6 Frugal Habits That Stuck (+ 5 that didn’t)

Thanks for your post, Jennifer! I am frugal by nature coming from a large family with 5 siblings. My husband was an only child. It’s been a learning curve for both of us. I’ve had to “let go” of some things myself and teach hubby things along the way. For example, he would need toothpaste and stop at the nearest drug store to buy it. We now coupon for it when it’s on sale and have a supply. That was the way he was raised.

It’s fun to see your frugal mindset change as things change in your financial situation (for better or worse). In lean times, we certainly appreciate what we have in fruitful times.

It is important to find a balance, no doubt. We insource where we can. We have a garden with fruit trees, berry bushes and grow a ton of vegetables. I can, freeze and make jams. We keep bees and chickens. We sell eggs and honey as a side gig as well as for our own use. Saves a lot in our grocery bill and we know that the food we grow is not laced with poisons.
Hubby is the primary chef, sadly I admit he cooks better than me, but the upside is that he does all of the cooking. He doesn’t buy processed foods, he likes to cook with single ingredients and doesn’t buy anything with high fructose corn syrup or soybean products. The cost per pound of processed foods and snacks is more expensive that prime rib! Why pay a premium price for garbage?
I have shopped at the salvation army store and bought pants for my boys that were like new for only a couple bucks a pair. We also exchange hand-me-downs with friends and family as kids outgrow clothes so fast.
We do haircuts at home to save a lot of money. Hubby is the family barber/stylist. I bought a good set of Wahl clippers a few years back and hubby had good hair shears, not a cheap throwaway pair. Boys get their haircuts every three-four weeks, I take a seat and get my tresses trimmed by him every 8-10 weeks. Hubby cuts his own, but doesn’t shave himself bald, I wouldn’t like that, he doesn’t give my boys skin head shaves either. They are teens and want their haircuts a certain way. Hubby watched YouTube videos and accomodates them. We don’t waste money at the barbershop or salon when we get better results at home. My mother watched him give the boys their haircuts and said it looked too difficult, she would just shave them bald. This is the same woman who used to cut my bangs too short and say they looked cute. She also thought it was terrible that he cut my hair for me until she got a really bad haircut at the salon she paid way too much for. She then was complaining about how bad it was cut and that my hubby would have done a much better job and it would be free. I told her that is why I don’t go to the salon and don’t be a stubborn fool, just ask him to give you a haircut next time. So she did, and surprise, low and behold she liked her free haircut and it became her idea to have him cut her hair because he does such a nice job on the boys’ haircuts. Go figure. I was surprised that hubby, Mr Meticulous, said that doing the haircuts for me, my mom and my best friend’s hair is easier than doing the boys’ haircuts. It takes him longer to do ours as we have longer hair, but the boys’ haircuts are more detailed and less forgiving for any errors as theirs is shorter. That does make sense to me, but I don’t understand why people are brainwashed to think giving the guys haircuts at home is a great idea, but the women shouldn’t get their haircuts and home and save money too, but have to go to the salon.
We have pyrex galore that we use to bake, store food and warm up leftovers. And I pack my lunch with small pyrex containers to bring to work. I bring my own coffee and a small jug of water as our well water is better tasting than from the drinking fountain.
We have an antenna on the roof for free tv channels, no pay tv and internet only by cable, no expensive bundle. 26 crystal clear broadcast channels is plenty. We don’t need 200 channels of junk we don’t watch.
We buy good tools that cost more as they last and are an investment. One repair project easily exceeds the cost of the tool, especially plumbing and electrical work. A $75 bathroom faucet would cost $125 to have a plumber install it, it takes hubby 30 minutes. We were both raised to do things for ourselves versus just paying someone else to do it for us. So I think that attitude helps us to be more responsible with our financial resources.

I recently found out you can use Dawn dish soap to wash your laundry. Only use a VERY SMALL amount, a tablespoon or less, to keep it from sudsing up. I have used the homemade laundry detergent before and after while, my clothing would be dingy. I also read it can be bad for pipes. I wash freezer ziplock bags but not lunch baggies. 🙂

I enjoyed this post, Jennifer! We have a lot in common! I too feel like getting a haircut is crazy expensive…so I only go once every year or two! Couponing does take a lot of time and energy – unfortunately we don’t have Aldi’s around here but between WinCo, Grocery Outlet, and utilizing digital coupons and mark-downs at our Kroger affiliate stores we get some good deals. I exclusively shop for clothes and toys at thrift stores and we pretty much only buy things on $1 color tag days. I had to laugh though, I repack my kids lunches in the same ziplock bags over and over (for non-messy things like PB sandwiches, crackers, chips)…and I tear my dryer sheets in half! Thanks for sharing!

Thank you!! Try dryer balls for a really frugal splurge!!!