Living a a lifestyle where your goal is to not only pay your bills, but also save and get ahead, can be done. It takes discipline and can be achieved by being frugal and thrifty. Each term (being frugal and being thrifty) has slightly different meanings, but are both very important to a lifestyle of saving money and getting ahead. In this article, I’ll discuss the difference between being frugal and thrifty. Additionally, I’ll explain four ways you can get started on your journey to saving money and enjoying life.
Read on to learn about being frugal and thrifty.
What Does it Mean to be Frugal?
When someone is frugal, they are careful with their money and try to cut household costs as much as possible (within reason). Each and every time a frugal person goes out shopping, they are conscious about:
- What they need to buy
- How much each item should cost
- The cost per unit of each item
- The best items to purchase for both price and quality
Let’s break this down further.
1. What They Need to Buy
Before even stepping in their car to drive to the mall or stepping foot on the pavement to walk to the grocery store, a frugal person will plan their shopping trip. Frugal people will sit down at a table, meal plan, and then write a list of items they need to buy for the week. Why is it important to plan your shopping trip? If you stick to a shopping list, you’re a lot less likely to spend money on impulse purchases. When you plan, you’ll stay on track with what you actually need to buy. There’s nothing wrong with indulging in a treat or two every once in a while, but don’t get carried away!
2. How Much Each Item Should Cost
Additionally, frugal people will take the time to compare prices at different supermarkets. While it takes a little bit longer to compare prices and shop at more than one store, frugal people know that small amounts of money saved add up over time.
3. The Cost Per Unit of Each Item
After comparing 3-4 prices of each item, a person who is being frugal and thrifty will determine how much each unit costs. Sometimes, items such as boxes of spaghetti or canned food items differ in both size and price.
A frugal person will determine the cost per unit by dividing the units by the cost. For example, if one box of spaghetti costs $2.25 and is 16 oz, the cost per oz is $0.14 ($2.25 / 16).
The other box of spaghetti is $1.75 but is only 10 oz. The cost per unit of this item is $0.18 ($1.75 / 10). While the initial price looks cheaper than the box of spaghetti which costs $2.25, the cost per unit (ounce) is larger.
While this may seem like a small difference, if a person continually compares the cost per unit for each item they buy, over time, they will save a lot of money. Simply by planning ahead, a frugal person saves money.
4. The Best Items to Purchase for Both Price and Quality
While a frugal person will price compare and determine the cost per unit of each item, they’ll take it one step further. While some products may be the lowest cost item, this does not necessarily mean that they should purchase the item.
For example, let’s say you are comparing a cheaper pair of boots that cost you $40 and a more expensive, higher-quality pair of boots that cost $150.
On average, the cheap pair of boots will wear out every season, but the more expensive boots will last you five seasons.
If a person needs to purchase the boots 5 times, they will end up spending a total of $200 over the course of five years ($40 x 5 = $200). On the other hand, if someone buys the more expensive, higher-quality pair of boots for $150, they’ll spend a lifetime of $30 per season on the boots ($150 / 5 = $30) – or, $150 total.
In addition to saving money, purchasing one pair of boots versus five is much better for the environment. When you throw out a pair of boots every year, you’re contributing to landfill.
Investing money by purchasing the higher-quality item saves you time, money and helps the planet! In short, being stingy will cost you.
Being Frugal and Thrifty – What Does it Mean to be Thrifty?
While the terms ‘frugal’ and ‘thrifty’ are quite similar, there is a clear difference between the two phrases. A thrifty lifestyle focuses more on the day-to-day aspects of saving money. A thrifty person will consider where they buy their clothes and what they do when an item wears out or breaks down.
For example, let’s follow a person named Ariene, a twenty-something woman. Ariene is a thrifty shopper who only buys clothes , furniture and household goods at secondhand stores. Ariene enjoys perusing thrift stores and finding clothing to stock her capsule wardrobe. She avoids buying new clothes for two main reasons: secondhand clothing is cheaper, and it’s better for the environment. Ariene is being thrifty because she chooses repurposed clothing previously owned by someone else.
In addition to thrifting, Ariene learned how to sew and mend her clothes. She also learned how to repurpose old furniture by repainting it. Ariene is thrifty because she learned how to repurpose items.
In summary, being frugal focuses on purchasing the lowest-priced items with the highest quality and lowest cost per use, while being thrifty is more focused on purchasing secondhand items and repairing goods.
