Put Your Best Frugal Foot Forward Plus a Giveaway

 

How do you put your best frugal foot forward?

Whatever you do, do it well. My college motto was ‘Do it with thy might!’ I’ve tried to live my life following this stipulation and as soon as I began my frugal journey, I thought I should do that with my might too.

So in whatever situation I find myself, I try to put on my frugal hat because not wasting money is mega important.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t get any free money, so that which I get for hard work, I try to put to good use, saving where I can and spending on just what is important to spend it on.

I like a nice relaxing holiday, and those don’t come cheap so I’ve figured, if I don’t waste my money on unnecessary items, then I will have enough save for the holidays I enjoy.

I feel also that I have a moral responsibility to share frugal ideas I have with all those I can so that they too can save and make the best use of their hard earned cash. So that is what I am going to do via this post.

I don’t think I am the holder of all frugal tips so here is where you come in. You might have some frugal habits that you don’t even think about. so if you think you have a frugal idea that you can recommend, then please share via the comments and you could be in with a chance to win a freebie you could enjoy at home this Summer. Good luck! Now here goes:

 

1. Meal plan – plan your meals for the week then when you go shopping, you buy only those ingredients thus avoiding waste.
2. If you have leftover food, dish them up in suitable Tupperware, refrigerate or freeze them for another day.
3. Buy fruits and vegetables when they are in season because then there is a lot available and they are usually cheaper. Excess can be cut up and frozen and used in soups, stews, and smoothies.
4. If you find yourself with unexpected extra money (maybe from a side hustle like eBay sales, mowing lawns, whatever) then pay off some extra on a debt like a mortgage. In the end, you will pay less as you would have saved yourself some of the interest payment.
5. Some foods can easily be processed at home and will cost you less to buy as is. (take cheese, for example. the cost of grated cheese is not worth it when you can grate it yourself!) Although, it does pay to check as sometimes there are specials on, and you may find some grated cheese cheaper.
6. If you have a little patch of earth at home then why not consider planting some vegetables and herbs yourself. In addition to the savings in terms of money, you might also be saving your health as you would know exactly where the produce came from.
7. Don’t just automatically renew any contract, be it phones, insurance or anything else. More often than not, you are able to negotiate a better deal and save some money. It also pays to complain sometimes.
8. If you like more than one cuppa a day, boil the kettle full once, then make your cuppa and fill a thermos flask with the rest of the hot water to make cuppas later in the day.
9. Try homemade scents to freshen your home. There are quite a few that you can find on Pinterest. My favourite is to boil some water in a small saucepan in  which I put 2 tablespoons of fabric softener. Once boiled, I walk around each room with it and the fragrance stays in each room for the day. That same saucepan with its contents is used for the entire week. Now I’m sure you will agree that is pretty cheap, but cheerful.
10. Check if you can get better deals from banks other than your own. Some banks even give you a cash incentive if you chose to switch to them. We learned about this from Andy Webb on Shop Smart Save Money.
11. Decide every once in a while to have a no spend day, or week or even month. Challenge yourself. It can be done. Recently I challenged myself to a no new clothes year!
12. Save money by doing jobs that you usually pay others to do. Think about it, could you wash your own car, mow your own lawn or walk your own pets?
13. Pack left over dinner for lunch at work the following day, if you have a microwave there or if not, then make your own sandwiches. They are easy to do and not worth buying, not in my book anyway.
14. Do home entertainment sometimes! With all the electronics around these days as well as the constant pressure to ‘go out’, there is very little family time. That is needed if we are to make long lasting happy memories. Our favourite family games to play are Uno and Scrabble.
15. Check your local council to see what free offers are on for kids and families at different times of the year. Sometimes there might be a little cost involved but it will certainly be less than paying to some ‘outside’ entertainment provider.
16. Ever heard of Marie Kondo? Good. If not, Google it. You can do a bit of decluttering yourself and items you can afford to get rid of, can be sold to make some extra cash.
17. If you are good at any type of craft, use if to your advantage. Sell some, gift some. Your gifts will certainly be more special.
18. Do all that you can (within reason) to keep your energy bills as low as possible.
19. Cinema experience can be quite expensive. With a few extras that you already have at home, you can have your own cinema night at home.
20. Some areas have a cycle scheme. Check if yours have one. If you have a bike, sell it and make use of the free ones.

And now the giveaway

Put your best foot forward with a new set of socks!Just for being willing to put your best foot forward with funky living. They are funky socks in pink, blue, yellow, grey and purple.

 

It’s simple to win.

• We will actually mail these out to the first person who emails us their name and UK address details
• You must also leave us a comment below about frugal living
• Your comment must be the 10th or later (after)

So there you go. Don’t forget to share your frugal money saving tips and stand a chance of winning the prize.