How to lead a frugal life? Help me with some tips on frugal living?
Approach it from an abundant mindset - if you look at frugal living as a hardship or sacrifice you won't make it. The most important principle is to want what you have and to find ways to organize so you know what you have, and eliminate waste. Start small - turn off the lights, unplug what you aren't using, weather proof your home, drive less - do all your errands at once one time per week.
Shop smart by buying fresh foods and preparing them yourself - freeze for later use and don't use frozen tv dinners etc. Eliminate processed foods and eating out - replace your favorite restaurant meals with homemade versions. There are a lot of little things that add up - but mostly it's all in the attitude. Make it a challenge to live better on less and you'll not only save money you'll be happier as a result.
I think the biggest thing for me, especially recently, is staying out of bookstores. I love books and can easily spend hundreds of dollars in a single trip on books that I may only use as a reference once, or simply want to know is on my shelf. So, staying out of stores that tempt you to purchase things that you want rather than need is a good step.
When me and my wiife lost our jobs we had to make immediate changes. The first of which was talking to our kids and telling them that a lot of things they liked or used to enjoy would have to temporarily be stopped. No more ordering pizzas or online movies/games and such, we had to cut our cable, cell phones and any entertainment expenses (except for internet which pretty much has everything to entertain us).
The major stressing point was not wasting food. Our kids used to waste so much food I would cringe. We now shop only at thrift stores, buy generic and use our farmer's market where we look for good deals on fresh food/dairy stuff.
Those few changes alone have saved us almost $1,000 a month. We also found a store (Aldi's) that has cheaper prices than most of the stores in my area. I shop there weekly for the bulk of my items, then check all the adds in papers every week for deals/sales and clearance items.
When we can we will also by in bulk from places like Sam's or BJ's. It may cost a lot up front but lasts us quite awhile. Plus everything ChristinS just mentioned.
We also cut our watere usage using rain barrels to water our garden/plants. We time our showers, run the dishwasher only once a day. Wash our clothes once a week instead of batches here are there every URL1 may be little things, but they all add up and help.
I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.