Cheap vs Frugal
What Are the Differences Between Being Cheap and Being Frugal?
In addition to comparing the difference between being frugal and being thrifty, let’s compare being frugal vs. cheap. There is a more obvious difference between being cheap and being frugal as opposed to being thrifty and being frugal.
Being Cheap
‘Being cheap’ or stingy simply means that a person only looks at the cost of the item. This person will buy the cheapest item at the lowest price with no regard for quality. In the short-term, this person seems to be saving money, but in the long-term, this person is not only losing money, but they are losing time. Stingy living isn’t all bad – you can be stingy to save money without cutting corners and you can be stingy with your time. However, the bad side of stingy – when you only look at the cost of something – will cost you in the long run.
How? When a person needs to keep repurchasing and replacing an item (like the pair of boots mentioned in the previous section), they are wasting money and time as they’ll need to keep going to the store to purchase the item.
Being Frugal
On the other hand, a frugal person focuses on the cost per unit of each item, quality and the price per unit. In short, being frugal focuses on applying money-saving tips and saving time long term, and being cheap focuses on saving money in the short term. You don’t have to resort to extreme frugal living – completely giving up anything fun and pinching pennies (unless you want to for a short period of time to reach a goal – nothing wrong with that!). Frugal living simply means you’re being smart and intentional with your money. While both frugality and cheapness are closely related, being frugal vs cheap will benefit your wallet in the long run instead of chasing temporary savings.
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Being Frugal and Thrifty by Tracking Savings
How to Track Savings
There are many ways to track savings. Depending on your personality, goals and your level of experience with tracking savings, you can choose a method that works for you. Let’s review the most popular ways to track savings and how to get started with saving money.
There are several ways to track savings, including:
- Google Sheets or Excel spreadsheets
- Pinterest savings tracking templates
- Budgeting apps
- Journalling
Google Sheets or Excel Spreadsheets
The most obvious way to start with tracking savings is to create a savings tracker on Google Sheets or Excel.
Why track savings on Google Sheets or Excel? Many of us are already on our computers every day, especially if we have desk jobs. Once you build good habits, it won’t take much effort to open the document, go through your banking apps and log your expenses. Will it take some getting used to? Yes, but once you get in the habit, you’ll be addicted to seeing your money grow!
Every morning – or at least once or twice a week, spend 10 minutes to log how much money you spent on different items. You can categorize them based on type:
- Fixed Expenses – rent/mortgage payment, car payment, utilities, loan payments
- Variable expenses – groceries, vacations, entertainment
- Savings – after you’ve spent money, make sure to set aside at least 10% of your after-tax income for savings.
While you can make a template from scratch, this is often quite time-consuming and boring for the average person. Instead of making your own tracker, why not look for a template on Etsy? Templates will save you time! Search for one here.
Pinterest Templates
Want to get creative and enjoy the saving process? Get onto Pinterest and choose from hundreds of bright and visually appealing money goal tracker templates.
Printable Pinterest templates are ideal for those who are working towards longer-term savings goals involving larger amounts of money. Whether you have a huge graduation party coming up 3 months, you’re working towards saving towards a down payment on a home, or you’re heading down to the Dominican in the winter, Pinterest templates can help you track your savings. Have fun with it! There are hundreds of options available.
Search for templates here.
Budgeting Apps
If you want to keep everything digital and need something to keep you motivated, why not track savings with a budgeting app? There are hundreds of apps out there to help you achieve your financial goals. Here are three examples of the top budgeting apps you can use to get started on your journey tracking savings:
- YNAB (You Need a Budget) – this app uses the zero-based budgeting system, where every dollar gets a job. YNAB will allocate each dollar that you make towards either being saved, spent or invested. The YNAB app is a perfect solution for those of us with busy schedules or people who need a structured system.
- Mint – this app will connect your checking, savings, and investing accounts. You’ll set your budget for each spending category, and Mint will track how much you’ve spent in each category. Mint is an ideal solution for those who want to customize their spending, saving and investing limits
- Honeydue – this app is designed for tracking savings and spending with a partner. You’ll be able to see a high-level snapshot of your spending and you can connect both of your bank accounts and credit card accounts in one place.
Journalling
Last but not least, journalling is the simplest and easiest method to track savings. If you truly want to practice being frugal and thrifty, you’ll need to log what you save and spend! You can’t improve or track what you don’t measure. To get started, all you need to do is buy a nice journal that you like and commit to logging all your expenses in it.
