Monday, February 19, 2007

My 25 Frugal Habits & 5 Spendthrift Confessions

I've enjoyed the lists of 25 frugal habits from Dawn of Frugal for Life, True Luxury and others. By the way, Frugal for Life has a great list of other Top 25 thrifty tips from various bloggers.

Here's my list of money-saving habits with a short list of fiscal confessions.

The Best of Me: 25 Frugal Things I do

1. I dilute dish washing soaps, shampoos and liquid soaps with water.
2. Rinse my hair with organic apple cider vinegar (great low-cost conditioner).
3. Split meals in restaurants with my children and husband.
4. Bring my own food to theme parks.
5. Drink filtered water from my kitchen sink.
6. Rarely order drinks in restaurants.
7. I complete many errands by walking. It's a 2-for-one exercise.
8. Use public transportation.
9. Rip paper towels in half.
10. Use inexpensive hair-grooming products that are also on sale.
11. Style and cut my own hair.
12. I often stay with friends and relatives while on vacation.
13. Combine coupons with weekly sale promotions & only buy items I would have purchased at full price.
14. Purchase organic vegetables through a food co-op.
15. Stock up on non-perishable sale items.
16. Buy generic or private label products.
17. I make cards for birthdays and holidays.
19. Recycle gift bags and wrapping paper.
20. I have streamlined my makeup and skincare routine. (less foundation, powder & chemicals)
21. Take advantage of end-of-season garment sales.
22. I shop in used book stores and thrift stores.
23. Purchase cosmetics in drugstores.
24. I crush my own beans and make my own gourmet coffee.
25. I try to avoid shops and malls as much as possible.

5 Spendthrift Confessions

1. I eat out too much.
2. When I'm busy and multi-tasking, I have periodically called 411 & have even paid the extra fee for the automatic dialing service.
3. Due to disorganization, I've paid more than my share of late fees.
4. My wardrobe is large enough to dress a large cast in a high school production spanning several fashion eras.
5. I buy replacement pieces ( batteries, phone chargers, etc.) because I have lost items that I have needed.

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Digg!


The Frugal Duchess Booktique
The Frugal Duchess of Beauty Store
Book Shop of Fear
The Poetry & Drama Queen
Frugal Jazz & Blues

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4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I've got to say that my list of confessions is very similar to yours; eating out is one of those things that's just so easy to do.

Anonymous said...

1-800-Goog-411 is free!

Anonymous said...

I was wondering if you could correct the link back to
http://frugalforlife.com/25-ways-i-save-money/
as that would be very helpful. Thanks!

Anonymous said...

i too must confess i call information a lot. good thing there are free directory assistance services now. goog411 is ok, but they don't have home numbers. i recommend 1-800-411-SAVE. they have business and residential listings that they can connect you to for free :D

kevin_g2975