Sometimes when we’re feeling broke each and every day we need to find simple and actionable frugal living tips that can help us figure out small ways to change our lives. But, which frugal living tips are actually best?
I’ve seen (and written) so many articles with hundreds of frugal living tips that are implementable, but sometimes they can really get too overwhelming so I wanted to make a smaller list of only 17 of my absolute favourite frugal living tips that you need to read if you’re feeling broke.
Table of Contents
17 Frugal Living Tips You NEED If You’re Broke
1. Get Necessities Delivered With Amazon
Do you find yourself purchasing the exact same thing once a month without fail? Things like toilet paper, tooth paste, and maybe even your favourite cleaning products? Well, if you use amazon’s Subscribe and Save program you can get those things delivered to you on a monthly basis and save 15%!
You can find most of the things you’re going to buy each month on amazon, so it’s a no brainer to just get it delivered each month!
2. Get Paid to Walk
This is one of those apps that I can’t believe even exists. You can get paid to walk? Seriously? As someone who genuinely walks everywhere and doesn’t own a car, I absolutely love sweatcoin as a simple way to earn rewards for walking.
You can earn a few sweatcoins each day and you then have the option to save them up for cash that you can earn eventually, or getting different rewards every few days. If you’re trying to be more active, Sweatcoin is a really great incentive.
3. Use Ebates for Cash Back
We really aren’t able to avoid shopping online these days, as most stores are opting for an online only approach. Since we need to shop online, why not get some cash back when you do it?
Ebates is my favourite place to get cash back on purchases online because you can earn up to 10% cash back from places like Amazon, Sephora, Walmart, and more! Getting cash back may not seem like a big deal for someone who is broke, but if you need to purchase gifts or something online, you can get a nice payday back.
4. Take Advantage of Credit Card Rewards
You’ll find a ton of financial gurus who are going to tell you that you should never use a credit card if you want to build wealth, but they’re looking at credit cards all wrong. If you’re the type of person who will rack up credit card debt and never pay the full balance off, then yes, maybe you should avoid credit cards.
However, if you’re the type of person who is going to charge all of your monthly bills to a credit card and pay it off each month, you can take advantage of some awesome credit card rewards. There are cards that give out cash back, travel rewards, and so much more.
5. Meal Plan The EASY Way
One of the simplest ways for you to save money is to figure out your food costs and how you can decrease these costs. Meal planning is one of the best ways you can cut down your costs while still being able to enjoy really delicious foods.
If you’re anything like me, meal planning can be very hard because I just can’t seem to find interesting recipes each week. Last year I found this service, $5 Meal Plan, that sends out a meal plan and a grocery list each week for only $5 a month and it has completely upped my meal planning game.
6. Drink More Water
If you’re really feeling broke, you’re going to need to cut in all the right places and cutting out things like soda and tons of coffee can be a really great place to start. Not only does drinking more water save you a lot of money over the course of a year, it can also make you a lot healthier because drinking water is very very good for you.
A great way to cut down water costs is to not buy plastic water bottles since they’re very expensive per unit when you can buy a Brita Water Filter one time and save money forever!
7. Focus on Preventative Medicine
One of the biggest financial issues that a ton of people face is high medical costs that could have been entirely avoided if they would have practiced preventative medicine. A lot of issues that people experience can be helped with a small cost prescription or a few simple tests and people with a broke mindset will keep pushing these off until they become big issues.
Waiting until your medical woes become big issues is going to cost you thousands of dollars more in the long run and can be detrimental to your health, a doctor costs a lot less than a surgery so start getting those yearly physicals and focusing on preventing larger issues.
This could also mean eating healthier and exercising even if it costs you a bit more money to do so. A bad diet will catch up to you eventually and it’s best to start taking care of yourself now.
8. Try and Fix It Yourself
One thing that’s inevitable in life is that your things are eventually going to break and that’s just the way the cookie crumbles. However, you don’t always have to pay for an expensive repair person to come and save the day.
With just a simple google or youtube search you can find thousands of resources that can help you through some simple fixes for a lot of household issues that can save you hundreds of dollars a year in repair costs which is always a good thing! Just please, don’t go trying to fix your electrical issues because we don’t need you to get electrocuted.
9. Track Your Credit Score
A credit score is one of those things that every single person has but hardly anyone actually understands. Before you even start tracking your credit score you should take some time to understand how a credit score works and read a few articles on the topic, here are a few great places to start:
- How to Increase Your Credit Score 100+ Points
- What is a “Good” Credit Score?