Take a look at different journals on Amazon and choose one with a nice design that you’ll be motivated to open and write in.
If you want to take it one step further, choose a journal with a tracker that allows you to record your income and expenses. There are many journals on Amazon you can choose from that allow you to record both how much you think you’ll spend on something and how much you actually spent (projected versus actual spending).
How Do I Track Multiple Savings Goals?
While budgeting apps or templates are a fantastic solution to track everyday spending, saving and investing, there are other ways to track different goals.
The first solution is to create different savings categories on the app or spreadsheet that you use. For example, if you are saving for an upcoming vacation, next year’s college tuition and a new laptop, create 3 different categories for each goal.
In addition to creating different categories, take it one step further by creating separate bank accounts for each goal. Every month, transfer money to each account. Keeping separate places for each expense will give you a visual reminder of what you’re working towards. Most of all, it’ll be exciting to see each account get bigger and bigger!
Being Frugal and Thrifty by Comparing Supermarkets’ Prices
As I touched on earlier, comparing supermarkets’ prices is a core aspect of being frugal and thrifty. While it takes some time and energy to get into the habit of comparing prices, once you get started, you’ll realize how much money you can save in the long term.
Let’s focus on price comparing at the grocery store. Going to the supermarket is an essential part of our lives, and buying groceries cannot be avoided. Since groceries are such a big expense for most households, it’s a major area that we can be frugal in.
Price Comparing Apps
How do you compare supermarkets’ prices? Simple: using apps! In the past – say, ten or twenty years ago, consumers didn’t have the luxury and convenience of comparing prices from the comfort of their own home. They either had to flip through flyers, clip out deals and take them to the store, or go from store to store and find the best deal.
Luckily for us, things have changed drastically. There are a variety of apps that let you price compare and save.
How to Get Started with Price Comparing
Once you’ve chosen an app to price compare on, set aside some time each week to price compare. Before work during the weekday or before you get going with your weekend, sit at your desk with a pen, paper and your morning coffee. Take the time to go through each item you’ll be purchasing and find the best price. If it’s too time-consuming to go through each and every item, you can choose the staple items you spend the most money on or buy the most frequently. These items may include fruit, vegetables, grains and toiletries.
Building Good Price Matching Habits
Once you master the habit of price-comparing staple items and become familiar with the grocery stores that typically have the best prices for certain items, you can start price-comparing for the items you buy less often.
While it may take a while to get into the habit of price comparing, it’s well worth it. If you’re saving $20 a week simply by price comparing, over the course of one year, you’ll save over $1000… $1040 to be exact! For most, this isn’t a life-changing amount, but if you take the extra money and invest it, you’ll benefit from the magical power of compound interest. At the very least, you’ll have some extra cash for something else!
While there are many price comparison apps out there, here are three top price matching apps to get you started.
Flipp App
Flipp is an extremely popular cash saver app for a reason. With this app, you can compare the price of the same product at several different stores. What’s more is that grocery stores that price match will give you the lowest price if you show a competing offer from a different store.
ShopSavvy App
With the ShopSavvy app, you’ll scan a barcode or physical item. Once scanned, you’ll be able to see which stores – both online and in-person – sell the item you’ve scanned. If you don’t know the barcode, you can use the search function to scan for the product.
Amazon Shopping App
If you’re only shopping on Amazon, the Amazon Shopping app is a great way to price compare. Similarly to the ShopSavvy app, you’ll scan the barcode or item using your phone’s camera function. With the Amazon Shopping app, you can take a picture of a product you have at home or scan a bar code you have using your camera. Once the image is scanned, you can compare Amazon pricing.
How Do I Find the Best Deal at the Grocery Store with Price Matching?
As mentioned previously, some stores offer a price match guarantee. Price matching is a simple way to cut household costs such as groceries. How do you go about price-matching items? It might be daunting to do at first, but it’s a lot easier than you may think.
- Go through the app of your choice and find the item to price match online. For example, let’s say you’re comparing the price of toilet paper for Store A versus Store B. Store B has a cheaper price, but you want to go to Store A to get the lowest price. Save the price on your app or print out the coupon from Store B to serve as proof when you visit store A.
