Frugal Living - By: carolyn

Frugal living refers to a way of life that is designed to keep you out of debt. It is a way of life that enables you to spend as little as possible meaning that the extra cash you are no longer putting to use can reduce any debts that you have, take you on that holiday you have always wanted or merely allows you to spend more quality time with your family.

The way in which frugal living works is that you end up spending less money than you earn, meaning you can use the difference at your disposal. This then gives you the option of working less hours or working more and taking an early retirement. You really do have more options open to you when living a frugal lifestyle.

There are many ways that you can keep your costs down even if you are suffering from large debts or a large mortgage; there are always ways to economise. These can range from being simple lifestyle changes such as not going to the gym and exercising at home or huge commitments such as cutting the amount of cars to a single household down to just one.

Below are examples of some major changes you can make to your life in order to adapt a more frugal living lifestyle:

• Move into a smaller house. Just because you can afford to live in a large house doesn’t mean that you should. Many of us think that we need the added space that a large house brings us when in fact if we got rid of a lot of clutter and things we don’t need it would be clear that a smaller property would be more suitable. Moving into a smaller house will cost you less, saving you money
• Try renting instead of buying your property. This is a split opinion as many people feel that buying their home is a better investment that renting. However if you calculate the interest that you are paying on a mortgage as well as the cost of insurance and maintenance it actually works out a lot more expensive in the long run.
• Cancel or cut down sky/cable subscriptions. Think about how many channels you actually watch on your subscription and decide if it is worth what you are paying. By getting rid of this subscription you would be saving yourself a large sum of money not just each month but each year.

In a practical sense many of us are not in a position to carry out the above but never fear for those of you who still wish to live a more frugal life without drastic and unrealistic changes help is at hand, simply follow these examples below of some of the things that you can do:

• Look around before buying. If you are in need of something ask around family and friends to see if they have one they are not using before you go out and buy a new one. If no one you know has what you are looking for then try looking around charity shops before you buy a brand new one.
• Eat out less. Restaurants and even fast food outlets are expensive and many of us don’t realise just how much we are spending each year on this luxury.
• Quit smoking/drink in moderation. This sounds like an extremely challenging aspect but just think of the money you will be saving in the long run
• Stop online impulse buys. Shopping online is so tempting because it is so easy. We can so easily get distracted and end up spending money that we know we shouldn’t
• Commute. If you need to go to the local shops walk or cycle rather then driving. Start using public transport more, bus fare is cheaper than petrol

How you live you frugal lifestyle is up to you and the above are merely just ideas to help you along the way.

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