25 EXTREME Frugal Living Tips That ACTUALLY Work! | saving money + minimalism

Here are the BEST extreme frugal living tips and hacks to help you spend less and save more money. As a frugal person who is also a minimalist, I can tell you these money-saving tips ACTUALLY work to save you hundreds and thousands of dollars. There are frugal tips for shopping, ideas to save money on groceries, budgeting tips, money mindset tips, and so much more. Don't forget to share YOUR favorite frugal hacks with me in the comments section below so we can all help and inspire each other. :)

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ABOUT A TO ZEN LIFE
Along my journey to let go of 30 years of clutter, I accidentally became a minimalist and it was life-changing.

Before, I was an emotional hoarder with nothing but the clutter from lost loved ones — and $25,000 of debt — to my name. Now I have a beautiful home in Europe, a happy family, live debt-free, and — best of all — wake up to a life that I’m EXCITED to live every day.

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[simply.clutterfree]

My best frugal tip is to ruthlessly declutter your whole house. The time and energy involved definitely cured me of my impulsive spending habits. 😂❤

[charminlindholm]

Take inventory pictures: I took pics of each of my outfits. When I feel like shopping, I review the pictures and realize I have enough.

[MissAveryLawrence]

1. Question Brand Loyalty
2. Comparison Shopping
3. Use Price Matching
4. Shop Secondhand
5. Shop For "Free" - swap
6. Learn to cut hair at home
7. Add eyedrops to mascara
8. Just add water
9. DIY self care
10. Low maintenace mode
11. Turn down heat/ac
12. Line dry cloths
13. Negotiate bills
14. Repurpose/Upcycle
15. Reduce Car Expenses
16. Meal Plan
17. Cut down Food Waste
18. Reduce meat use
19. Know cheapest foods
20. Double Recipe
21. Build Priority Pyramid
22. Set Money Goals
23. Can Do Attitude
24. Purge Budget
25. Spending Freeze

[janastastna]

As an East-European, for me watching this is just realizing that our motherd and grandpas embraced each and every trick in the video. ☺️

[sidorenkoska]

I live in easter Europe where an average salary is 500 Euro but the prices are similar with EU countries. All these "Extreme living frugal tips" are applied in every household I know. In here they are more like "basic survival tips". I would also add:
- buying local food and products and using local recipes is usually cheaper . I tried veganism and cooking Chinese/Indian cuisine for a while but realized it is much less sustainable. It's much cheaper to purchase local fruits and vegetables and local ingredients and cook meals typical for the region you are living in.
- using every part of the food - for example: the green part of the spring onion can be fried with eggs and cheese and its delicious.
- learn to repair stuff at home and get creative with that! i had a cat that ruined my couch so once when I was bored, I learned embroidery through youtube and experimented with it and my couch. now I know embroidery and I also saved my couch! of course im not an expert, i just spent few days doing it but it was a fun art project
- prepare lunch for work
- don't buy any sweets, snacks, juices or bottled water. They seem cheap but they add so much to the expenses and are also soo bad for your health and the environment. I bought a special water pipe with filter to replace the bottled water and I try to make sweets and snacks at home and I end up eating less of it. I drink tea instead of juices and In summer i cool the tea in the fridge so I have "ice tea"

[joancollins]

My 'extreme' frugal living tip is to take my morning tea/lunch/afternoon tea/dinner to work every day. I am a nurse working a rotating roster, and I keep my food choices and prep for work very simple, and delicious. I have never forgotten my food from home, but just in case, I keep some tins of baked beans in my locker. I would much rather eat and enjoy a baked beans sandwich, than pay for food from a local cafe. 😋🥰

[suenewark]

Frugaal tips from Sue

Everytime you get a letter from a company with no refs on it and a blank back sheet, I have an A5 binder and hole punch it tear it in half and use it as a Scrap pad, write shopping lists, to do sheets, notes to hubby etc then when used, recycle the paper. I actually prefer this to any shop bought notebook, I haven't bought one for ten years! Totally free and everyone in the family knew where to find a scrap of paper if they needed one!

Second tip, I buy coffee in bulk at Costco, my husband is a coffee addict, couldn't function without it. The jars are thick glass and have a good seal on them, so I have washed the bottom, wiped the top clean (otherwise the top gets water trapped in it, the top is never really dirty anyway) and they make fab pasta, rice, and flour storage jars. They are thicker and better than the shop bought jars, so I am re--using something that would otherwise have gone into landfill. No cost for a storage item! And over the years I now have a uniform set, as if I had purchased a set of six! I bought the jar for the coffee, I get a storage jar for free. My old ones that were thin and hexagon and harder for me to hold, because of the shape, these are going to a Charity shop (the equivalent of goodwill in US?) so someone else can use them.

