Decreasing the amount of money it takes to manage your home and family life for an extended period of time takes a little bit a lot of discipline in the beginning. Changing the way you do everyday things doesn’t come easy and it doesn’t come all at once. The up-side is that after you’ve been at it for a while, being frugal gets easier. Your habits become efficient and thrifty and as a result, it doesn’t seem like as much work as it did in the beginning.
Here’s a list of things I do as part of my regular, daily routine that have become thrifty habit to me. They don’t require extra thought or effort because they are my normal.
- Make only as much coffee as I intend to drink, not a full pot.
- Take a quick shower. I do everything I need to, but I don’t waste any time.
- In the summertime, I only blow-dry my hair when I’m going somewhere.
- Keep lights turned off during the day.
- Let the sun in to warm the house (it doesn’t get hot enough to need AC here).
- Line-dry our laundry.
- Cook food in usable portions.
- Don’t let hot water run any longer than needed.
- Cook food from scratch as much as I can.
- Recycle everything that I can.
- Turn computers off or on standby when not in use.
- Watch less TV (mostly because we decreased our package).
- Go running for exercise (no gym membership).
- Take the smaller, more efficient vehicle instead of the SUV when we can.
- Drink water almost exclusively througout the day (no soda or anything like that).
- Serve smaller portions to the girls and allow them to ask for seconds rather than one large helping.
- Dilute the girls’ juice with water.
- Don’t hold the refrigerator and freezer doors open while I gaze blankly into them.
- Use cloth napkins.
- Make all our bread.
- Spend time at the library and playground – free places.
- Take our daughter with us most places. No babysitter needed.
- Make and mend things that I can sew.
- Tend my garden.
- David packs his lunch for work instead of eating out.
- Use my cell phone for long-distance phone calls (which aren’t included in our home phone package).
- Wear my jeans or other clothes that are still clean a second time before washing them.
- Use bath towels more than once.
- Use bar soap in the shower.
- Pre-treat stains and use cold water to do my laundry.
What small things in your routine have you changed that have saved you money?
Why I do what I do ~ This isn’t anything cute about Chloe, sorry. Last night I was restless and had trouble falling asleep. I only slept one hour. It’s now 1:45 in the afternoon and I just noticed that I am wearing one black flip-flop and one navy blue flip-flop. I think I need some rest 
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This is a good list. I felt good to know that I am doing all of these things. The question is – where to go from here?
My question as well.
We just got back from vacation…LOTS of laundry to do..and I was tempted…but I still used the line
Britt´s last blog ..Oops!
I don’t leave the water heater all day on. I turn it on only during the night. In this way the heater doesn’t have to work to keep a constant water temperature all day long. We are only three me, my husband and a 10 month old baby girl so the hot water demands in the summer are very low. We also have a 500 gallon water tank on the roof which gets heated by the sun (not solar powered) and with these high temperatures the water temperature is fine.
Wow – this is a great list.
You’re right – being frugal does get easier the more you practice it. I needed a reminder today.
-Lauren
Mama Laundry´s last blog ..Mrs. Beeton’s Laundry Advice