“Living frugally allows you to live richly in ways that you choose.” ~Anonymous
2014 turned out to be a very positive and enlightening year for the hubby and me. It was the time when we took our finances more seriously. We started investing directly in the stock market in July and when November came, we opened a UITF account at a local bank.
While modifying our allocations for this month’s budget in my desktop, I thought about sharing some frugal living tips here in the blog. These are practices that the hubby and I try to do consistently to save money and live a simple but fun married life.
1. When withdrawing money from an ATM, I use only the one provided by my bank. This way, I get to avoid paying the P10 to P15 standard charge imposed by other banks to non-clients. Unless it’s an emergency, I practice withdrawing money ahead of time for my own convenience and peace of mind. The hubby, on the other hand, still refuses to accept this smart idea and continues to withdraw money from the nearest ATM whenever he needs cash fast. #galanteproblems
2. Instead of buying new beauty care (read: make-up) and toiletries, I try to finish using the ones I have at home first. This applies to food supplies as well. I just tell myself that my desire to try a new product can wait.
3. I usually don’t order drinks and ask for the service water instead. (When dining out, the hubby delegates the task of ordering the food to me 99% of the time.) This little trick saves us more than a hundred pesos each time. In the long run, I know it would mean more savings from our dining out expenses. On a few occasions that I do order drinks (out of sheer curiosity!), though, I just order one and share it with the hubby.
4. I use our loyalty cards whenever possible. If you haven’t read it yet, I wrote something informative about our loyalty cards before.
5. To keep our food expenses in Bacoor low and to encourage ourselves to eat healthy, the hubby and I buy fresh produce from the wet market. This also doubles as a bonding activity for us. Nowadays, we only go to the supermarket when our canned goods and cleaning supplies are on the verge of running out.
6. Unless we have house guests or it’s really necessary, we schedule our trips to the mall when in Bacoor during weekends. If we go out on Saturday, we stay at home on Sunday and vice versa. Fuel prices are starting to go up again and so every peso counts.
Do you have other frugal living tips in mind? Please let me know in the comment section so I could do them, too. 🙂
May you choose happiness always,
Thanks for the tips Edel, I wanted 2015 to be the enlightening year for me and my partner too.. Goodluck saken!! hahaha. =)
It will be. Good luck, Jen! Kaya nyo yan! 🙂
Nice tips. I do some like withdrawing from our bank’s atm and not ordering drinks. Water lang. Hahaha! And oh! The loyalty cards too. I would usually save all the points and use it ng December. You won’t realize ang laki na din nya. Last December I was able to buy 2 baby shoes using my points.
Apir tayo, sis! Okay yang spend by December ah. Malaki na yun by that time. Yung SM Advantage card ko naman sis, pag umaabot na ng P200, binibili ko lahat ng sanitary napkins that I share with my sisters. Lagi yun. Haha. 🙂
Oo sis. Ako by December hindi mo namamalayan ang laki na nya. so gagamitin ko na. Sa SM baby shoes nagamit ko, yung sa Rob naman bawas dun sa pinang-grocery ko. hahahaha!
My Frugal Tips:
Don’t go to the mall when its sahod time! He He He
Bring packed lunch at work
Make gifts
Never impulse buy anything
Buy clothes at thrift store
Make our own coffee
🙂
Thank you, sis! I buy clothes at the thrift store sometimes. At libre naman lunch namin sa opis kaya tipid ako. 🙂
It’s such a shame that I don’t practise even just one of those you listed. @_@ I should really be working on being (and I mean working really hard to be) frugal. Thanks for the tips, Edel! 🙂
Can afford ka naman yata eh. Hehe. But if ever you try doing those things, I think you can do them, Kriska! 🙂
Naku hindi ‘no! Sadyang di lang talaga maasahan sa pagtitipid. Kaya helpful sakin yung mga tips mo. Thanks! 😀
We changed naman some brands ng ginagamit namin pwera lang syempre sa mga stuff na hindi pwede palitan ng mas mura dahil sa quality. Tulad ng mga sabong panlaba, meron mas mura na brand at ok din gamitin.
Tama yan Joy, do not compromise quality especially when it comes to products used by Baby A. 🙂
Apir, fellow kurips! I do everything that you listed. Sa #2, would you believe that I cut an empty toothpaste tube? 2-3 gamit pa rin ‘yun! 🙂 To add to that, I bring packed lunch to the office. And for the times that I want to eat out, I use vouchers from online group-buying sites to get discounts. I also have separate bank accounts – one for savings and the other for daily expenses. Tapos I only bring the ATM card of my “expenses” account. Ang saya saya kaya maging kuripot! 🙂
http://www.jerelltabenoja.com/
Apir, sis! Haha. Gusto ko rin gawin yang toothpaste thing na yan, kaso bago ko pa makita yung tube, naitapon na ng asawa ko. Guess I need to tell him about it next time. About bringing baon to the office, may free packed meals kami kaya malaki rin natitipid ko. Oo naman, super saya maging kuripot. Tayo naman yung tipo na marunong din mag-enjoy, kumbaga balanse lang. 🙂
I also do tips 1, 3 and 4. Another frugal tip I do is I always pack lunch. It really saves a lot of money.
Hi Kayni! Thanks for visiting back. Yes, saves a lot of money! I don’t pack lunches here, though, because ours is free in the office (little perk we enjoy). 🙂
Thanks for the tips, E! Ako rin, I don’t usually order drinks sa restaurants — so inflated ang cost.
Re #1, however, I decide on this based on my location and how much I will spend in fare to get to my nearest bank. The best thing talaga is to plan when to withdraw, although kung minsan, hirap talagang i-foresee ang needs.
Diba, super mahal ng drinks sa mga restos, hindi na makatarungan. Hehe. Tama, mahirap i-foresee kaya ang gawa ko, regular ang withdraw. Nasa kabilang building lang naman ang ATM, exercise ko na rin ang paglakad. 🙂
Great tips! I do most of them. asking water than ordering drinks won’t just make you save, it will also cut you some calories =D
Thank you, sis. Correct! 🙂
Yay to frugality!!!
Yay it is! 🙂
Very practical tips, sis!
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I also don’t often order drinks, unless I’m in a coffee shop haha. I ask for service water or we always carry around bottled water anyway. You’re spot on about shopping in wet markets, huge savings and you get fresh food too. We eat out max once a week now, coz before we eat out almost daily and it was crazy dent on out budget.
Haha. Speaking of that, I miss my fave drink at Starbucks — Matcha Cream Frap! Thank you, sis. We also try to limit our eating out these days. 🙂
“When withdrawing money from an ATM, I use only the one provided by my bank” – As much as I want, #offlineproblems hahaha Minsan katamad maghanap hahaha although the main reason why always opt for my own bank eh dahil afraidy ako sa interbank transaction problems.. it happened to my friends many times.. na debit to another bank
“I usually don’t order drinks and ask for the service water instead” – sorry na heavy coke manginginom lang haha
I use our loyalty cards whenever possible – sana mataas ang conversion ng points minsan hahaha
Naku, Diane, hassle ang ma-debit, naranasan ko na rin yan. I feel safest sa bank ko mismo. Haha. May kilala rin ako na Coke addict, hindi ka nag-iisa. Pinakamataas na ata magbigay ng points ang Happy Plus card ng Jollibee eh. 🙂