Third Type: Not only do I cut my husband's hair, but he now cuts mine. I have a small face and look good wih very short hair, I have a no 3 and do my own fringe. So for about £40.00 for clippers and a fairly good set of scissors on Amazon, I have saved a small fortune. Even one hair cut means you could break even, we have done every hair cut since lockdown - No haircutting costs for a husband and a wife since 2019. This also saves a mass on hair products for both of us and time in the shower, as my hair is short and I never use a hair dryer. My hair is dry with a small towel dry.

Fourth tip; I only buy really thin towels for me, as I can get 4 v large thin towels in one load. I do have quite a few towels, but with energy costs so high, it's actually cheaper to have a few more towels and save they up to do only one load every 3 to 4 weeks. He likes thick towels - opposites attract!

Fifth tip: I sell on ebay, I buy on ebay, I buy on Amazon via Warehouse deals, I don't care if the packaging has been damaged, provided the item is new. I always look in ebay first, especially if I only want one pan that normally comes in a bundle - instead of paying £101.99 for two really good quality frying pans, I spent £25.00 for one pan, the actual size I wanted and £7.50 for delivery. How much of a saving was that?!

Siixth Tip: In UK John Lewis and DFS both have furniture that have been ordered by people and then returned, ie Clearance items. I once bought something I had seen six years earlier, had loved but was £650.00, . it turned up as a clearance item for £149.00. I couldn't believe my luck, I had never found something that I had loved and fitted the space so much. Fifteen years later I still love the item and would move it to a new house. (It is made of reclaimed Chinese Yew, is stunningly simple with a very minimalist style)

Also bought a leather chair for my son, cost £149.00 because it had a wooden leg missing, only had three legs, instead of the four. We asked for an extra £50.00 off and said we would take it away that day as very few people would be able to make a new leg for a chair, it was a four sided angled shape. So we haggled and got them to drop the price by £50.00. They really do want shot of these items, as often they are ex-display or slightly damaged items, if you are willing to renovate them then there are bargains to be had. My lovely Dad made me a leg for the chair in his garage the next day, the chair was originally £650.00 (funny, but the figures were truly exactly the same as the other example, after we had negotiated). The chair is now in his first house and will serve him for years. The leather is soft buttery and beautiful. Added to this the reminder of his grandad making a leg for him remains in his mind. He honestly loves the chair!

Seven Tip: My husband took our old 1980's orange pine free standing chest of drawers and his gentleman's wardrobe and my full length wardrobe and got a 2.5 litre pot of paint, sanded it down painted it with Delux Satinwood furniture paint in Dove Grey, restained the pine to light oak with a waterproof satin stain, added crystal knobs, costing £40.00 for the whole lot and bingo a new set of bedroom furniture, cost for total transformation - £100.00. So same set of furniture for over 37 years and we will have these until we die!

Eighth Tip: Boundary Method - I never realised that by limiting myself to only the clothes that would fit in one wardrobe and chest of drawers for the whole of our 37 years of married life, I would have employed the boundary method. This has saved me more money than you can imagine. I wear clothes until they fall off my body, unless I change size I can tell you that even with this limit, as I have gone up and down quite a few sizes, I still find that some items were worn very little. So I am embarking on yet another round of de-cluttering on clothes. Nothing goes to landfill, it is sold on ebay or donated to charity. I have vowed to build a capsule wardrobe I love and enjoy wearing (with colour and prints) and that make me feel fab no matter what size I am! I want to go down to half a wardrobe and half a chest of drawers. This storage covers everything I own I can wear, underwear, tops, nightwear, swimwear, accessories, jackets, etc ...!

I could go on, but I won't, not very minimal. I never realised until I read your posts that I have probably been a closet minimalist all my life, but now I am embracing the opportunity to de-clutter even further. I started following you because your story was so emotionally charged and I admired your inner strength and now I also watch some of the other minimalists.

We also owe it to our loved ones not to leave so much behind that they are burden with the task of clearing our clutter, something that I know will resonate with you and your journey in life.

I feel blessed to have discovered your posts (I had read the Marie Kondo books and found your website, while searching youtube for her content) because it gave validation to the way I have tried to live, being frugal, sustainable and instilling these values to my own children.

Finally, to all those who sometimes feel overwhelmed by their clutter. In April I decided to do the 30 day minimalist challenge and having built up my de-cluttering muscles over the last few years, I managed to get rid of 570 items, loads of books went to a charity for children's literacy in deprived areas. I felt so good to have finally given them to such a good cause. It felt like a weight had been lifted as I taped up the final box of eight and my husband dropped them off - ill health forcing me not to continue my teaching career. Knowing the books were going to teach children in deprived schools how to read really aligned with my core values.

