17 Everyday Things Frugal People Never Do

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Since deciding to stay at home after being made redundant on maternity leave, I’ve made it a bit of a mission to become more frugal. And actually, if you’re not taking frugality to the extreme, it isn’t really all that difficult once you start changing a few habits and thinking more about where your money is going.

Having said that, once you’ve started down the frugal path, it can be quite addictive trying to find more and more ways to save money!

After a lot of reading on how to live more frugally, there are definitely noticeable habits and life decisions that frugal people have in common, and things they don’t and won’t do.

If you’re trying to stretch your budget and make it go further, take a look at some of these things that frugal people don’t do, to see if you could save money by adopting the same mindset.

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17 things that frugal people never do:

1. Live Beyond Their Means

Frugal people never live beyond their means. They create a budget for themselves and don’t spend more money than they have coming in.

2. Waste Food

Frugal people don’t waste food. They plan their meals, shop to a list and try to avoid as much food waste as possible.

3. Impulse Buy

One thing frugal people never do is impulse buy! They’ll first think carefully about whether they really need or want the item, wait and consider for a while before checking where they can buy it for the cheapest price.

4. Pay Full Price

You’ll never catch a frugal person paying full price. They’re more likely to wait for a sale, or find a discount code or voucher.

5. Grocery Shop With No List

Frugal people always make sure to take a list when grocery shopping. Shopping with a list means you’re much more likely to buy only what you need and not end up overspending on impulse buys or things you don’t actually need that end up wasted.

6. Have Expensive Satellite Subscriptions

You wont find a frugal person spending a fortune on satellite TV. No sir! Frugal people consider whether they need a TV licence at all, and if they go for TV subscriptions are much more likely to choose a cheaper option such as Netflix or Amazon Video (Click here for a free Prime Video trial).

7. Buy Branded

Frugal people don’t buy branded. Designer goods often have the price hiked up just because of the name. Frugal people will find a good value alternative of similar quality, for a lower price.

8. Waste Energy

You won’t catch a frugal person leaving the lights on! Frugal people are great at keeping their energy bills low by not wasting energy wherever possible.

9. Drive Uneconomical Cars

Frugal people don’t buy cars that guzzle up fuel. They’re much more likely to choose something fuel efficient.

10. Buy New Cars

In the same way, frugal people know that new cars are not often worth the price, and it’s much better value to go for a second hand car, even if it’s only a couple years old. You’ll lose a lot more value in depreciation of a new car much faster.

11. Make Unnecessary Trips

Continuing with that theme, frugal people are unlikely to make unnecessary trips. If they can fit in their shopping trip on the way home from work they’d rather do that, than take a whole separate trip.

12. Use Credit Cards

Unless it’s deliberately to take advantage of interest free offers, you won’t find a frugal person using a credit card or borrowing money. In fact, with the probable exception of mortgages you probably wont find a frugal person willing to pay interest at all, preferring to save up to pay for things outright instead.

13. Spend Before Saving

Frugal people pay themselves first. They don’t start spending their money until they’ve worked out what they can save first.

14. Buy Without Comparing Prices

Frugal people never take the first price they see as the price they’ll pay. They’ll always do a price comparison to make sure they’re getting the best price possible.

15. Buy Lunch At Work

Frugal people don’t spend their money on expensive canteen lunches. They prefer to save money by taking their own packed lunches to work.

16. Eat Out Often

Frugal people don’t spend a lot of time eating out in expensive restaurants. That’s not to say they never do, everyone needs a treat now and then, but for frugal people, it’s a once in a while treat, rather than a regular thing.

17. Pay For Things They Could Do Themselves

If a frugal person can do something themselves rather than pay for it, they will. Things like washing the car, cleaning the house etc. If a frugal person has the time and ability to do something themselves rather than paying for a service, you can bet that’s what they’ll do!

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4 Comments

Hannah says:

27th April 2019 at 7:53 pm

I like to think I’m quite frugal but even so there’s quite a few of these that I often slip up on ‍♀️
Tania says:

22nd July 2019 at 5:04 pm

I am happy I am not like that! It does not spark joy not to buy lunch or use a credit card!
rosemary wayre says:

17th November 2020 at 7:33 am

if used properly and paid up every month a credit card is a very useful frugal tool. you can get up to 7 weeks interest free on items and enables you to buy bargains and offers when they come along.
of course you must keep your money in the bank and not spend it if you are running up credit. you will not pay a penny in interest as long as you pay it up every month. your statement can be seen with your on line banking to see where your money is going every day.
1. missmanypennies says:
  
  19th November 2020 at 11:05 am
  
  Yes true! We use an interest free card to do all our shopping and just pay it off each month, plus we get loyalty points for using it! If you can manage to pay on time and don’t pay interest like you said they can be great.

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17 Everyday Things Frugal People Never Do