- Visit the store – in this case, it’ll be Store A. Do your shopping as normal and find the product that you’ll price compare. In this case, find the toilet paper you found on the coupon.
- After you’re finished shopping, go to the cash register with your products. Show the proof of the lower-priced item from Store B and explain that you know the store offers price matching. If the cashier isn’t sure what to do, kindly explain to them the price comparison and ask them to offer the lower price. Be patient when price comparing. It may take a few minutes to complete the process, but it’ll all be worth it!
- If you have time, after you’re done grocery shopping, make a list of all the items you price compared and how much you saved on each item. You can log this in a journal or a spreadsheet. Over time, you can track how much money you saved. It might seem silly to take this extra step, but it’s incredibly rewarding to see your dollars add up!
Capsule Minimalist Wardrobe
Many of us have heard of the minimalist lifestyle movement that’s become even more popular in the past few years through popular films such as the Netflix hit The Minimalists. While minimalism is an entirely different topic for another time, let’s touch on what it is and how you can get started with minimalism in a major part of everyone’s life – clothing.
What is a Minimalist Lifestyle?
Simply put, a minimalist lifestyle is a way of being where one intentionally lives with fewer physical possessions. Furthermore, minimalism embodies how one uses each item they own. When someone is a minimalist, they own items that serve a purpose and bring happiness. A minimalist can also reduce clutter and live with intention in their digital life. For example, they may only have one or two streaming subscriptions that they actually use. Minimalism is at the core of being frugal and thrifty because one buys and owns only what brings them joy and purpose.
While there are countless topics relating to a minimalist lifestyle, let’s talk about one of the most common areas one can apply minimalism to – one’s wardrobe.
What is a Capsule Wardrobe?
A capsule wardrobe is when one owns a collection of core, quality pieces of clothing, shoes and accessories that 1. Are timeless (not trendy), 2. Can be used with multiple outfits, and 3. Are high-quality.
Typically, a capsule wardrobe will have items that can be used in both formal and informal settings – like a pair of jeans and blazer that can be dressed up and dressed down. While a capsule wardrobe can include special items like a floral scarf or bright red handbag, a minimalist capsule wardrobe only focuses on core items that one needs in their everyday life.
Being Frugal and Thrifty by Creating a Capsule Wardrobe
To create a capsule wardrobe, take inventory of what you have in your closet. Make a list of how many items you have of each. Here is an example of a basic minimalist capsule wardrobe for you to compare your current inventory of clothing. These items can be mixed and matched for multiple outfits. For example, you can wear a white shirt with either a denim jacket or leather jacket, and you can wear dress shoes or casual shoes with these outfits.
- White t-shirt
- Black t-shirt
- Black blazer
- Dark jeans
- Black dress pants
- Black handbag (women)
- Denim jacket
- Leather jacket (faux or real)
- White tennis shoes
- Trench coat
- Black shoes – heels for women or dress shoes for men
- Neutral-colored (silver or gold) analog watch – or digital watch
Once you’ve determined how many items you currently have of each above, assess the quality of each item. If an item is broken down or of low quality, if you can afford it, replace it with a higher-quality item. Once you’ve gone through your wardrobe, write a separate list of items you need to purchase.
Shopping for a Capsule Wardrobe
When you’re ready, head to the store to shop. But wait! Take being frugal and thrifty even one step further by considering shopping at thrift stores instead of retail stores. Thrift stores – otherwise known as secondhand stores – are a fantastic option to buy high-quality clothing, save money and reduce the impact on our environment.
Thrift stores take gently used goods from previous owners and resell them at a much lower price. These stores often have a mix of older and newer items ranging in quality. It may take some digging, but once you’ve sifted through the different items on the rack of your local secondhand store and find a designer blazer for 1/4 of the original price, you’ll be thrilled! Thrifting is an exciting treasure hunt.
After a (hopefully successful) shopping trip, put all of your old clothing in a bag and either donate it or recycle it. Don’t throw the items away though – this contributes to landfill. Many places that cannot accept your old clothing will be happy to recycle it on your behalf.
Keep in mind that a capsule minimalist wardrobe doesn’t mean you’ll completely deprive yourself of specialty items in your wardrobe, like those chunky 4-inch purple wedges or that bold orange handbag. A minimalist wardrobe is a positive way to live with intent and reduce clutter in your life. When you start with a minimalist wardrobe, you’ll be inspired to apply minimalism to other aspects of your life!