- Why Does My Credit Score Keep Falling?
- Common Credit Score Questions ANSWERED
- How to Build Credit at 18
Now that you have an understanding of a credit score and the components that make it up, it’s time to start tracking your credit score and disputing any discrepancies on your credit report so you can win with money. You can track your basic credit score using a free service called Credit Sesame!
10. Get Rid of Cable
I’m so happy that streaming online video is now a thing because it has allowed me to stop paying for cable and save a ton of money in the process. Nobody needs 100s of channels that you probably won’t even watch that cost at least $100 a month. Cutting cable is a really great way to be more frugal and decrease your bills.
My favourite online streaming service that has helped me cut out cable is Amazon Prime Video because it has some of my favourite older shows (like Dawson’s Creek) while also having some really amazing originals (like The Marvellous Mrs. Maisel).
11. Appreciate What You Have
One thing I’ve really noticed lately is that most people are really struggling to just be grateful with what they have and where they are in life. Social media has made it so that we are always inundated with images of other people having fun and living their best lives and it can make us feel like we aren’t good enough.
Just taking the time to realize some of the great things that you already have can make it so that you spend a lot less money and are more likely to win financially since you won’t just be chasing what other people are doing. Just some food for thought!
12. Minimize Your Wardrobe
A really big way that people waste their money is by buying clothes when they have a closet and dresser that are entirely filled with things that they don’t even wear anymore!
There are two ways that a minimized wardrobe can make you money, the first is that you can sell all of the clothes you no longer want and make some decent money doing so. The second, is that you actually know what’s in your closet and you’re much less likely to go out and buy things that you don’t actually need!
A really awesome way to start decluttering your life is to use the method from The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo! This book teaches you so much about how to organize your life and why it’s extremely valuable and can seriously make is easier to have a more frugal closet.
13. Make Coffee at Home
Oh, coffee. It seems like every major online publication has written an article about how lattes and avocado toast are the downfall of millennials and how if we don’t stop buying them we’re all going to burst into flames. Well, sometimes it can make sense to skip the expensive latte for a less expensive option at home.
You can make really amazing coffee from the comfort of your home if you have the right tools! I’ve been using this coffee maker duo for a few months now and it’s made it so much easier to drink delicious coffee and tea at home without having to spend hundreds a year on the delicious juice.
14. Always Have a Budget
Let’s be honest here for a second, I know that you don’t want to start a budget. Nobody wants to start a budget, I absolutely hate budgeting. However, my budget has allowed me to make a plan for my money and pay off my student loans so darn quick that they’re crying and telling me they’ll miss me.
It’s really important that one of the first things you do when starting to try and be more frugal and be better with money is start a budget because you need to know where your money is going. We’ve created an awesome budgeting binder that may help you in the process and won’t cost you an arm and a leg.
15. Ask for Gift Cards as Presents
If you really can’t afford to buy groceries or put gas in your car, it may be time to start asking for gift cards as holiday and birthday presents form your family members. I’m a huge fan of giving and getting practical gifts instead of things that the person is never going to actually use!
It may be a little embarrassing to ask for at first, but I promise you won’t regret having that conversation when you know exactly how you’re going to pay for your groceries for a month after your birthday.
16. Adopt The 30-Day Rule
When you’re thinking about buying anything that costs more than $20, you should probably practice the 30-Day Rule that will break all impulse spending. The basics of this rule are that before you’re allowed to buy anything expensive, you must wait 30 days from the first time you think you “need” it and the time you actually buy it.
This works because most of the time you won’t still want these things after 30 days, you’ll find yourself saving a whole bunch of money since you won’t be making these impulse purchases every few weeks.
17. Try a Clothing Swap
Doing a clothing swap is a really amazing way to save money and get a ton of really cool clothes in the process. Have you heard of the phrase one mans trash is another mans treasure? Well, a clothing swap is the definition of that.
A clothing swap is just when you find some of your friends who are in similar clothing size to you and all of you bring clothes that you’re no longer in love with and shop each other’s closet. This way everybody gets to clean out their closet while also getting a ton of new stuff in the process.
Final Thoughts
Being frugal doesn’t have to suck and you can start living a more frugal life with just a few simple and quick changes. Being broke also doesn’t have to be forever, you should check out these articles for more information:
- How to Save Money When You’re Broke
- How to Pay Off Debt When You’re Broke
- What To Do When You’re Struggling To Pay Bills
- 23 Bad Money Habits That Are Keeping You Broke
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