No, I won’t make you buy reusable toilet paper or flush toilets once a week (yes, these are actual tips I’ve seen online). And I promise not to encourage you to deprive yourselves of everything that brings happiness into your soul.
Frugal living isn’t about avoiding spending ANY money, but about budgeting smarter, giving your money a better job, and using what you have in ways you never thought of. After all, that’s what the internet is for – to give you ideas, share others’ experiences, and make you improve your home and life.
This post gives you 25 frugal hacks that are actually cool, achievable, and logical. They make you stop overbuying, over consuming, and cluttering your home and mind.
You will also get a free printable checklist with all these frugal hacks, so you can keep it in your budget planner or pin it on your fridge.
Big-Picture Money Habits and Frugal Tips
1. Automate your weekly savings
Instead of cluttering your brain with yet-another-task like saving money, automate your savings to weekly (or even monthly if that’s how you do it). Set up a direct debit from your current account to your savings and leave the rest to your bank to do.
The cool thing about this approach is that you don’t have to overthink saving too much, you just set it up in your bank’s app. You don’t have to wonder if you should or shouldn’t save this month or if you’d rather buy something with that money. If you select the right amount of money to save, you will forget about that direct debit in less than a week, I promise.
Don’t roll your eyes, you can save money even if you are on a low income. I’ve done it and I am still doing it right now, using these 3 ridiculously easy money-saving challenges.
2. Keep a 30-day purchase list
You know how that one goes. You create a list in your phone’s notes and write down every item you think you need or want, then let it marinate for a month over there. If you’re still that passionate about buying it, then it’s worth the money. If you’ve forgotten about it (which would happen 99% of the time) you know it was going to be an impulse buy.
If 30 days sounds too long to wait, then give it 10 days or a week (but not less). Most of the time when we “really” want something and believe it would fix our lives, it would just turn out to be a marketing trick we’ve fallen for. Giving ourselves some time to overthink it can actually save us money.
3. Audit subscriptions often
Actually, as I write this, I realise that I’ve been paying for my Amazon Kindle for probably over a year without actually reading even one book there. If I had the habit of reviewing our subscriptions quarterly, I would’ve saved myself at least £30-£40 until now. In case you’re wondering, I have a small baby, a house to clean, meals to cook, 3 Etsy shops to run, and 2 blogs to manage… so no, I don’t have time to read at this point.
4. Schedule one no-spend weekend
Weekends are the days my husband and I spend our money on. It isn’t like we go to parties (new parents alert), but we go out shopping together and that is a very tricky decision that usually makes us moneyless (is that a word? I know it’s not, but it should be).
We spend the most on weekends because that’s the time we go out, visit shops, plan home improvements, and make impulse purchases. A no-spend weekend every month would save us, and probably you, from that vicious cycle.
5. Talk to kids about money basics
One thing I really don’t understand is how much we, as parents, focus on the importance of our children knowing about Shakespeare, Pythagoras, and the periodic table, but not about teaching them how to manage their money, save, and invest.
I was never taught how to budget and I didn’t know what an account is until I turned 18 (that was many, many years ago). It wasn’t until I started working in a bank that I educated myself on how money flows and what to do with it so I always “had something” in my accounts.
I intend to never do that mistake with my child. He will know that money (like it or not), is a crucial part of an adult’s life and he will know how to make it, spend it, and invest it.
I suggest you do the same with your children, so we can all end this worldwide financial blindness in young people.
Groceries and Food
6. Plan meals around sales
Here’s how to do it.
Next time you go to do your weekly shopping, grab the shop’s leaflet on the way in. It will show you what’s going to be on offer in a few days. Coordinate that with what you have in your pantry, review your list of meals you usually cook at home, and create your shopping list based on all of that.
No, it isn’t that complicated, it just requires you to spend 10 minutes less on TikTok than usual.
7. Create budget staple dinners
Budget staple dinners are meals you can do for under a fiver (or tenner). They are delicious, easy to make, but also require cheap ingredients. Most of the time (not always) those meals are meatless, but hey, going meatless for a day or two every week is actually healthy.
Here’re three budget staple dinners that are on my list:
- Simple rice with veggies in the oven;
- Pasta with tuna and tomato sauce;
- Meatballs with a side of potato puree.
What would yours be?
8. Have one leftovers night weekly
If I have to be honest with you, we always have leftover lunches. But on a few occasions, a portion would still remain in the pot. I save those single portions for a day or two and then my husband and I have them towards the end of the week. If I feel like the meal wouldn’t last that long, I freeze it.
Another honest opinion – I don’t know why the word “leftovers” has such a negative impact on my brain, but it does (non-native English speaker here), so I don’t think about leftover food as …well, leftover. I prefer to think of it as food I’ve cooked in advance. It sounds better and it feels better.
9. Batch cook and freeze extras
Every time you cook a meal that you can also freeze, make double portions and freeze some of it.
Next time you’re out all day and you know you’ll have no time to cook in the evening, take the frozen meal out in the morning, leave it to rest in the refrigerator, and heat it up in the evening. This way you don’t have to order take-away or eat cold sandwiches, and you also feel like a productive and organised housewife.
10. Use ingredients overlap each week
This could be a no-brainer, but I will mention it anyway. If you buy a big pack of chicken fillets, make two meals of it. If you get something on offer this week, such as mushrooms, more tomatoes, or bananas, make sure you plan your meals in such a way that you use up the ingredients.
