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Frugal Living: 25 Genius Ways to Save Money Everyday

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Everyone wants to save money and many of us strive for a frugal living! I don’t know a single person who has so much money they don’t enjoy a good deal. (Now I’m sure these people exist, I just don’t know any.)

Frugal Living Tips

Household / Vehicle Tips

  1. Watch less TV – This will help you be subjected to less ads, and you can cut down on subscription costs too!
  2. Clean out closets and sell things you are no longer using! Check out our Spring Cleaning : A 20 Day Cleaning Challenge
  3. Turn off your lights and if you can’t turn them off make sure you are using LED’s. Check out 5 useful ways to save money on utilities
  4. Keep your tires inflated. For every 2 PSI of air pressure your tires are under the recommended level costs you about 1% on your gas mileague.
  5. Use Surge Protectors – Not only will this help so they don’t get blown up in a storm, but you can easily turn them off to help save on electrical bills.

Holiday Items

  1. Make Gifts this holiday season! There are plenty of gift ideas on Pinterest just waiting for you!
  2. Only purchase holiday decorations after the holiday is past. Getting them when they are on sale for 70-90% off only makes sense.

Groceries / Food Tips

  1. Don’t go grocery shopping without a list!
  2. Plan your grocery shopping based on local store sales.
  3. Pack food for road trips. Just because you have to travel doesn’t mean you have to eat at fast food restaurants.
  4. Compare grocery store prices so you always get the best deal.
  5. Try generic brands. Many of the things you love are perfectly awesome in generic form.
  6. Drink more water!
  7. Pack your lunches for work.

Budget Tips

  1. Use a budget
  2. WASH your hands. This helps keep the medical bills low and the sickies away!
  3. Restrict online shopping
  4. Set Goals or use a Vision Board – This helps you realize what you are working for!

Other / Misc Frugal Living Tips

  1. Sign UP for Rewards Programs – these can help you save money on purchass you are already planning on making. Check out Rapid Rewards Shopping tips.
  2. Wait 30 Days – to make any purchase over $50. You may not need that purchase as much as you thought if you have to wait for it.
  3. Use library borrowing services. You can watch money movies and read books through your library share programs.
  4. Quit using credit cards if you can’t pay them off every month.
  5. Cancel unused memberships. If you aren’t using that gym membership, stop paying for it.
  6. Buy used. There are lots of perfectly good used items at consignment shops just waiting for you!
  7. Ask for fees to be waived. This won’t always work but it doesn’t hurt you anything to ask. This includes when signing up for services.

Hopefully you have enjoyed our tips on how you can live a more frugal life!

5 Budget Advantages to Make you Successful

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Having a budget is the #1 thing you can do for your financial well being. This simple yet effective plan allows you to manage your money and understand what you are spending. A budget does not have to be super complex nor does it need to be stressful to create. Here are 5 Budget advantages to make you successful! Just keep in mind that setting a budget is only the first step in financial success. You must stick to your budget to be truly successful.

budget advantages

Defines Objectives/Goals

When you have a budget, you end up needing to establish your long-term objectives. In turn, determining what your goals are. Some families have many goals; others have only one or two. It doesn’t matter how many you have, ensure you have defined them. You may not be able to achieve all your goals at first, and that’s ok. Work on the most important ones that will ensure financial stability first.  One of your most significant budget advantages is planning. Setting up goals allow you to project your plans to the universe. *** Pro-tip: Vision Board: What is it?

Forces you to prepare

Having a budget makes you sit down and prepare for purchases and future expenses. For example, almost every birthday in our family takes place between July and October. That 4-month stretch has an increased gift budget because we know we will need to spend more on gifts those months. Looking at the big picture of our overall budget allows us to put money aside in off months so that we aren’t struggling to make those purchases later. This applies to every area of your budget. From car repairs, clothing expenses, school fees, etc. Having a plan in place and a way to save for those expenses makes them easier to deal with.  *** Pro-tip: 15 Tips on How to Save Money

Set up an Emergency Fund

One of the most significant budget advantages is setting up an emergency fund. Most financial advisors and other business professionals recommend you have three to six months of living expenses. However, when first starting out having this much in an emergency fund may seem unrealistic. If that is you, set aside something between $750-$1,000 to help you in case of an emergency. If your car breaks down, the plumbing goes out, or something else happens you need a quick and easily accessible way to get cash fast. Having a budget allows you to save this emergency fund so that you don’t end up curled in the fetal position crying yourself to sleep not knowing how you are getting to work the next day. And Yeah, we’ve been in that position before.

