When people hear the word “frugal,” the first thing that comes to mind is that you’re being cheap or stingy, and that’s not the case at all. Being frugal is all about being resourceful and making smart financial decisions that work with your budget.

All too often people live their lives trying to “keep up with the Jones” or make themselves appear a certain way to others when the only things that come from that are barely having enough money for gas and food. Instead of trying to live a life outside your means, why not add some frugality to your daily routine? What could it hurt, really?

How Do You Know You Need to Be More Frugal?

In all honesty, everyone could stand to be a little more frugal in one area or another of their life. Instead of going to Starbucks every morning, why not invest in a coffee maker? In your mind, maybe you’re thinking you’re just fine and don’t need to add frugality to your life… Well, there are ways to tell whether or not you need to be more frugal. Take a look at this list of things that let you know you need to be more conscious of your spending.

• You’re broke after you pay all your major bills (“house broke”)
• You live paycheck to paycheck
• You’re constantly checking your bank account
• You stay at home a lot (because you don’t have money to go anywhere)
• You rarely cook

If any of these points apply to you, you definitely need to be more frugal, especially if you don’t have any money to do the things that make you happy or you enjoy doing. Sometimes you just have to ask yourself questions to determine what would give you a happier life. If any of the answers to your questions require money (which you don’t have), it’s time to take reality head-on and make some lifestyle changes… it’s really not as hard as it might seem, and once you see the financial rewards from it, you’ll start exploring other ways to save money!

Take a look at some helpful ways to incorporate frugal living into your daily routine.

Save Money on Household Expenses

Household expenses include things like electricity, cell phone, cable, and water, etc… if you can find savings in these areas, it’s going to help your pockets tremendously! Let’s look at your cell phone. If you’re like lots of people, you’ve probably spent way too much money on phones. Well, in this day and age, you can’t be without a cell phone but that also doesn’t mean you have to pay an arm and a leg for one either. When it’s time for a new phone, don’t pay thousands of dollars in installments… instead, purchase a like-new pre-owned phone. These phones are affordable and pass all function and cosmetic inspections… and the best part is that you can buy it outright and not have to worry about installments added to your cell phone bill.

In addition to that particular household expense, check out these additional frugal hacks to cut down on your monthly household expenses.

• Set up an automatic draft with your cell phone for a discount
• Cancel your cable service and buy a Roku or Firestick to watch TV
• If your home needs any repairs, check with YouTube first to see if it’s a DIY fix
• Open your windows to cut back on the electricity bill

Get the Most Out of Your Food Budget

The convenience of eating out is very overwhelming, especially when you have a little bit of money to spend on it but the reality is that eating out will destroy any budget, and it doesn’t even have to. According to the Harvard Business Review, only 10% of Americans enjoy cooking while the other 90% like to spend thousands of dollars a year in eating out.

The reality of that statistic is that it really doesn’t matter if you like to cook or not, but if you can’t afford to eat out but use credit cards to pay for it, then you’re not getting the most out of your food budget. The majority of your money spent on food is going to the fact that you don’t have to cook it… if you cooked your own food, you’d save a considerable amount of money.

If you don’t know how to cook, again, consult with YouTube for cooking tutorials on various meals or invest in a cookbook! There’s honestly no excuse to not know how to cook in this day and age. To get the most out of your food budget, consider these tips.

• Buy groceries and cook
• Clip coupons and look for online deals
• Buy store brand foods
• Cook the amount of meat you’re going to cook and freeze the rest for another meal

Take Advantage of the Free Events and Entertainment in Your Local Area

Every day you go to work, and for what? To stay at home because you can’t afford to go anywhere? Well, that’s not a life anyone should be living but sadly enough, so many people live like that… unnecessarily! What people fail to realize is that you don’t always have to spend money to have a good time getting out of the house.

There are plenty of events and activities you can attend that won’t cost you a single dime or at least don’t cost much, you just have to look for them! Museums have free days, sometimes music groups throw free concerts, and don’t forget, you can do all kinds of fun things at the park! Consider checking your local chamber of commerce or join social media groups to keep track of the happenings in your area!