Five Simple Ideas For A Frugal January

As a new year begins, we’re all starting to look at our online banking apps and into our purses and panicking a little. Because as much as we know it, and as much as we prepare for it, December is forever tough on our purse strings! And that can mean that as soon as Christmas is over and you’re heading into January, you’re going to want to think about being a little more frugal for at least a month! Because it’s always good to feel a bit more on track financially after you’ve had a bit of a spending session. Yet, it’s not that easy to just start. We all know that parenting can be expensive, so how do you make this work? To give you some ideas, here are five tips to try.

1. Save The Change
First of all, something that might help you is that whenever you buy something, you put the change into a jar. Or that you take the extra pence of an online transaction and put it in a savings account. This allows you to save a little, and reduce the amount you have available to spend.

2. Carry Cash
The next thing you can do here, is make sure that you’re only ever using cash. If you know that you seem to be spending a bit more than you would usually like because you just instantly swipe your card, then leave it at home. You could even look to use the envelope system here just to be more effective. Because when you use cash, and you can actually see the money you have, you usually think twice about spending it!

3. Use Coupons
And, of course, it’s always a good idea to think about using coupons here too. Because if you know that you need to buy something, then actively looking to get a discount is always going to be a good idea. So really think about the coupons that you are available. From Jet.com coupons to cashback offers, there’s always a lot online if you just look. And this will then allow you to save money on the things you know you need to get.

4. Track Your Spending
Then, you should keep your receipts and start a spreadsheet or use a budgeting app. Because the second that you actually start to track what you spend, it’s so much easier for you to be frugal about it.

5. Say No
And then, of course, you can just learn to say no a lot more. And this isn’t just to your kids, but to you as well. Think you want to pick that up in the sales? Or get this on a whim? Well, when this is the case, you should really think about adding that item to a wishlist. Write it down. And in a week or a month’s time, if you still want it, then you can consider going back for it. Because a lot of the time, you won’t. So saying no to yourself more can really work.

*collaborative post*