10 Simple Ways to be More Frugal in 2024

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Frugal living isn’t just a trend, it’s a way of life. 2024 is as good of a year as any to start your frugal living journey! Whether you’d like to pay off debt, grow your emergency fund or retirement, or simply stop living paycheck to paycheck, here are 10 simple and easy ways to be more frugal this year!

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Meal Planning & Eliminating Food Waste

In the United States, people waste 80 million tons of food every year, which equals 149 billion meals. They throw away over $444 billion worth of food annually. Shockingly, they waste 38% of all the food in America.

Feeding America

The most important way I have learned to save money is on groceries. Food waste is a huge issue in the United States. Turn those old bananas into banana bread. Chop and freeze those veggies that are about to go bad. Turn that stale bread into bread crumbs. Make use of what you have. Then, make a meal plan and only buy what you need. This will eliminate food waste drastically and lower your grocery bill!

Have a No Spend Week/Month/Year

Having a no spend week, month, or even year, is a great way to jump start your frugal journey, get back on track, or just to completely refresh! No spend months are the most popular, but even taking a weekend to focus on contentment and not spending on non-essentials can make a big difference!

Focus on Free Activities

I’ve heard people say that they can’t live a frugal lifestyle because they enjoy doing things. Who doesn’t? Being frugal doesn’t mean you have to be a hermit who sits at home and does nothing. Find free things to do. There are festivals, concerts, parks, libraries, SO MANY THINGS to do in most cities, even the small ones! Check out this post with a free printable of a ton of activities to do for free, made with families in mind!

Reduce Subscriptions

We live in the age of streaming. It’s so easy to accumulate this streaming service for this show, this for that movie, this as a free trials, and on until you realize you are spending just as much as you would on cable! I love that we can pick and choose what we want to watch and pay for, what a luxury! First off, if you sign up for a free trial, cancel right away! They usually almost always give you the full trial even if you cancel as soon as you sign up! That way, you won’t forget. Secondly, if you have several streaming services, see which you are actually watching. Better yet, stick to one streaming service. Watch everything that one has to offer, cancel it, and move on to another. You can always come back! Nothing worse than paying for services you and your family aren’t even using!

Stop Eating Out

Remember how we talked about all the food Americans waste? Ever feel like you don’t have any food in the house, so you go out to eat? Maybe it’s become a habit for you. Try to reduce the amount of times you eat out. If it’s three times a week, try once. If it’s once a week, try once a month. Start working restaurant dupes into your meal plans. Really love eating Chinese out? Start making it at home vs going out. Eventually, you will work yourself into the habit. Eating out should be a treat, especially for those trying to live a more frugal life style. Your wallet and waistline will thank you!

Declutter & Change Your Shopping Habits

Ever need something and you can’t find it, so you go out and buy another? According to NBC News, one in four Americans have a clutter problem. How is that possible? Aren’t the vast majority of people struggling to pay their bills? In the age of Amazon Prime, we can have what we want, when we want it. So we get it. We shop for fun or for stress. We used to window shop, but now we can just scroll in bed and give ourselves that quick high. “It was only $10.” That adds up, quickly! Not just money-wise, but in our homes. Then we feel we don’t have enough space and we need a bigger place to live. It continues into a vicious cycle. By decluttering, we can reduce the things we have in our home, make them more functional, and potentially make money selling the unused items in the process. Decluttering is great, but the biggest thing is to change your shopping habits. I have learned to add it to a list. Whether it’s on Amazon, Target, or Pinterest, if I add it to a list for later, I find myself not buying it now. I still get that satisfaction without actually buying it. Then, I will periodically go over the list and remove things and thank myself for not buying it. Sometimes, I am SUPER grateful for the random things I almost spent money on that I didn’t want, need, or even really like.

Borrow or Thrift

I can’t tell you how many times I have seen someone buy a book, read half of it, and leave it on a shelf for years, only to end up donating it. Libraries are still very much a thing! Not just that, but you can get audiobooks or ebooks for free with your library card. Want it now? Try finding it used on places like eBay or thrift stores. The same can be said for many items. Need a dress for one event? Borrow it. If you can’t, try the thrift store. We buy most of our items second hand and it saves us so much money in the long run. The library doesn’t just have books or DVDs anymore. Ours has sewing machines, magnatiles, board games, and more!

Take Your Lunch

I can’t tell you how many times the guys at my husband’s job will ask him how we can afford to be a one income family, all while they’re ordering from the cafeteria twice a day. Meanwhile, he packs all his meals EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. This wasn’t always true. There was a point in our marriage where I had to work full time, while he happened to be eating out twice a day while he was at work. This wasn’t the only thing holding us back, but it was a big one. Even eating at the cafeteria once a day, can cost around $30 a week. That is about $1560 a year. What could you do with an extra $1500 this year? Take a trip? Throw it at debt? Emergency fund? Meanwhile, packing your lunch and snacks can cost only a couple of dollars a day. We apply the same logic when running errands or when we travel to visit family. We eat before we leave or bring snacks/sandwiches for the road.

Shop Sales

Just because it’s on sale, doesn’t mean it’s a good deal. However; when you have a need, it’s important to try to find the best deal on purchases. Compare prices, wait for certain times of year when you know sales will happen, use cash back websites or receipt apps to get money back. There are so many ways to save money on just about everything. It just takes a bit of knowledge and investigating.

Repair & Reuse Rather Than Replace

Have you ever heard the phrase, “make do or do without”? Our grandparents used to make use of everything they had. If something ripped, they repaired it. If they didn’t have something, they’d try to find something else that would work. They were very creative in that way. We live in such a throw away culture, while also paying very little for most things. We have so much stuff, yet most of it has little to no value. What if we spent our hard earned dollars on things that are made to last, took good care of them, and repaired them until we couldn’t anymore? Youtube is a wonderful source of information for repairing just about anything yourself. You can learn to sew, do flooring, yard work, and more.

There you have it! 10 Simple ways to be more frugal in 2024. Have you tried any of these? Do you struggle with any? Let me know down in the comments!