5 Frugal Habits That Are Not Sacrifices

5 Easy Frugal Habits That Don’t feel Like Sacrifices. 

Disclaimer: You all know I hate the word frugal. It’s been highjacked to me as cheap as possible. Our community here has a different definition of the word. Frugal doesn’t mean cheap. Frugal means smart. Frugal means knowing what matters to you and spending accordingly. It means cutting back on what doesn’t serve you so you can have more of what does.  

Frugal living doesn’t have to mean giving up everything you love. Things that bring you joy. You don’t have to eat rice and beans every night unless you want. I’m Brazilian so I eat rice and black bean regularly. It’s a dish called feijoada. It is delicious. 

Let’s go over 5 frugal habits that help you spend less, save more and still enjoy life. 

Hi, it’s your friend Eva and my mom was from Sao Paulo Brazil. I’m in debt. No savings, no retirement and absolutely no business giving financial advice. But here we are. If you're ready stop being shamed, to tackle your debt alongside someone who's there, with no judgment, no extreme crazy advice, just real, practical money strategies, then hit like, subscribe, and sign up for my weekly newsletter!    

But before we start, I’m not a financial advisor. When it comes to financial advice or any advice you find on the internet, do your own research.  

Tip 1: The 24-hour rule. I just said this a few videos back. If you have an issue with impulse spending like I do, Wait 24 hours. If you still want it so badly, then go for it and buy it. There is a very good chance you will not buy it. 

Tip 2: Borrow before buying. Do you need something that you’re only going to use once or twice? See if a friend or neighbor has it. If they don’t, can you rent it or find it secondhand? My mom was from Brazil, my dad was from Greece. On Greek Easter we dye Easter Eggs a rich red color. The dye is horrible, you need to tarp your entire countertop. I’m not going to use one of my good pots to color these eggs. I have a $1.50 pot I got a goodwill when I was donating things. The pot is used just for Easter eggs. 

Tip 3: Always ask for a discount. My friends a teacher and always asks. We spend a lot of time in South Carolina, every store or restaurant we go to asks if we are a military personnel or a teacher. To the military personnel and the teachers, thank you for your service. We need both for a healthy democracy. 

I’ve been given the senior discount. I never correct them because that 48 cents I save a dunkin goes into my wallet. Then I go home and color my hair. 

Tip 4: No spend challenges. It’s when you only buy necessities. I tried one in January that was a total failure. I never made a video on why that was. Short version – I ended up getting sick, then my son got sick. My sister and brother-in-law were supposed to visit but there was a big snowstorm south of us and they didn’t want to get stuck in Virginia. But I bought stuff because we weren’t sure. It didn’t dissuade me, and I will do it again. I just don’t know when.  

Tip 5: Keeping with the no spend challenge, a pantry challenge. We all have something in the back of our pantry that we can use. My pantry is pretty stocked. When I see something on sale that I know we use, like this Tiki Marsala sauce that is amazing. I will buy 1 or 2 extra because I know we’re going to use it. The problem is, I’m not that organized when it comes to my pantry. I don’t have the time or desire to line everything up. Or worse, I’ve seen you tubers who keep extensive checklists of what they have. As they use or buy, they update it. If you can do that, more power to you. I can’t. I don’t want to do that even if it’s the right thing to do.  

Those are my 5 frugal habits that are easy. Nothing extreme. All simple to incorporate into your everyday life. I would love to read your tips. Please feel free to list them in the comments.