10 Thrifty Things I Don't Do

ybgi1 August 21, 2024

0 0 3 minutes read

There are many different ways to live a frugal life, and it can vary from person to person. Although I consider myself to be very frugal and have always lived on a budget and been very intentional with our money, I thought it would be fun and smart to put together a list of things that most people would think a frugal person might do, but I'm not doing that right now.

When it comes to most things in life, I'm a big believer in calculating the cost of time and looking for a return on investment. And this is true of frugality as well. What is your time? How much do you save an hour to prioritize different unhealthy choices? Is it right for you?

Only you can decide that based on your budget and your current life stage. Some seasons, if it saved $3/hour, I needed to save that because money was tight. In other seasons, there was more breathing room in our budget, so it wasn't worth investing my time in something that only threatened $3/hour. (For example, I never find it worth the time to make my own tortillas from scratch!).

10 Thrifty Things I Don't Do (For Now)

I hope my list encourages you that no one can prioritize all savings all the time and there are times when certain things work and times when they are not.

Here's my list of 10 thrifty things I'm not doing right now:

1. Use paper coupons.

Years ago, I was a coupon queen with a large organized tub of coupons. These days, I just shop on sale and use digital coupons.

2. A cloth diaper.

We only cloth diapered the first time but switched to Pampers after our second had a skin reaction. I got free diapers by playing the drug store game!

3. Make my own laundry soap.

I have tried many times and it never worked for me. And now I've heard that it might not be good for your washing machine.

4. Don't go out to eat.

As soon as we found room in the restaurant budget, we made it a priority. It's so good not to cook occasionally!

(Psst! Looking for coupons to help you cut down on dining out? Follow along for our best restaurant coupons every day, and check out all these places where kids eat free!)

5. Recycle bags.

I also only use freezer bags if they have dry ingredients or if I put similar ingredients in them (ie we usually have a bag in the freezer where we put frozen bananas).

6. Cut my children's/husband's hair.

I grew up with my mother cutting hair. But I tried and failed miserably this time! So we go to the salon instead!

7. Shop at Aldi.

I love Aldi and have shopped there all my adult life, but Kroger delivery and digital coupons are where we are now. Even if we lived in an area where there wasn't a Kroger or discount grocery store, you better believe I would shop at Aldi (see the photo above from my grocery trip on our recent lake vacation!)

(You might find this article interesting in checking which is cheaper – Kroger or Aldi!)

8. Always buy used.

My girls love raising money, but I find it's a huge investment of time for me and I don't like what I get. (I love ThredUp, though – like promoting the internet!)

9. Hang our laundry on the clothesline.

My mom loved doing this and many people raved about it, but I don't like it and find it time consuming. Also, it doesn't go well with my allergies.

10. Plant a garden.

We always had a HUGE garden growing up and it can save you a lot of money. But it's a big time investment and not something I prioritized after marriage.

(After writing this post, I realized I forgot another thrifty thing I rarely do: making cupcakes/birthday cakes. We can buy them for $5-$8 at the store, and that's worth the time we saved right now, plus my kids love choosing their colors/designs/type.)