Being Frugal and Thrifty by Engaging in Simple Pleasures
I’ve touched on several ways you can practically apply frugality and thriftiness in your everyday life, but what about when you want to indulge and reward yourself?
Indulging in simple pleasures will allow you to reduce mental clutter, physical items you don’t need, and overall, save money!
The simple pleasures in life that bring joy to us differ from person to person. For some people, it’s that morning cup of coffee enjoyed while sitting on the back porch. For others, it’s curling up on the sofa with a book and some tea and chocolate at the end of a long day of work and other obligations.
If you struggle with overspending and are struggling to find ways to still enjoy life, don’t stress out! Society has normalized constant stimulation and overindulgence as the key to happiness. Everywhere around us, we are bombarded with the latest advertisements, convincing us that the latest and greatest products will bring us happiness. In reality, when we chase the newest products, we will never be happy. There will always be a new phone, watch or fancy car to put on credit or loan.
How Do I Indulge in Simple Pleasures?
What’s the secret to living a happier life free of the chase? Simple pleasures. Don’t know where to start? At the end of the day, sit down with a journal and a cup of tea and write down the top 10 feelings or things that make you happy. Here’s a list of my favorite things to get your creative juices flowing:
- The smell of freshly cut grass
- The smell of a cup of coffee brewing in the morning
- The sound of birds chirping outside the window
- The taste of dark chocolate
- Chatting with a good friend in person or over the phone
- Making and consuming a homemade pizza
- The good feeling after doing a simple workout
- Listening to my favorite song
- The smell of lilacs
- Looking at old family photos of fun memories
Applying Simple Pleasures in Your Life
After you’ve created the list, think about how you can practically apply them to be simple pleasures in your life and write down what you’re going to do to enjoy them. Here’s what that looks like for me:
- The smell of freshly cut grass – sit outside on the porch whenever my neighbor cuts the lawn
- The smell of a cup of coffee brewing in the morning – take time to smell the coffee grinds before I make my daily cup of coffee
- The sound of birds chirping outside my window – open my window every morning to hear the birds
- The amazing feeling you get when you treat yourself to a special dinner out or ice cream after wrapping up a month of zero spending on unnecessary items
- The taste of dark chocolate – set aside one night a week to enjoy a few squares of chocolate
- The smell of the pages of a new notebook that you use to write down recipes or track saving and spending habits
- Chatting with a good friend in person or over the phone – regularly meet up with a good friend to check in with how you’re both doing, or schedule calls with a friend if you’re living far away from them
- Enjoying a freshly-made homemade pizza with friends or alone
- Listening to my favorite song – listen to this song every time I need a pick-me-up
- The feeling after replacing old clothing with classic minimalist pieces as part of a commitment to creating a minimalist wardrobe
- The smell of lilacs – go on regular walks when the flowers are blooming
- Looking at old family photos of fun memories – take time once or twice a month to take a trip down memory lane and enjoy looking at your life in days gone by
Can Simple Pleasures Help Me Save Money?
Simple pleasures don’t directly save you money. However, if you regularly partake in intentionally enjoying things that bring you joy, you’ll spend less time seeking out stimulation from other sources – primarily, spending money unnecessarily and unintentionally. Simple pleasures will help you stop living life on autopilot and appreciate the small, beautiful things in life.
Conclusion – Being Frugal and Thrifty
There are so many ways to be frugal and thrifty in everyday life, from tracking savings, price comparing at supermarkets, practicing minimalism through what we wear, and indulging in simple pleasures. This article is just a starting point for you to start practicing frugality in your everyday life. There are so many ways to practice frugal living. Start with one method and keep building on positive habits as you try out different frugal hacks.
If you want to take it one step further, you can also look at other creative ways of saving or making money through side hustles. Being frugal and thrifty also means valuing your time. Well-paid side hustles can help you boost your income while being frugal with your valuable time.
Once you get started with being frugal and thrifty, you won’t want to stop!
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Janita is a frugal living expert and owner of Frugal Fun Finance. With over five years of personal experience finding and trying out the best ways to make and save more money, she's eager to share her knowledge. Janita's strategies have helped her save thousands of dollars for funding investments and traveling to over 20 countries.
Janita completed training in personal finance at The University of Western Ontario and McGill University, two prestigious Canadian universities. Her expertise has been shared on GoBankingRates, Yahoo Finance, and NASDAQ.com.
