My hubby and I are pretty average, childfree couple (only mentioned because I will have no advice to give on child stuff). Not well-off at all, but not struggling to pay bills, either. Mostly because we don't try to keep up with any Joneses. I am a frugal princess at heart. I want exactly what I want, but I want to pay as little for it as possible. This extends to pretty much everything. Clothes, shoes, makeup, jewelry, travel, food, furniture, etc. So, in the spirit of being a "frugal prince/princess," I thought I would offer some of my favorite tips, and ask you guys/gals for yours.
We eat out a LOT less, and just make whatever we would have ordered at home. I'm not even a cook in any real sense of the word. A year ago, I didn't know how to brown meat. Craving chicken fettuccine alfredo? Cool, off to the store to buy frozen pre-cooked chicken, alfredo sauce, and noodles. Costs less than ordering ONE plate at Olive Garden, and makes enough for like, 4 plates for us. And can get way more delicious (and cheap) if you're willing to go all pro-chef and make any of it from scratch. I'm just not out to intimidate myself. We STILL save money, and eat whatever we want. Plus, cooking together is fun. And I AM learning more as I go... I know how to cook that chicken now if I want to. lol
When we travel, we figure out exactly what we want, and then I work my magic. Example: 1 week vacation to Cabo? Cool, I just saved us $1000 on the flight by leaving the night before, staying overnight at a hotel at the Mexico City airport ($250, so a $750 net savings), then arriving the next morning. I saved us another $500-$1000+ by skipping the all inclusive resorts and booking an adorable B&B for $60/night right near the marina/beach, and the lady would make us ANYTHING we wanted for breakfast... just let her know in time to go shopping. So quick and easy to walk to the marina and beach whenever we wanted, cheap delicious drinks, great food, without having to stay at the resort 24/7 to "get our money's worth." Also, saved tons of money by skipping the bigger whale watching boats in the marina, and dealing with the small water taxis on the beach. We went out and saw the whales every day for a fraction of the price the marina guys would charge us, and had the boat all to ourselves. Hubby got to ride jet skis for cheap by asking the guys what time of day they were usually slow, and offering 1/2 the price he already negotiated down to come back and ride at that time. They took it. And so much more. Research is key. I scoured the internet for what we wanted, and then the best way to get it for less. TripAdvisor had such wonderful tips. None of this was hard to do or time-consuming while actually on the vacation. We had a blast.
I want new shoes/clothes/accessories? I go to the store and find exactly what I want, try it on to make sure my size is right, then I go home and find it on Ebay/Poshmark/Amazon slightly used for like 1/2-1/3 the price. I bought a Rolex second-hand for the same price I'll probably be able to sell it for when I'm ready. I'm basically renting it for free.
I buy drugstore makeup from CVS. I can buy and try ANY makeup items and return them if I don't like them. Just keep your receipt and return anything you don't want within 60 days. This saves me SO MUCH since I don't have to pay the insane prices at Sephora/MAC/etc. and I can try it all risk-free.
So what do you all spoiled-rotten-but-frugal people do? I'm dying for some new tips over here. :)
February 16, 2020 at 06:00PM
