There are hundreds of frugal habits listed on the internet, it can be hard to know which ones are worth your time, and actually work.

I have tried many frugal habits over the years, and have adopted several into my daily routine.

I am always interested to see what ways other people are saving money, so I thought I would share with you my 7 daily frugal habits that save me hundreds, if not thousands of dollars.

 

1. Eat Less Meat

My newest frugal habit I have added to my daily routine, is eating less meat. It is a big money saver! It can cut your grocery bill in half!

As we know most food costs are on the rise, due to inflation, thanks to the Coronavirus pandemic. As meat prices continue to increase, they take up more and more of the grocery budget. 

So we have slowly been working our way down to eating less meat. 

We do this by incorporating more vegetarian based meals into our weekly meal plan, making the meat a side instead of the main part of the meal, and cutting the meat up so it will stretch further. 

Ways you too can eat less meat: 

• Meatless Mondays (or any day that works for you)
• Substitute meat with other protein rich food (beans, legumes, quinoa)
• Save meat for dinnertime (skip the meat at your other meals)
• Curry or stew with chopped meat (instead of everyone getting a whole chicken breast, pork chop, or steak)
• Buy cheaper cuts of meat for use in curries, stews, and soups
• Divide packs of ground meat in half to have over two meals for the price of one

 

 *Disclaimer I am not a dietitian, and all substitutions or removal of items from your diet, is your decision. Do what’s best for you and your family. Talk to your family doctor before making drastic changes to your diet. 

2.  Turn It Off

Over the last few months I’ve noticed the energy bill slowly increasing.  I know a small part of that is due to the weather warming up,  and the remainder is due to inflation.

We make the conscious decision to turn off lights, small appliances and water when not in use.

We are lucky that we have large windows, that provide natural light throughout the day, and have gotten into the frugal habit of turning things off, over time.

 

Ways to save on utilities: 

• Turn off lights when you leave a room
• Turn off water between scrubbing dishes
• Don’t let the water run while brushing
• Take shorter showers
• Unplug microwave, toaster, kettle and other small appliances
• Unplug chargers when not in use
• Blackout curtains help regulate the temperature

 

Each of these things on their own may not add up to much, but combined they can make a difference in your utility bills (and the environment 🌱)

 

3. Make Food at Home

Make your own breakfast, lunch and dinner at home. 

Now I’m not saying you can never get take-out again, but you will definitely notice the savings add up, the more you eat at home. 

By waking up a few minutes earlier and making your own breakfast (or something you preppared ahead of time), will help you beat the temptation of hitting the drive-thru on the way to work. 

Same goes for lunchtime. Take last night’s leftovers for lunch, or pack your lunch the night before. By bringing a packed lunch it will save you a ton of money on over-priced cafeteria food or take-out.

Now for the hardest meal of the day (for me at least), dinnertime. This is when take-out is the easiet, because you are tired from working all day, and just want to eat and relax. 

Now if this becomes a weekly habit, the costs add up very quickly. If you are feeding a family the costs can add up to hundreds of dollars in no time. 

 

Benefits of making your own meals:

• More likely to make healthy choices
• Can spend your lunch break actually eating and relaxing instead of driving
• Saves money on gas
• Saves money on delivery charges
• Use up food you already spent money on
• Prevents food waste

 

 

4. Say No to Food Waste 

 

As mentioned above taking leftovers is a great frugal way to save money. However if you are anything like me, you get sick of eating leftovers (But if you cook good food, then hopefully that won’t happen too often).

Luckily there is more frugal ways to prevent food waste than just taking leftovers for lunch. 

 

Ways I prevent food waste (and save money while doing it):

• Take leftovers for lunch
• Eat leftovers for dinner the next night (sometimes we skip a night so I don’t get bored)
• Freeze leftovers
  • To reheat for a quick lunch/ dinner 
  • Throw leftovers into a soup/ stew
•  Repurpose leftovers (Leftover taco fixings, can be made into a salad)
•  Leftover spaghetti sauce is a great base for a soup or a chili
•  Leftover veggies can be thrown into any meal
• Aging fruit can be used in smoothies or frozen
  • Or used in baked goods
• Vegetables on their way out, are great in stir fries, casseroles or soups
• Food scraps/ cuttings, such as onion skins tops of celery/carrots, potato peels can all be used to make vegetable broth
• Bones can be used to make stocks 

5. Workout at Home

This daily frugal habit, I just reintroduced to my routine. Years have past since I cancelled or used my gym membership.

If you have the availibilty of a free gym where you live (like I do in my condo building) take advantage of it.

You can also invest in some fitness  equipment, such as a yoga mat, some dumbells, or resistance bands. These items allow you a lot of versatility for a small cost. 

No idea where to start or need some guidence with your workouts?

Do what I do, and head over to YouTube. There are so many hundreds of videos on YouTube for free that you can follow along with and get your body moving. My personal favourites are walking or dance workouts (makes me more likely to workout if it doesn’t seem daunting).

  

 

6. Track Spending

Another great daily frugal habit is to track your spending.  Whether you do that on an a daily basis or add it all up at the end of the week, take note of everything you spend in a day. 

Get into the habit of checking your accounts daily as well, this will help you know how much money you have to work with, and if any payments are coming due.

This is a big one for frugal people we like to know where our money is, how much we have, where it’s going, and how close we are to our financial goals.

 

7. Keep Learning More Frugal Tips

 

Once you start adopting frugal habits it gets kind of addicting. You see your bank account grow, or your debt decrease, and you just want to find more and more ways to save (at least that’s what has happened to me).

I am constantly searching for new ways I can save money or the latest and greatest deal. 

I like to learn how other people save money, and what works for them. The more frugal habits you look up and take on as your own, the more opportunities you have to reach your financial goals.

Ready to add some frugal habits into your daily routine?

Just start with a few (perhaps the ones listed above) that are easy to add to your daily life. Stick with them long enough and you will see the benefits in no time.

 

Are there any frugal habits that you do daily, or often, that have helped you save?

If so, let me know which ones down below in the comments!

 

 

Stay Frugal,

 

 

Connie xoxo