How to Be Super Thrifty and Frugal

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By Terria Fleming
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Save your cash

Whatever term that you use, penny pincher, frugal, thrifty, cheapskate, or being careful with money, they all mean one thing: spending less and saving more. As a bonus, along the way you will be living the green life too.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Step 1

Simple breakfast

Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without, and waste not, want not. Like all proverbs, these two came from lessons learned. To live a frugal life, practice these two ideas and you'll be fine.

Waste not, want not, is hard for us because we are used to living in a land of more, more, more, and never-ending advertising.

Waste not means we use up what we have, we don't buy more than we need or can store and use later, we don't throw away food or anything else that comes our way.

Value comes into the waste not equation because many of us grew up taking for granted the luxury and consumerism we live in, never realizing how easily it could be lost or taken from us.

Now, of course, we have all been having a wake-up call. Frugal is now in. The mental change though, from one state to another is a rocky one. Those advertisements on the television convinced us of the more, more, more philosophy, and the new is better concepts until we started to believe them.
Step 2

Simple meals are delicious

Whatever you are doing now, you can almost always find a cheaper way to do it. Creativity is all-important in learning to be a thrifty or frugal person. There is satisfaction in making something beautiful and useful out of nothing, or that someone threw away.

We all have costly habits that can be changed. We live our lives unthinking of the future, but that way of thinking no longer works. We are forced now to realize that our choices matter.

Instant gratification and over consumption are no better than eating cake and french fries all day long. They clog your life and can ruin your health, and learning to buy only what you need, when you need it and can afford it, is similar to going on a healthy eating plan.
Step 3

Full pantry

Keep a full pantry. All households in the past kept a lot of food in their homes, enough to last several months. Our ancestors knew what we seem to have forgotten, you can't eat promises, governments fail, people get sick or lose their jobs, times can be hard through no fault of your own. Our ancestors knew these things and they made plans and prepared for them. You can do the same.
Step 4

Learn to value and treat your possessions with respect. Take care of them and they'll last longer and work better for you.

When you buy anything, learn where the bargains are and avoid poorly made, shoddy items that fall apart the first time you use them.
Step 5

Learn to barter. Many people are doing this now as it just makes economic sense.

Find free options if you can and buy at thrift stores whenever possible. Take advantage of the fact that even thrift stores have sale days.