Extreme Frugality Tips To Save You Money

Here are a few extreme frugality tips to help you save money and become frugally fit.

Since the pandemic struck, things seem to be on a downward spiral when it comes to the cost of living. With petrol prices skyrocketing, energy prices going through the roof, and food prices on the rise, finding ways to save money and live a frugal lifestyle has become more important than ever before.

Tips To Save You Money

So, here are a few quick ways to save money living in the UK and cut down on your everyday bills from some of the best-known money-saving experts. Which of these frugal living tips will you add to your daily routine?

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Get Rid Of Old Debt

Number one on the list of extreme frugality tips is to get rid of any outstanding debt you have as quickly as possible. Most debt will come with high interest so the quicker you can get rid of the debt, the less you’ll have to pay.

Start with the most urgent debt you have, then start to tackle the biggest amount of debt, or the debt that comes with the largest interest rate. The longer you leave it, the more you’ll have to pay back over time. Things like your mortgage should be cleared as soon as humanly possible!

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Re-Evaluate Your Grocery Shop

Most people are shocked to find out how much they’re actually spending at the grocery store on their groceries each month. You might do one big shop a week but due to lack of planning, you end up having to go two or three more times for odd bits.

Plan your meals in advance and work out exactly what you’ll need for the week/month. That way you’re less likely to waste food that gets missed and goes out of date. Write down all your meals for the week, including snacks…etc. Then stick to your list while you’re in the store.

Even something as simple as switching from Tesco to Aldi or Lidl could save you around £25 per week on your shopping – for pretty much the same items!

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Cancel Subscriptions

Chances are, you’re paying for subscriptions you either no longer use or have forgotten you even have. So, it’s time to stop spending money and cancel any subscriptions you don’t use or need, and turn off auto-renew.

Go through your phone and bank statement and check for any current subscriptions or payments coming out and cancel them.

But if you think you really need your subscriptions, downgrading is an option instead of totally cutting off. For instance on your TV, maybe getting an aerial installation is an option if you feel the need for a stable source of entertainment

Avoid Branded Goods

Another great one on the list of extreme frugality tips is to avoid branded goods at all costs!

Did you know, that most brands use the same ingredients as non-branded goods? In fact, most are made the exact same way, in the same factory. I bet you couldn’t tell the difference between say, a tin of Heinz beans and a tin of Tesco’s own beans. They are approx £0.60p cheaper and taste the same. This would also be the same for products such as toilet paper, laundry detergent and other household goods. Just because it’s branded, doesn’t make it any better – most of the time!

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Try it out for a month without telling anyone in your family. See if anyone mentions it – I doubt they will. Save yourself money on your monthly food shop without really having to do anything.

Set Up A Savings Account

Set yourself up an online savings account and transfer money across after every payday. Whether it’s £10 or £100, any amount you won’t really notice on a day-to-day basis. You can set it up to do this automatically so you don’t have to think about it. Among the perks of savings accounts are low interest rates.

Plus, if you set it up without a bank card so you don’t get tempted to spend your savings. It quickly adds up over the months and in no time you’ll have a great little rainy day fund.

Just because the economy has hit a rough patch, it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t think about financial planning. 

If you aren’t sure where to start, perhaps you could try contacting experts in wealth management who can help you invest your money wisely in a variety of different ways.

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Earn Extra Income

Extreme frugality tips can sometimes seem over the top, or unnecessary. However, think of it as a marathon, not a sprint. If you get some birthday money or are given a bonus at work, make sure you use it wisely.

Instead of going out and treating yourself right away, you could put it on to your mortgage, or pay off a little extra on a credit card. Don’t see this as free money to spend on luxuries, use it wisely to pay off any outstanding debt.

Just think, once you’re debt free, you can go out and have as many slap-up meals as you like. Let that be your driving force – the sooner you’ve paid everything off, the sooner you can live the life you’ve dreamt of!

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Reduce Your Energy Bills

There are so many ways you can reduce your energy bills by making a few little changes. Be effortlessly energy efficient with these extreme frugality tips! Some of these might seem like extreme ways to save, but if you do them bit by bit, you probably won’t even notice!

Ways to be extremely frugal with your energy bills include…

• Take shorter showers – or shower at your gym
• Put a brick in your toilet cistern to use less water
• Washing clothes at 30 degrees, or in cold tap water
• Installing dimmer switches, or energy saving lightbulbs
• Turn off plugs
• Don’t leave your TV on standby
• Only boil water you need
• Don’t leave lights on
• Install a smart meter
• Don’t leave the oven on if you’re not using it
• Draught-proof and insulate

Companies across the country are offering hybrid work or working from home. As such, if you’re one of these people, you may be spending more time at home than in recent years. If you are one of those people working remotely, you may be using more energy to heat your home and use electronic work equipment. 

