I’ll be the first to admit that I err on the side of massively frugal. I’m just not a big spender. It’s not out of fear of not having money as much as it’s that there are very few items that I find that I can actually use and enjoy to the fullest extent. If I’m not so in love with a clothing item that I’d wear it until it had holes in it, I’m not buying it. If I’m not sure that the product is the best quality on the market for the best price, I’m not buying it. If I’m not confident that I would want said item around for years later, I’m not buying it.
Josh and I are in the middle of getting ready to move to a different apartment location. I’ve spent months going back and forth with moving because I want to be sure we’re not going to end up wasting space. We live in a one-bedroom right now. We moved into it last year from a two-bedroom because I didn’t like how much space the two-bedroom had. Now that our little one is here, it’s more practical to live in a two-bedroom. But, I’m the kind of person that if I’m not using every space in my home to the maximum extent, I get antsy and want to downsize. So, yes, I’m probably on the extreme end of frugal.
That said, these are my best tips. They’re not all my tips, but they’re the ones I think are the most useful. Initially, I was going to leave this section out because it seemed obvious to me and I already covered a good chunk in Part I when I talked about budgeting. But, in the end, I figured it warranted it’s own place because how you spend and what you spend on plays a big role in your current finances and your financial future. So, here are a few of my best tips!
Part I: Budgeting
Part II: Income
Part III: Saving
Part IV: Spending
- List out your necessities. Do this for everything. I do this for the grocery store so then I don’t find myself in the snack aisle buying chips when I really need certain veg for dinner. I do this for clothing so I know what I want my closet to look like and what still missing from it. I do this for miscellaneous Target runs so I’m not suddenly buying home decor when I really needed toothpaste. Seriously, list it out every time and you will cut your bill in half.
- Buy birthday and Christmas gifts in advance. It’s overwhelming during the holidays to find yourself having to buy a gift for everyone. You can easily drop major money between November and December. While the Black Friday deals are great, save those for the big purchases. If you see something in July that you know your friend would love as a gift, get it then and hold onto it. Spreading out your purchases throughout the year is much easier on the wallet and you can usually find good sales, too.
- Stop paying attention to social media. I know this is a strange tip considering that I make part of my living off of social media. But, here’s a “secret”: I get paid to show you new products (when a post is #sponsored). I always do it under the pretense that I would not be teaming up with that brand if I didn’t like it to begin with. I also do sponsored posts under the idea that if you’re in the market, here’s such-and-such product that the one I’m showcasing might be a great option. That said, your feed has probably become much more saturated over the last year with sponsored posts from bloggers/influencers and it does take a toll. I even find myself getting sucked in by LIKEtoKNOW.it posts. If social media is causing you to overspend and buy things because you’re trying to keep up with the Joneses, then get off of it. ASAP.
- Ask yourself these main questions:
- Will I still like this next week? Next month? Next year? Asking myself this question in particular weeds out 90% of the things I would’ve ended up buying.
- Is the quality good enough to last? There’s really no point in buying something that’s made cheaply. Yes, the upfront cost may be less, but you’ll end up spending more to keep replacing it. This applies to simple mundane things, such as clothes, as much as it does to big purchases, like your home and car.
- Can I get multiple uses out of this? There’s some things that aren’t designed for multiple uses and that’s fine. I’m talking about buying products that should stand the test of time. For example, we don’t buy our dogs plush dog toys anymore. While they’re intended for multiple uses, they’re not made with sturdy enough material to last more than a day in our household. By the afternoon, there’s bits of fluff and squeaker bits everywhere.
- Never buy the same day. If you see it in a store, take a picture and come back a different day. It’ll still be there. If you’re shopping online, add it to your cart and sleep on it. This ties back into the question above as to whether or not you’ll still like it over time, not just in that moment. You may find that, after a night’s rest, you aren’t as into said thing as you thought or that you found something better.
- Wait for the sale. There are some stores that just never do sales, so you’re stuck with that price. However, there are lots of places that have big blowout sales for holiday weekends, which come at least once a month in the US. And, as I mentioned in the last post, always have Ebates plugged into your browser. I’ve saved tons of money that way and it saves me the heartache of spending 20 minutes scouring the Internet for coupons. As a bonus, if you use this link to sign up, they just give you $10. (And it works because that’s how I got my first $10!)
Those are my main tips. Ultimately, what I want you to take away is to buy things that bring you true, authentic joy. Buy things that you want because you want them, not because society says that you should want them. So much of our spending would be cut down if we stopped paying attention to the commercials, sponsored posts, and looking to see what our friends and neighbors are bringing in. Comparison has a cost. Stick to getting things that are going to add value to life instead of things to make it look like you have value in your life.