Five Easy Ways How to Be Frugal (and Not Cheap!)

Firstly, let’s get one thing out of the way: learning how to be frugal does NOT mean being cheap. Being frugal means you are thrifty and economical. You know how to get the best value for your buck by carefully spending what you have without being wasteful. Being frugal means getting quality things for amazing prices or deals.

“Okay, Guess How Much I Paid For This?”

That is my go-to question every time I show my family or best friends something new I bought. (Well, something new for ME). The hilarious thing is that everyone knows I’m the queen of frugal city, so giving me a low-ball number tends to be the best way to go.

There Is a Difference Between Being Frugal and Being Cheap

Being cheap – in my humble, honest opinion – means that you want to save money, regardless of what product or service you get. You’re not really interested in the value of your item, only the cost.

The problem with being cheap, is that you might buy something of less quality because you’re excited about not spending too much money.

Learning how to be frugal is different than being cheap because you look for ways you can still get a great bargain without compromising the quality of the product or service you are looking for.

Five Different Ways How You Can Be Frugal

Whether you are a single-earning household, or have multiple streams of income, saving money and spending smart can be a talent that you are interested in tapping into. See my five tips below to learn more:

How to Be Frugal Tip #1

Buy Used Instead of Brand New Items

My first tip in being frugal is one that I practice often. I love owning gently used, second-hand items. You can get clothes, books, cars, even jewelry for amazing deals once you start looking outside of the traditional places that sell them brand new.

Pawn shops offer jewelry, electronics, instruments, and power tools you can find for a fraction of the price in comparison to buying brand new from a store. You can even go online and easily search for used items. Sellers offer direct shipping or it might be available for pick up if it’s local.

A few online places I highly recommend browsing before buying something brand new in order to stay frugal are:

• Facebook Marketplace
• Offer Up
• Craigslist
• eBay

Another tip I love that I want to share to be frugal is buying refurbished. I buy refurbished electronics items all the time! My latest purchase was this renewed vacuum cleaner, that I was able to grab for a fraction of the price because it was refurbished!

How to Be Frugal Tip #2

Do It Yourself

Another frugal tip of mine is doing things yourself. I believe in paying professionals what they are worth, and I stubbornly stand by the saying, “you get what you pay for.”

However, if you feel that with a bit of time, dedication, and elbow grease, you can do something yourself, then do it!

Some easy projects you can save your dinero on are:

• Unclogging the shower
• Mowing the lawn and doing your own landscaping
• Fixing broken things, (such as the garbage disposal on your own)
• Painting your house indoors

If you are lucky enough to know someone who is knowledgeable in the area, reach out to them first. For step-by-step lessons on how to fix something, paint something, or simply just to learn how to do it solo, YouTube is the clear winner here!

How to Be Frugal Tip #3

Shop Smart

A huge money saver in our family is shopping smart.

What do I mean by that? If you absolutely have to purchase a big ticket item (and let’s face it, we all get smacked with an unexpected expense at some point in our adult life) shopping smart is the way to do it.

Before going to pricey department stores, check out outlets first. Chances are outlets have the same thing you are looking for only for a fraction of the cost. My friend got a significant price discount off a brand new fridge because it had a ding in the front door. Now a magnet happily covers the imperfection and she is as happy as can be.

If you can wait to schedule big purchases around holidays, I can guarantee you a huge deal!

Holidays to look out for (just to name a few) include:

• Presidents Day
• Mother’s Day
• Memorial Day
• Father’s Day
• Fourth of July
• Amazon Prime Day
• Tax Free Weekends
• Labor Day
• Black Friday
• Cyber Monday

Shopping smart is the best way to get what you need at a fantastic deal without compromising the quality.

How to Be Frugal Tip #4

Up-Cycling Old Furniture

If you haven’t heard of up-cycling before, it basically means taking something old, broken, or unwanted and repurposing it into something new.

In order to up-cycle, you have to see the potential. Others might see a beat up or worn-out piece of furniture, but you can see it revived and being brought back to life. A good tip is to look at the “bones” of what it is, to see what it COULD be.

Imagine pieces with a fresh coat of paint or different knobs and handles. Can something be rescued and repurposed? For inspiration, you can find thousands of examples of up-cycling furniture online.

My favorite places to find furniture to up-cycle are:

• Estate sales
• Flea markets
• Yard sales
• Thrift stores (some churches even have their own second-hand thrift stores!)
• Gifts from friends and family

Some ideas you can try to up-cycle are:

• A broken dresser into a TV stand
• Crate boxes into storage or bookshelf
• Teacups into home made candles
• Mason jars into hanging lights
• Reclaimed wood into a shelf

All of these ideas are just the tip of the iceburg. When it comes to up-cycling and re-purposing items, the sky is the limit.

How to Be Frugal Tip #5

Plant Your Own Food / Cook At Home

Planting your own food might not be for everyone, so I’ve also added “cook your own food instead of eating out” as another way to save on money.

Growing your own food can be as simple as having a kitchen herb garden, to a more complex backyard set up with raised garden beds.

Learning to grow your own food can drastically reduce your grocery bill. You would have to learn all about gardening, when to plant and when your crop is ready to be harvested. (This is on my to-do list of learning myself!)

The other option of being frugal with food is to cook at home instead of eating out. For my own sanity, we have “Pizza Fridays” every Friday, where I clean the entire house and order two pizzas for everyone to eat so I get a day off from cooking.

As a family, we also enjoy going out to eat from time to time. But of course, eating out adds up. In order to be frugal, I’ve started becoming more and more adventurous when it come to cooking in my kitchen.

Instead of going out to eat at one of my favorite restaurants, I look up tasty meals such as Blackened Salmon Tacos or Korean Beef Bulgogi. I buy all of the ingredients myself (you guessed it, for much cheaper than going to an actual restaurant) and get my cravings satisfied while learning to be frugal at the same time.

For when you do want to treat yourself and your family for a fun night out, don’t forget that many restaurants have their own local coupons, reward systems for loyal customers to redeem points or free meals, and even deals on groupon you can take advantage of.

In Conclusion

In conclusion, we’ve learned that learning to be frugal is NOT the same as being cheap. I encourage you to buy used, up-cycle, do things yourself, shop smart, and grow your own food – or cook your own meals and eat more at home.

What are some ways you like to stay frugal? Let me know in the comments below! If you found this article helpful, sign up for our newsletter to stay up to date on our recent blog posts and be entered to win our giveaways.