Know when your bills are due

Budgets force us to pay attention to our statements and their due dates. If you are planning out when you will spend your money, then you need to know when that money is owed. This way if you have a bunch of bills due the first of the month you won’t suddenly be short because you made a big purchase on the 20th and therefore didn’t keep that money allocated as it should have been. ***Pro-tip: 5 useful ways to save money on utilities

Happier and Healthier

The last advantage to having a budget which will most certainly make you more successful in allowing you to be happier and healthier. When you start planning out your money, you will probably start to cut out unhealthy habits. Additionally, not stressing out about your money continually is sure to make you happier in life. Finding financial freedom among the chaos of today’s world is indeed a blessing and a huge stress reliever.

budget advantages

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5 useful ways to save money on utilities

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One of the things we can’t cut out of our budget is utilities. For us we live in Wisconsin, we can’t go without heat in the winter. While we could probably reduce the air conditioning in the summer, I would be miserable. So while we can’t cut out those expenses, there are some useful ways that we can save money on those pesky utility bills. save money on utilities

Energy Efficient Things

The easiest thing you can probably do is start using Energy Efficient Lightbulbs. These are available in every store these days and aren’t all that more expensive than regular light bulbs. There are many options for dimmable and LED lights in floodlight bulbs or small mirror bulbs. I even found those pretty round bulbs used on vanities that came in LED options.

Another option is to use Energy efficient appliances. When your washer, dishwasher, or dryer dies, consider replacing it with something that costs less to run on a daily basis.

save money on utilities

Programmable Thermostat

One of my favorite things we ever did that ended up helping us save money was to install a programmable thermostat. We LOVE our nest, but there are so many options out there. Nest allows us to set up a schedule; auto detects if we are home based on our phone settings and it “learns” our habits and starts to sneak in energy savings we don’t even notice.

Other great things you can do to help with this is to install thermal blinds or thermal drapes. These help keep cold air out in the winter and warm air in the summer. And these do not have to be the ugly old black and brown ones we probably associate with energy efficiencies. We’ve come a long way with style in these areas!

save money on utilities

Update the way you do Laundry

Additional tips for appliances include using dryer balls to decrease dry time. Using cold water in your washer and using your appliances during off-peak times. Also, take advantage of things like your overheat in the winter, open that baby up and let it help you heat your home!

Don’t forget to review your setting on less remembered appliances such as your water heater. Make sure you aren’t heating your water above 120 degrees. This will help with Laundry when you do need to use warm water, but will also help with showers and dishwashers too!

save money on utilities

Use Fans to Save Money on Utilities

Fans are not just for summer! Get out your fans to help you push air around your house in a way that benefits your natural air flow. Winter Tip: Put your fan in the corner of the room, nearest to the heat source to help you control that air flow.

If you have ceiling fans make sure you have them going in the right direction for the time of year. In the winter months make sure they are going clockwise. This allows the fan to push the warm air back down around the edges of your room. This helps keep the warm air down where you are instead of stuck on the ceiling. Same for summer, but then the fan needs to turn counterclockwise so that it can pull the cold air up off the floor.

save money on utilities

Visit Utility Website

Most Utility websites have lots of tips, and I’m sure yours does too! If you use WPS check out all their great suggestions for energy efficiency as well as any programs they may have for you to save a few bucks on those appliance replacements or larger scale energy projects!

If you want additional tips on how to save money check out 15 Tips on How to Save Money. Let us know what other tips you have and of course SHARE our articles with your family and friends or even on Pinterest so they can get these great tips and more too!