As you may have read recently in my post You May Be Wasting Thousands Of Dollars On These 7 Things, we are watching our spending, living frugally, and always trying to find new ways to be smarter with our money.
No matter what your income is, I always think it’s a good idea to eliminate any ways you may be being wasteful.
There’s really no need to be wasting money if you don’t even value it. Why spend money just to spend?
Below are several things I’ve done recently so that I can continue living frugally. They are all fairly small, but they all count!
I may turn this into a monthly series. I think jotting down ways to live frugally can be a great way to look back and remember past actions, plus I enjoy reading comments about how others are currently saving money!
1. I meal prepped.
Meal prepping is a great way to start living frugally, especially if you have a problem with food spending (like we do).
We had to come home earlier this week to get some warranty work done on our RV and you better believe I took full advantage of our kitchen inside our home! While RV cooking is similar to cooking at home, our RV kitchen is much smaller so there is less room to cook, less stove space, and more.
I was able to save money by meal prepping some meals for both the RV and for while we are at home waiting on our RV to be fixed. One of the meals I prepped was chicken fried rice, which I’ve been missing since being in the RV. It made around 6 meals and they were all tasty!
2. We stocked up on groceries.
One thing we’ve noticed since being on the road is that grocery stores near national parks and other touristy areas are much more expensive. While this is probably a given, it’s something we did not think about before we left.
Instead, we were stocking up as we drove, which led to a lot of money being wasted. In fact, the other day I needed to cook and bought a few items for twice (and sometimes even three times!) what they would normally cost at the store. UGH!
When we were at home the other day, we went to our local grocery store and stocked up on items such as granola, dried fruit, cereal, noodles, canned goods, and more.
3. We RV camped for free.
Being in the RV has been great so far. We’ve already been to Black Canyon of The Gunnison National Park, Dinosaur National Monument, Grand Teton National Park, Yellowstone National Park, numerous national forests, and more.
Despite all of the traveling, we are actually spending less money than ever. Plus, we are camping for free about half of the time on BLM land and in national forests. Camping for free is THE BEST – the views are great, being secluded is awesome, and surprisingly I’ve had the best internet when we’ve been free camping as well.
4. We used coupons.
We’ve received a lot of coupons in the mail lately for completely free products. They weren’t for the healthiest items, but we are human and eat unhealthy sometimes. Plus, free is good and I can’t say no to that.
Some coupons we received include coupons for free Hot Pockets, free McDonald’s, and $1 off dog food. No, I won’t become rich but saving money and living frugally are always good in my mind!
5. We attempted to pick up change off the ground.
Ha, yes, I said attempted! The other day we were walking and Wes noticed a quarter on the ground.
He tried to pick it up, but it was actually glued to the ground. It was obviously a trick by the store that the quarter was placed in front of. I’m sure everyone had a laugh while Wes was trying to pick up a glued quarter!
What frugal things have you done recently? How are you living frugally? Share below!
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I love stocking up on groceries too! I’m a big fan of using coupons and I’m looking for my favorite products that offered a free one.
Awesome!
Meal prepping is awesome! I’ve done it for years as a way to save money and eat much healthier (so easy to eat junk when you are tired and don’t feel like cooking!)
My frugal win for the week; finding a pair of $95 Sperry’s I’ve been wanting for ages on eBay for $39 (shipped!)
Great job!
Ha! The glued quarter is a good one! This week we’ve only cooked twice (big meals though) and ate leftovers the rest of week. The way our buget is set right now, we have no choice but to live fruagally if we still want to do any form of entertainment 🙂
Good job Luke!
Coupons – love to hate them and hate to love them. I couponed away this week! In terms of fun frugal things, my husband and my dad are working on restoring this really old rickety tin can of a row bow. It’s been so fun to see them do it. I can’t wait to get back out on the water this weekend. Oh, and your free RV campsite photos on Insta have me sold! 🙂
Good job!
We currently have “eat-at-home-month,” so I make all the meals from scratch at home. It has saved a lot so far. I have not used any coupons, but probably I should.
Good job!
Menu planning saved our grocery budget big time. I lowered our monthly budget from $700 for a family of three to $400 for a family of four. I’m working on trying to get it lower. I’ve limited myself to one soda a day (next month I’m going to try to do without) but getting my husband on board with that is an entirely different battle.
Wow awesome!
I love meal planning and cooking at home. It saves a ton of money, makes your life easier and just feels right. I’m glad to hear that the RV is saving you money. Camping is so fun, but even better when it’s free 🙂
Yes, free is great!
I love menu planning. When I do it anyway. . . that’s the tough part sometimes. I do much better if I don’t have to think at the last minute about what to have for dinner. Saves me time and money. This month I’m dropping my grocery/food budget for the three of us from $300 to $275. This includes any meals out. Wish me luck!
Good luck!
I hate it when people glue money to the ground. That makes me crazy!!
I agree!
HAHA! I read this at the same time I saw one of those Sasquatch prank commercials where the guys stick a quarter to the ground using honey to mess with Sasquatch. Good job staying frugal!
Haha thanks Brittany!
Ha, that is too funny about the glued quarter trick. I ALWAYS pick up abandoned coins on the ground. Thankfully I haven’t been tricked like that yet!
Haha I laughed at Wes forever after that!
The only thing we do right now to save money is meal prepping. But I was thinking about biking it to and from work. That way I get a workout and don’t have to pay for gas.
You should try it!
Great ideas! That coin comment made me LOL! I did that to my students one year on April Fool’s day. The kids didn’t fall for it much, but a few staff members did. 🙂
Haha too funny!
We buy the “loss leaders” at our local grocery stores. We then plan our meals around what was on sale, fresh, and usually in season.
Secret to the glued coin trick: give the coin a small nudge with your foot first. If it moves you are good!
Good job!
I would have tried to pick up the quarter too! It all adds up! 🙂
Haha yup!