Are you putting a conscious effort into frugal living? You should realise that this doesn’t mean you have to doom yourself to a life of deprivation, hunger or becoming an unrepentant miser.
One thing you really need to understand is that frugal living, when done right, translates into making smarter choices
Take Advantage of Freebies and Deals
Don’t underestimate how much you can save when you take advantage of deals. It doesn’t matter if the company is known for its products or services. What matters is that you can get a good deal from their brands.
Barely a month ago, a Nigerian internet provider launched a promotional deal over a period of one month. The deal was simple and straightforward – Subscribers were asked to pay for X number of months instead of paying for their regular one-month subscription.
The reward for going for the deal was that for subscribing for X number of months, you got free subscription covering X number of months. Let us put this into perspective. If a monthly subscription plan cost N20,000 for 150GB of data, the company encouraged its subscribers to pay for multiple months of subscription as opposed to payment to cover a single month. If you paid for 10 months, this would amount to N200,000. The company would then give you an additional subscription covering another 10 months for free. In other words, you pay for 10 months but you get 20 months worth of data. This helps you save an extra N200,000.
Sell Home Clutter and Things You Don’t Need
If you take out time to draw up a list of everything you own, you will realise that there are things in your home that you actually don’t really need despite the fact that you want them.
An example of these are things that you haven’t used in the last 6 months. For instance, do you have two microwaves? Why not sell one. There is always an opportunity to sell things that are beginning to constitute clutter in your home.
Picture a scenario where you have a 32-inch flat screen TV and received a new 42-inch TV as a gift from a loved one, you can either keep both TVs or put the old one up for sale. There are several online platforms that have made it easy to sell things you no longer need.
Cleaning the Home Should Not Cost You a Fortune
Are you one of those people who hire people to do your laundry or clean your house? There’s nothing bad in doing this but you should realise that over a period of time, the financial implication of this will manifest in your monthly spendings.
Consider doing your laundry yourself every weekend. For your apartment or home, you can do a thorough clean twice a month. You’ll be surprised by how much you would save if you do these things yourself. They would also form a good workout session for you especially if you have been struggling to exercise.
If you find it extremely difficult to do your laundry by washing them with your hands, save up some money to buy a washing machine and this would help you tilt more towards frugal living in the long run.
Used Items Can Help You Achieve Frugal Living
There is a very clear difference between something you want and something you need. If you are keen on frugal living, you have to learn to put your needs above your wants. Your needs are those things that you require because they are essential or very crucial to your survival and psychological well being rather than just being desirable. These would include the food you eat and the home you live in. Wants, on the other hand, are those things that you have a desire to possess and not necessarily because you need them. These include things like choosing a ‘Prada’ bag that costs N280,000 and an ‘Eve&Tribe’ bag that sells for N30,000.
A handbag is not something that is essential to your survival especially if you’re not into the business of buying and selling bags. For most of your wants, there are fairly used alternatives that you can opt for. Cities like Lagos in Nigeria have retail stores where you can buy virtually any used item; from used saloon cars, which you can buy from trusted car dealers to used gadgets and electronics, which you can find at the popular Alaba International Market.
Water Does More Than You Realise
How much water do you drink in a day? A glass during and after a meal and perhaps one 50cl bottle when you’re stuck in the afternoon traffic with the sun weighing down heavily on you? When answering this question, soft drinks don’t count because that’s not water.
Did you know that drinking water is a natural remedy for a headache, it increases your energy level and relieves fatigue, it, flushes out toxins and boosts your immune system? There are many more health benefits of drinking water and guess what? It helps you achieve frugal living when you drink more of it in place of the canned drinks and soda you consume.
A bottle of soda costs twice what a bottle of water costs. Sachet water is even cheaper and costs 1/10th what you spend on a bottle of soft drink. If you want to embrace a frugal culture, drink more water. If you work in an office with a water dispenser, it’s better for you because this means you don’t have to spend a dime on water.
One Car is Enough
With the exception of your house or apartment, your car is probably the most expensive asset you own. Maintaining a car requires a steady portion of your income. If your aim is to achieve frugal living, avoid owning two cars especially if you have a family except these cars are official cars your company mandates you to drive. If you are married and you have 2 cars, you and your partner should reach an agreement to sell one and decide on who gets to drive the family car to work.
If you don’t have a car yet but you are planning to buy one, ensure you buy your car from a trusted dealer. The Toyota brand is very popular in Nigeria for its reliability.
Cook More of Your Food at Home
You can cut back on a lot of money you spend on eating by cooking more of your food at home. This does not make it a taboo to eat outside the home or dining out with friends but cooking at home brings you closer to frugal living.
Stock your kitchen with noodles, eggs, yam, gari, rice and beans and you would be glad you did when you eventually realise how much you are now able to save.
Cut Down on Monthly Subscriptions
What’s the point of registering at an expensive gym when you go there less than 6 times in a month? Settle for making good use of the space at home to exercise. Buy a skipping rope, running shoes and install workout apps on your phone for motivation. The same applies to all other subscriptions including cable TV and Netflix subscriptions.
Don’t Hang Out at Shopping Malls
If you are strongly considering a switch to frugal living, shopping malls are the last place you want to go to spend time with friends. The risk of making impulsive purchases is always higher at shopping malls.
If you must go to a store, make sure you know precisely what you want to buy then go in and get out as fast as you possibly can. Don’t go to a store because you are bored at home.
Improve Your Maintenance Culture
If you spend more time and put in more effort into maintaining the things that you own, they would last longer. When your things last longer, there is less temptation to buy a new one.
When doing your laundry, separate your white clothes from coloured fabrics. Consider using a bar soap for your coloured clothes instead of detergent. Same applies to your car and mobile devices.
Frugal living helps you save more money, pay off your debt as well as giving you the opportunity to invest you have found a smart way around wasteful spending.
