What does frugal living in 2020 look like? 4 frugal living tips that will save you thousands. If there hasn’t been a need before, now there is a need more than ever to find ways to save money and have a plan to increase your income, fast.
Times have changed and I know that we will never be the same since the outbreak of Covid-19. Just as generations before us, our way of thinking, living and outlook on life will be impacted by this event.
So, what is frugal living in 2020 look like?
We have always lived a simple and frugal lifestyle, but with the uncertainty that is facing us and many other families we had to revisit some of these frugal living tips.
Frugal living doesn’t mean you have to deprive yourself forever. It means you will temporarily sacrifice your comforts and give up your wants for a better life in the near future.
Frugal living in 2020 is not much different from other times, but there is definitely some uncertainty that faces us. Will I still have a job? Will the economy be stable going forward?
The more you can sacrifices and save now, the more secure you will feel if something doesn’t go as planned.
I will touch base on a few key frugal living tips and that you implement now to quickly increase your savings.
These are the frugal living tips that will help you save more:
- Cutting out autopay and why?
- Subscriptions, both physical and electronic
- Reversing late charges (yes, there is still time even after 6 months)
- Grocery shopping tips
These are the frugal living tips I learned and use to stay on top of my budget. Since the outbreak of Covid-19 we have revisited these frugal living tips and made adjustments to fit our budget and income.
- Turn off your autopay
This is unconventional and many will fight the idea, but there is reasoning behind it.
When you receive that bill and you have to take time out of our schedule to sit down and write that check, stamp that envelope, it creates pain.
It is going through that pain that you will look at your incoming bills more carefully and ask yourself “Was this spending justifiable?”
I don’t have autopay for bills where the amount is the same every month. Here is the reason why? My internet bill is $150 every month, and I have a 3 year contract with them.
Every month when I received that bill I would call my internet provider and ask if there was a way to lower the bill, or did they have any promotions. After 3 attempts, I got the bill down to $100 a month, keeping the current plan and internet speed.
That is a $600 savings a year, and $1,800 savings till my contact expires.
If I would have opted to have that bill payed automatically from my bank account, I would have forgotten about it and never would have reached out and saved $600 annually. As the saying goes: “Out of sight, out of mind” and out of money : )
- Subscriptions
It has been said before and it is worth repeating. Check all your subscriptions, and decided if you can live without them.
Don’t only pay attention to the newspaper and magazine subscriptions, or streaming services, like Netflix, Hulu or Sling.
In the age of technology there are those little funny subscriptions, like for an app you bought years ago and renews annually, without you even knowing. Also, online services and software that you bought and has a monthly or annual charge.
I recently stumbled upon a $35 annual subscription that I had for 3 years through the Apple app store. I never knew about it and just by accident I saw a charge and decided to follow up on it.
Tip: To keep track of all your subscriptions I recommend you place them all on one card. This will allow you more control and better insight over your recurring charges.
- Check your late charges
On your bill there is a section that shows all the fees you have been charged for year-to-date. These include interest fees, annual card members fees and most importantly late fees.
Pay attention to the late fees, year-to-date section. Here you will see if you have been charged any late charges, often these fees are because of human errors.
You might have sent in your payment on time, but through human error they entered the wrong date payment was received. Most companies will go back as far as 6 months and will waive those fees.
Late fees can add up quickly, at $45/minimum late fee charge, you could be losing hundreds of dollars in late fees alone if you have multiple credit cards.
- Grocery shop online
Do most of your grocery shopping online. This will save you a lot of money every month, believe me.
I often head to the store, list in hand and tell myself I will stick to my list today. Well, that almost never goes as planned.
What do we do? We walk through the isles, browse the shelves and add things to our cart that are not on that list.
Since our stay-at-home order, I have been placing my grocery orders online. I discovered I saved over 60% on our grocery bills, without really sacrificing anything.
By placing my online orders, I avoid those temptations and only buy the items that I need. I open my grocery app and add items as needed. Then every 2-3 days I place the order and head to the store for my curb-side-pickup. How easy is that?
Most stores will pack your groceries for free and offer free pick-up if you meet the minimum order requirement, that can be as low as low $30. Even if you place two orders per week, and spend $35 per order that will be only $70. I bet it is a lot less then if you were to go to the store and browse and add things to your cart that are not only your list.
Now, I do go make an occasional trip to the store, but that is usually 1 trip a month. During that trip I buy all my paper products, household products and groceries for the month. Everything else for the month is placed online in small batch orders throughout the week.
Stores that I use for grocery pick-up and don’t charge any extras are Wal-Mart, Safeway, Whole Foods, and Raley’s. But there are many other stores across the state that have curb side pick-up at no additional cost.
You will save thousands every year by just simply going to the store once a month, and placing most of your grocery orders online.
Note: The stores I shop at don’t charge any extra fees or have different pricing for online shoppers. Most stores don’t have additional fees, but you should check with your store.
If you are interested in ways to reduce your debt, I have a formula that you won’t find anywhere else. How to pay off your credit card debt fast?