Living a contented and financially stable life can be quite hard, especially for those who don’t have multiple sources of income or have a big family to feed in general. In fact, even if you consider your salary higher compared to others, it can still be difficult to manage a lavish lifestyle without worrying about retirement and other money problems.
So, how can you reduce the cost of living while still having the best time ever? Following the right planning! Yes, the strategic living manner is going to save your current and future finances.
- For instance, using the best credit card in Canada can set your credit health straight
- While, on the other hand, preferring an alternative lending option can help you get friendly interest rates.
However, you don’t have to flip your life upside down or live cheaply to save a few more bucks. Nay nay! No need to do that because below we have talked about all you need to change to save money and reduce your cost of living without acting cheap!
Here you go:
3 Frugal Tips To Reduce Cost Of Living Without Acting Cheap
Who doesn’t want to make a profit and earn more money? Everyone! But how many of us actually get to achieve this milestone? Not everyone! However, it’s not impossible to do so as numerous people are living their dream life because they worked for it!
Want to know how you can get to do the same? Here are some frugal money tips that can help you reduce living costs while increasing the balance in your account:
1. Plan Your Food!
Living frugally doesn’t mean living cheaply. All you have to do is think sensibly and plan effectively to change your lifestyle. How about starting with the basic yet essential part of your life? Food!
Do you know the average household spends $936 monthly on food in Canada, while the amount is as low as $412 in the US? While others spend $600 or even $2600 on food every month. Yep, that’s a lot! Of course, if you can afford to pay higher bills on groceries and takeouts, perfect!
However, it’s not the best thing to do when we are talking about reducing the living cost. Here’s what you can do instead:
- Make a shopping list before you go for groceries to avoid buying whatever.
- Utilize every fruit, vegetable, or eatable in your fridge. Simply, don’t waste any food.
- Make coffee at home, drink more water, avoid fast food, eat greens, etc.
- Reduce your grocery budget, plan weekly meals, and prep everything accordingly.
Yes, you might think these are all just basic things that they can do when in reality, small things are the ones that bring big results. Don’t believe it? Try planning your meals for a month, and you’ll see how much you’ve saved.
2. Be Smart With Shopping!
The biggest hurdle in achieving ‘early retirement’ and ‘savings account’ milestones is impulse buying, overspending, and unplanned shopping. In fact, most of the time, the things we buy just because they were on ‘sale’ end up somewhere far in our drawer.
We never get to use them because there’s always a new and better offer in the stores!
So, smart buying is one tip that will increase the money you have left at the month’s end. Still, confused about how to do it? Here are some tips for smart shopping:
- Again, make a list before you go out to buy something for your wardrobe or home.
- Benefit from the bulk sale offers but don’t get things that are already rotting in your house.
- Get the advantage of returning the things you have never used. You can also find some stores that offer second-hand items purchasing/buying.
- Use a good credit card that offers cashback, points, rewards, and overall benefits to your credit.
Lastly, think before adding anything to your cart! Ask yourself:
- Do you need this?
- Can you survive one month without it?
- Is it worth spending money on?
The answer to these questions will give you an idea of whether you need to practice the 30-day spending rule or not.
3. Change Your Routine For Better
You can’t expect major changes in your financial health without majorly transforming your everyday routine. What you do on a daily basis will get smaller yet noticeable benefits in your life.
- Start restricting yourself from fulfilling all your little cravings throughout the day or week. Like do not order takeout, avoid buying anything online, etc. of course, you can treat yourself with a small gift next week.
- Next, try turning off anything and everything electronic you don’t use, whether it’s a thermostat, AC, charger, etc. Also, remember to switch off lights, fans, LEDs, and internet routers when going out.
- You can practice the same method for your bathroom and laundry section. Use water moderately, install an automatic water heater, insulate your heater, etc.
The key is to be realistic and make changes in your everyday routine that you deem small and trivial. Even $20 saved from every category can help you put $100 or more into your savings or emergency account.
6 Frugal Tips To Reduce Cost Of Living – For Beginners
Are your debts piling up? Are you unable to control your mismanaged financial life? Does all the ‘save money, pay loans’ discussion give you chills and thrills? Do you want a guide that just says what to do without going any deeper?
Well, we got you! If you don’t want to read comprehensive stuff and just need to jot down quick tips, here’s what you must practice:
- Plan and prep your meals weekly to avoid dining out or order delivery.
- Cancel all your subscriptions from the website or newsletters that can entice you to buy useless stuff.
- Go thrift shopping or buy used yet quality items. Trust us; sometimes, you can find hidden gems in thrift stores.
- Educate yourself on how money works so that you can curate and plan good budgets, effective strategies, and methods that can increase your money.
- Invest in your future, start a side hustle, earn passive income, and start putting your money into investment accounts. Yes, even if it’s $5 a day!
- Sell anything that’s rotting because you don’t need it anymore. It’s better to give it to someone for a good amount instead of just wasting it entirely. For example, put it on sale if you no longer use your bicycle, watch TV, or need that keyboard and mouse.
Following these little tips can help you reduce the cost of living while pushing you forward in the right direction.
Conclusion
Living frugally doesn’t mean you have to be a cheapskate and avoid everything fun just to save a dollar. However, it surely is being smart about money and making decisions that won’t hurt your bank.
In fact, most of the time, things are right in front, but we fail to analyze what’s wrong. That’s why we need someone to point things out and unveil the hidden things. Yes, we have done exactly that!
This guide contains tips and tricks that sound so trivial and ordinary, yet we fail to utilize them for the better. So, give it a read and share with us what you liked the most? Also, let us know what you want to read next because we are here to help solve your problems! 🙂