Although ordinarily, you’d be able to shop around for the best energy deal to help lower your electric bill, switching suppliers isn’t possible for a lot of people at the moment. Even though you’ll find your tariff increases, there are things you can do to make it go further. It’s little extreme frugality tips such as this that will help you manage your finances better in the long run.

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Unsubscribe From Email Marketing

The main aim companies have from sending you an email is to get you to buy something from them. The irresistible discount code, or 24-hour sale.

So, by unsubscribing from these emails, you’re less likely to spend your hard-earned cash on things you probably don’t need.

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Eat A Pack Lunch

By taking your lunch with you, or eating at home, you’ll be saving yourself a lot of money. On average, it’s thought a household will spend approx £150 a month on eating out. The odd £3 sandwich, a cup of coffee, or snack might seem like nothing but when you add it up over the year you’d be surprised. For example, if you have a £3 sandwich at work every day, that adds up to £720 a year – just on that one sandwich!

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The mark-up on products like this is huge. If you think about it, you might buy an entire loaf of bread for £1, yet you spend X3 that on ONE sandwich. Plan ahead and make your lunch at home to take with you.

Think ahead and meal plan your breakfast, lunch and dinner to ensure you’re well prepared so you don’t feel the need to go to the shops for an expensive sandwich last minute!

Ask About Discounts & Offers

Frugal living in the UK can sometimes be harder than say in the US as we don’t have access to the number of coupon codes they have.

However, If there is something you really need or want to buy, ask the brand if they have any offers or discounts going currently. Most companies are more than happy to give you a discount code if they think you’re more likely to buy from them.

Reduce Your Mobile Phone Bill

If you’re anything like me, you probably haven’t looked at your phone bill since you set it up all those years ago. A simple call to your mobile phone provider could reduce your bill. Ask them for any deals going on, or ways you could reduce your monthly bill. They will be more than happy to help you if it means you’re more likely to stay with them.

I did this recently with O2 and reduced my monthly bill from £36 to £20. Not a huge saving but every little counts. Plus, over the year that’s now saved me £192, that’s about 3 months’ worth of food shopping!

Challenge Yourself To Stop Spending

Try challenging yourself to a spending freeze over a month. Anything that isn’t essential, is off-limits for a month. See how much you can save yourself by adhering to this challenge.

Plus, you’ll feel great once you’ve achieved it. Seeing the extra money in your bank account at the end of the month. The money you can put into savings, or pay off some debt. So, instead of going out for an expensive pamper session, do a pamper session at home instead.

You never know, you might be able to save yourself tons of money!

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Use Leg Power

Extreme frugal living doesn’t mean you can’t use your car, or that you should sell it. However, one great way to save money is to use your car less, or only if you have to.

If you can walk to work, or cycle, do that instead. Not only will you be helping the environment, you’ll also be spending less on fuel and you’re getting a bit of extra exercise in as well.

Do It Yourself (DIY)

Before you splash out on a new garden bench or a side table for your lounge. See if it’s something you could make yourself. These days, there are so many places you can find tutorials for DIY projects.

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Saving money on the materials you can likely get cheap through Facebook groups, or at your local merchants. Then there’s also the money saved on having someone make it for you. Having it delivered, or simply buying it brand new.

It’s such a great way to learn a new skill, and once finished, something you can be proud of you made from scratch yourself.

Use The Library

It might sound like an odd one, but one great way to practice extreme frugality is to utilise your local Library. Before you go buying brand new books you’ll only ever read once, check your local library to see if you can borrow them instead.

Most libraries these days have audiobooks and digital copies you can rent. Or, perhaps you could go to your local charity book shop to see if they have it pre-owned.

Cash Back Sites & Coupons

A lot of extremely frugal people love to use coupons and discount codes to save a bit here and there. Nothing beats a coupon or discount code when you’re about to buy something. Here in the UK, it’s not as easy to live frugally by finding coupons, however, it is still possible. You just have to look a bit harder to find them.

However, if you can’t find coupons, you could try signing up to cashback sites instead to earn money back on your purchases.

Sell Old Items

We all have things in our homes we no longer use. Those things are stuffed away and forgotten about in draws or cupboards, gathering dust. You could have a treasure trove of goodies waiting to be set free! Have a good declutter of your home and see what you could sell.

If you find enough to sell you could go to a car boot sale. Or perhaps sell your items on your local Facebook thrift store page. It might not earn you very much, but something is better than nothing. Especially if it means you also get to declutter your home at the same time.

Claim What You’re Entitled To

With so much complexity to the system, you may not be aware of what you’re entitled to claim. 

Make sure you’re claiming all possible payments so that nothing goes unclaimed. For example, the Attendance Allowance is there for those of you who have reached the State Pension age and need personal care for a mental or physical disability.

Which of these extreme frugality tips do you find to be the best way to save money? How super frugal are you these days?