

This is a working progress as I am a big fan of meat. But I tried eating meat free for two weeks and noticed a huge difference in my food expenses

Meat is expensive.

You can replace meat with beans, tofu or legumes, as they are protein rich.

It’s also healthier to give your body a break from meat from time to time.

You can try this book: ‘Vegan Recipes for Under $30 a Week, in Less Than 30 Minutes a Meal’to find good ideas for veggie recipes.

13. Eyes on the prize

The bottom and top shelves at the grocery store tend to have the cheapest products.

The middle shelves are often stocked with the most expensive items.

So check the top and bottom shelves for the best prices.

14. Clear out your food cupboards

 I swear this works every time.

Try it today, I guarantee you will find food ingredients you didn’t know you have!

Even better is if you can plan some meals around these forgotten food ingredients, so you can use them up instead of buying new stuff!

15. Skip the name brands

If you have a habit of reaching for the well-known brands, skip them. Use generic brands as most of them are made in the same factory anyway!

I used to always reach for baked beans and ketchup from Heinz until I realised that the generic Tesco brand tasted exactly the same, but were much cheaper.

16. Make your own flavoured water

Did you know that 1 in 3 Americans drink soda?

You can avoid all that sugar and make yourself tasty flavoured water by leaving fruits in a bottle of water overnight.

You can even add lemon and ginger, which will be great natural supplements to boost your immune system

17. Plan free activities

It’s easy to spend money when you are bored. Solution: Find and plan free activities to do in your free time!

Instead of going out to a restaurant for lunch or the cinema, you could pack a picnic and eat in a nice park with a view.

Host a movie marathon at home with popcorn or plan a games night.

You could call it ’Frugal Fridays’, where everyone makes an effort once a month to save but also have fun!

18. Declutter and sell your items

Do a big spring clean and clear out any items you don’t need.

Don’t throw them away.

If you have spare clothes, sell them on Platoscloset, Buffalo Exchange, DePop, ThredUp, Therealreal, Poshmark, eBay, FB Marketplace, Tradesy or Refash

If you have spare gadgets and electronic items , sell them on Decluttr or Gazelle

And if you have spare books sell them on Bookscouter or Halfpricebooks

19. Get a shopping bag alternative

Don’t ever spend another dime on plastic shopping bags.

My sister gave me two shopping bag alternatives and I have never spent money on a shopping bag again.

Ok I lie. I have forgotten to bring it from time to time. (Sorry big sis’!)

But overall, stick it in your handbag and take them out when you do your shopping. Simples!

20.Throw some dinner parties

What .. wont that mean you are spending money ?

NOPE

You can host some dinners and advertise slots on Eatwith and AirBnB Experiences and get paid for it!

You can charge between $30 – $60 per person.

#makethatmoneybaby!

21. Consider cable alternatives.

Did you know that 73 percent of U.S. households have a cable or satellite television subscription ?

You can cut costs by considering cable alternatives like Netflix, Hulu, or Amazon, which have plenty of watching options,  but are easier on the budget.

Frugal living doesn’t need to be complicated.

Also, if you are looking to save money and live frugally, check out my article 13 Cheap Alternative Living Solutions (Realistic And Cost Efficient ) where I give you tons of ideas of cheap housing options to save money and never worry again about having a roof over your head!

These best frugal living tips will help you get creative and find simple ways to save and make a little extra money.

If you are looking for alternative ways to work from home and make money online, it’s worth checking out these articles :

How to Become an Online Teacher (and earn $6,000 per month!) 

How to Become an Online Editor (9 Easy Steps)

 How to Become a Well-Paid Freelance Writer

How to Become a Virtual Assistant With No Experience

Or perhaps you may be interested in starting your own blog that makes money within the first month?

Check out this step-by-step guide to setting up your blog today.

If you have found any other frugal living tips and ideas or have insight on how to live frugally and save money,please share it with us in the comments below!