Hope that some of these tips might help others in the UK live a frugal life, good luck with renovating furniture, repurposing things etc and remember that by using Marissa's tips and others posted it might give you more financial freedom going forward!

[deborrasanders]

My facial moisturizer comes in a plastic tube. When it stops coming out easily, I cut off the top of the tube with scissors so that I can reach inside to get the last of the moisturizer out. I usually get almost another week of use when I do this.

[tanial]

We started an emergency fund because I was bad at spending but my husband is worst than me, so we (me, actually😅) decided to reduce our spending. Sudenly, my son had an accident and broke his leg and our medicall bills were covered by this emergency fund. Now, my son is almost back at himself and we are debtfree still, without no savings but decided to start again. This experience helped us to valorate the importance of savings.

[sustylery]

I would refrain from the mascara-tip, since the eye area is extremely sensitive and bacteria grow fast in those little bottles. The shelf live of this product is short for a reason.
Other than that, great tips as always! We also started a swapping group at work and meet regularly to exchange clothes, decoration, books and more 💪

[GenerationJonesi]

I keep a spray bottle handy with water, a tsp vinegar & tsp citrus dish soap. It's fantastic for quick clean up of dishes, wiping down appliances, tables, etc instead of dragging out the whole bottle of whatever, & it really saves on dish soap & cleaners.

[luciamessali]

I save the first water that runs cold from the shower, and I use it for watering plants or in the wc. This doesn't save money but saves a lot of water

[andersonomo]

I'm not crazy about rigid meal planning - I always base meals around what's on special. The one tip that HAS saved me heaps is keeping a list of the vegetables I have on hand which reminds me to use the more perishable ones first. I constantly revise the list so when I go to the farmers markets or grocery store I know what I'm out of or what still needs to be used up. Just doing this has saved money and the hassle of finding forgotten produce that goes straight to the compost - which is like throwing money away!!

[shellygiles]

Hi, great tips. One of my frugal tips is to cut any tubed product in half when I think it's empty. I honestly can get another week or so out of the product. I put a sandwich plastic baggie over each now new top so they won't dry out 😊

[bashirauwal]

"Living below your means" adjust your lifestyle, be frugal, budget, save and invest. This helped me as a 6 figure earner. I've grown over a million in retirement savings with this method

[amyhamaker]

I make a list of something I want to impulse buy, and then wait a couple of days. I find that I can make a better decision when that antsy “gotta buy it now” feeling is gone.

[jennisalyers]

Some ways I stay frugal is always packing lunches for work, using a pair of shoes that wears out as gardening shoes, hand me downs for kids, catching rain water, using less laundry soap, not replacing a cell phone unless we have to

[mindymceachern]

Budgeting has become one of my favorite things to do! It takes me and my husband about an hour each month to write out our budget and it saves us so much money, sometimes even hundreds! Tell your money where to go instead of wondering where it went:)

[gwenfehr]

I was making a taco bake for supper yesterday. Layers of tortilla, meat and cheese. I was able to make one round 10”, and two square 8” pans. One for yesterday, two for the freezer. There were three layers of cut tortillas, three layers of cheese, and two layers of the meat mixture. The meat mixture consisted of 1.5 pounds of lean ground beef browned, two cups each of black eyed beans and corn, one cup of salsa and taco spice.
There are only two of us in the house now, so I often make larger meals and then freeze the leftovers for another day. This keeps costs down as I’m not as tempted to order out on days when I don’t feel like cooking. I just go to my freezer and find something already prepared. All I need to do is reheat and prepare a side or a salad to go with it. I do this with chili, stroganoff, baked beans, other bean recipes, pork chops in sauces, lasagna, mini quiches, mini meatloaf, meatballs.
I also fry up the whole package of bacon, even if I only need one or two slices. I then chop it into small pieces and freeze. It is so handy to add to soups, casseroles and salads. My husband even adds it to sandwiches.
When I have vegetables that are on the verge of going bad, like peppers or mushroom’s, I will chop them and freeze. Makes prep time so much easier.

[vra]

Great tips. As a mostly-frugal person, I’ve always balked at unnecessary purchases but got a wonderful tip from various minimalism videos- “shop your own home first”. So much that my kids tease me with that tagline all the time:)

The other tip is using substitutes. My home is not a Pinterest home so I can do with mismatches and not have to throw things in the landfill.And I’m not a Michelin star chef to only use exact ingredients. This avoids more purchases, car usage, etc.

Finally decluttering and organizing made me realize how many duplicates of things we had. A place for everything and everything in its place makes me live a little more frugally.