What have you done to enhance your frugal lifestyle.

[ebbe]

I don't feel very frugal these days. Prices for everything seem to be higher.

I do look for sales when I can, but even they seem to stink lately.

[Riley.]

Other than food, my sister and I are doing a "No Buy August." She heard this somewhere and I agreed.....because alot of the time, I just go to Home Goods to browse....LOL. I love that place.

But we are going to 'shop our houses.' There is really nothing I NEED.

[COcheesehead]

Frugal to me isn’t just cutting costs, it’s increasing income. I have 9 different income streams and I am retired.

[Gerania]

Originally Posted by metamorphosis

Whether I’m trying to be frugal or not, when I think about buying something, I figure out how many hours I have to work to pay for it. I’m getting old, so going to work to pay for stuff everyday all day is getting old, too. LOL

I've told my son to do that.

[Riley.]

Originally Posted by Lillie767

The most important concept to me for a frugal life is determining the difference between "I want" and "I need".

So true.....once you get that concept, at least for me, there are few things I 'need.'

[BeerGeek40]

I always buy meats at the store that are expiring the same day or next day and have been marked down by a few dollars. It then goes immediately into the freezer at home, and I also feel like I'm probably saving some of these products from being thrown out.

[pullin2]

Originally Posted by Teacher Terry

I am frugal in some areas and not in others. For instance I grocery shop at Winco which has the best prices. I have cable because even though expensive I get enough value from it.

If you're getting good (or maximum) value from a purchase, I'd define that as "frugal". It might not seem that way viewed as a single purchase, but many times it will save overall. Cable instead of theater movies or purchased DVDs could definitely be a money-saver. It's like buying high quality boots, or kitchen knives. Overall, the reduced need for replacement makes the expensive purchase the most frugal one.


Me? I put window air conditioners in the upstairs bedrooms. Cooling a 2-story house in Texas means spending most of your money (kilowatt-hours) on the second floor. Reducing the air conditioned footprint to just 2 rooms and shutting off the central air reduced our actual electricity usage by almost 25%. Over the last 4 years, that investment has paid for itself many times over.