For example, the second half of the chicken fillets could be saved for chicken soup, the tomatoes can go for pasta (or tomato soup) and the bananas can be the perfect topping for pancakes or once they are brown(ish), turned into a banana bread.
Household and Utilities
11. Lower water heater slightly
How often do you use the boiling hot function of your water tap? Twice monthly? Well, your boiler works 24/7 to keep it hot in case today is “that day of the month” when you’ve decided to use it. Lowering the temperature of your hot water with just a degree or two can actually save you money in the long run. Try it.
12. Run appliances off-peak
This is an old but gold frugal hack. Dishwasher and washing machine can easily work during the night only, when tariffs are usually lower. You have the delay start functions on both of those. I like loading the washing machine with clothes from the evening and waking up to already ready-to-dry load of laundry. I’ve already started the day with a win and I’ve not even had my coffee yet.
Other appliances that can run at night:
- Electric water heater if you have one;
- Electric vehicle charger;
- Portable space heaters;
- Pool pumps;
- Dehumidifiers;
- Air conditioners;
- Any charging devices (yes, including your phone)
13. Use a microfibre cloth for everyday cleaning
I know, disposable wipes are so convenient to use and often they are already soaked with disinfectant lotions, so you don’t have to do anything else but pull them off their packaging and wipe the surfaces.
Well, using the same microfibre cloth and a simple homemade cleaning spray can save you plenty of money every year, and it’s better for the environment.
14. Do nightly energy sweep
Take a minute or two before going to bed to check every socket and light in the house and make sure they’re not on. It’s something my grandfather did every single day. My father does the same now, and when he visits us, he keeps walking behind me to switch everything off (because I haven’t).
15. Finish products before replacing
Shampoo, toothpaste, cleaning sprays, laundry detergent, and various fridge and pantry foods are all on the list of things we usually buy before finishing off what we have at home. This isn’t bad as long as you actually use up everything from the previous product… but we often prefer to open the new one, telling ourselves that it has better aroma or that we can’t wait to try the new flavour. This habit creates overconsumption and is actually bad for the environment.
Kids Clothing and Gear
16. Buy next season off-season
Summer clothes are cheapest at the end of the summer, and winter jackets and boots are on sale in spring. It takes a while to create this habit, but I promise you, the amount of money you will save by shopping this way will surprise you.
17. Organise hand-me-down bin
Young children go through their clothes faster than an influencers go through their morning matcha! Facts!
Why not save the good clothing for the younger siblings or your sister’s kids? This is especially good for shoes and jackets that usually cost a lot more than other clothes.
18. Create simple capsule wardrobe
Kids can have capsule wardrobes too, it isn’t just an adult thing. And you want to do that especially if they wear uniforms at school. Having just a few pairs of trousers and up to 10 blouses is more than enough for most children. This would allow you to buy more quality items that would keep their shape for longer.
19. Check local parent swap groups
Clothes, toys, and books are the things we will always search for. Toys and books don’t even have to be new to do the job. Find local parent swap groups where you can swap books and toys with other overwhelmed parents. And if you cannot find them, create one with your mom friends. They will be happy to get a pack of new books and a bag of toys for free and give you the ones their kids don’t pay attention to anymore.
20. Sell clothing in bundles
Once your child outgrows their clothes, you can resell them on Vinted or make an event out of it and go to a car boot nearby to sell them there. You can even give the money to your child, and that would be their first “money made”.
My niece recently started selling on Vinted her clothes and shoes. She has already made a few pounds and is so happy about it, it makes her entrepreneur’s brain cells activate and now she wants to buy and resell more stuff. She is 13, by the way, and that’s the perfect age to push kids to dip their toes in some sort of job/small side hustle.
Nope, I’m not losing my mind. Teens need something good to occupy their heads, or they tend to occupy themselves with not-so-good thoughts and people.
Entertainment and activities
21. Rotate toys monthly
Depending on your child’s attention span, you can rotate toys biweekly or even weekly. Prepare a few baskets and make sure to split the toys in such a way that each basket has at least two toys your child is obsessed with. That way every bundle would bring them an equal amount of joy and they will look forward to exploring and playing with the stuff inside.
22. Use library resources
Your local library probably has different activities for both children and adults, and most of the time they’re actually free. We have rhyme time for toddlers and babies, craft group for toddlers, reading clubs for adults, and more. Check what your library has available.
Oh, you know that, but I will mention it anyway… you can actually grab books for your child from the library and that could be your book-rotation (sort of).
23. Limit to one paid activity per child
Saving money isn’t that easy when each child goes to three activities weekly and they don’t even like it. You can always ask them to pick one activity and stick to it. That way, they will be less overwhelmed, have more time to play, and also save you money on both the activities and the petrol to get through traffic.
24. Plan home movie night
Hey, it could be a movie morning as well. I think creating the tradition of watching a family movie every Sunday morning is a lazy and wonderful family tradition. Yes, Sundays are perfect for pancakes, orange juice, and a movie on the family sofa.
25. Create a seasonal bucket list
Both you and your children would be happy to have a checklist of fun things to do and find in each season of the year. You can find my spring bucket list here and my summer bucket list ideas right here. Not all ideas are suited for families, but hey, you can always get inspired and add more to those lists.
Blogger, dreamer, procrastinator, and lover of everything soul-touching. My mission is to make you laugh, provoke your thoughts, light up your day and inspire you to fall in love with life and yourself.
