TRY AN EXTREME FRUGAL MONTH

 

If experts and the media are to be believed “The Cliff” is coming. I believe they are referring to the financial impact that will hit when Job Keeper and Job Seeker payments cease. The government is doing their best to soften the blow by staggering the dates on which the payments end, due to individual and business eligibility. Hopefully this will help, however a lot of families have already reached their cliff and more will have cliffs around the corner. I believe now is as good (or better) time as any to learn the art of frugality.

Try an extreme frugal month
Extreme frugality may sound scary to a lot of people and that is why I suggest you give it a go for just one month. See it as a challenge! And if you have teenagers like I do then at least they know there is an end in sight. Extreme frugality can look different to different people. It doesn’t mean renting your house and living in a tent in a farmer’s paddock (but hey if you want to give that a go, I’m sure it would be cool). It means just pushing yourself further than you would normally, that's right……a challenge!

Here are some ideas to get you started:


Don’t buy any consumer items

Books - Use a library for books, borrow from friends or read the books you already own.

Clothes - Surely you can go one month without buying clothes, with the exception being school uniform. Even then you can usually get second hand. If you have an event and nothing to wear see if you can borrow something from a friend.

Make up and skin care – use what you already have. How many of us have five daily moisturisers in the bathroom cupboard? And I’m pretty dang sure that we have enough makeup, even myself who has veeeery little, still has enough.

New IPhone, IPad, Electronic gadget that is sure to make your life so much better – is it? Is it really?

Presents – choose a month when there are no significant birthdays (I don’t believe in being stingy when it comes to friends and family).

Homewares – Let’s be honest we all have enough vases, fruit bowls and salt and pepper shakers. Our houses are full of stuff, they do not need to keep being filled.

Fertiliser for your garden – Make compost from your kitchen scraps and you veggie garden scraps, free and good for the planet.

Chemical cleaners – There are so many cool homemade cleaner recipes online but the gist of it is white vinegar and bicarb. Also let’s be real (again) check out your laundry! You’ve probably got about 5 years’ worth of cleaning stuff in there already. Time to use it.

Be mindful with food

Grow your own – if you don’t have room for a decent sized veggie patch then at least have a go at growing your own greens. Lettuce, kale, spinach and herbs are super healthy, super easy to grow and super expensive.

No restaurants and cafes – this is actually hard for me. I love cooking but I also love a really good meal at a restaurant. I actually like to plan a nice restaurant meal at the end of this challenge month as my reward and it helps keep me motivated. Not to mention, the meal is extremely enjoyable knowing how hard we worked to get there.

Meal plan like a demon – I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, meal planning is the absolute best way to reduce food waste and save money on food. You will not regret it!

Try to use up all that food that’s been there since the dark ages – you know the Beef Shin in the bottom of the freezer and the taco shells at the back of the pantry.

Drink water – it’s better for you anyway

Ground coffee over pods – unless you can find a cheap pod coffee that don’t taste like ash tray then ground coffee is so much cheaper.

Around the house

Heating and cooling – It’s hard for me to be objective on a 10 degree day in the Adelaide Hills. Do your best, may the force be with you!

Cancel all subscription that you can totally live without – bye bye Amazon Prime, we may meet again.

Check out those bills and make all those phone calls – get better rates on just about anything from Electricity, Phone, Internet, Car Insurance, Home Insurance. It may take a couple of hours but you will be very surprised at the amount of money you will save. For electricity go to www.energymadeeasy.gov.au.

Walk or ride – If you can walk or ride somewhere rather than getting in your car then that’s what this challenge is all about. Again good for your health and your wallet.

Do your own mowing, gardening, painting, cleaning, ironing….you get the picture.

And some others
Stretch out unnecessary appointments that bit longer (only unnecessary ones!)

Declutter the house – this has the effect of really showing you how much stuff we accumulate. Also sometimes we find old favourites in amongst it all that we can enjoy again.

Get the whole family involved – motivate the kids by having a reward at the end of the month (maybe not a shopping spree – but yes this is bribery). Thankfully my kids are into the whole going out for a fancy meal thing too. Also getting the kids to declutter and sell some of their stuff gives them a sense of how much stuff they have too.

So this is the month where you and your family really stretch your frugal muscle. It’s a period in time where you get to see what you are financially capable of. These times will help to reassure you that no matter what is around the corner you and your family can handle it. And I guarantee you that if you give this your best shot you will be absolutely shocked and delighted by what the bank balance has to say. However the bank balance is not all you will get from this challenge. You will get connection with community (that’s what happens when you have to borrow items), a deeper connection with family and friends and a chance to see what truly matters in your life without the bonds of consumerism holding you back.