In My Mind’s Zen Garden

By sowing frugality we reap liberty, a golden harvest.—Agesilaus

With the rising costs of everything from gasoline to movie tickets, those of us who can not maintain rich, opulent lifetstyles have to resort to ways to save money. That said, I thought I would just throw out a few friendly tips I use to try to be more frugal and thrifty.

1. Drive Slowly and Less

Gasoline prices have skyrocketed in the last few years. Experts predict it will hit $4.00 per gallon sometime soon. One way I save is to drive slower, and limit the number of times I go out to do errands. I’ve been implementing this philosophy for the past year or so, and I think it’s really helped our family save money.

2. Compost Kitchen Scraps

I really started this last year. Instead of throwing orange peels, banana peels, vegetable and flower cuttings into the trash, I add them to my compost pile in the backyard. If you are a gardener then making your own compost is a great way to save and not have to buy bags of the stuff at Home Depot. Even shrredded newspaper is great for the compost pile.

3. Borrow The Latest Books From The Library

Well, this depends on whenever your local public library offers the newest books. My wife is a voracious reader and she always requests the newest books from the library instead of buying them from the bookstore. It costs $1.00 to reserve a new book, but it’s more economical to borrow a book than to buy it.

4. Borrow DVDs Instead of Renting Them

Also, my public library has a collection of DVDs, and if I want to see an old classic, instead of buying it I can just see if it’s at the public library and I’ll borrow it instead.

5. Watch Movies During Discount Times

My wife and I never watch movies on a Friday or Saturday night when it’s full-price. Better to save money by going on Tuesday discount nights or go to the movie theaters earlier in the day like on a Sunday afternoon and save.

6. Turn Down The Lights

Well, obviously turning off lights in the house will save on electrcity. We try to not have too many lights on at night. And in various parts of the house we’ve installed dimmer switches. So, if you have to have lighting at least you have the option to dim the switch and save a little on electricity.

7. Grow Your Own Fruits and Vegetables

I realize not everyone has a backyard but even an apartment window can do. Try growing your own fruits and vegetables. I have a tangerine tree that yields some fruit, and I recently added a lemon tree and also an orange tree. Hopefully, we’ll add an avocado tree or two because I love avocados. But if you can grow your own, that is a great way to save a little as far as organic produce is concerned.

8. Ditch The Starbucks Habit

I was able to successfully do this last year. And I am Starbucks free. But think about that a minute. I see a lot of people getting their daily fix of Lattes and Mochas at Starbucks… at around $3.00 or $4.00 per beverage per day… one can save $70 to 100 per month if they just ditched the Starbucks habit.

9. Eat and Dine Out Less

I realize many of you love to eat out during lunch time, and who doesn’t want to dine out a lot at their favorite eateries. But, the prices can be expensive nowadays to dine out. Even junk food at McDonalds is expensive, so why not limit eating out to once or twice a week, and bring a sack lunch to work and limit eating out to once on the weekends? Think of the money you’d save.

10. Save Those Coupons

This is something I need to do more, and supermarkets and retail stores always have coupon sales going on, and special discount sales that are seasonal and revolve around holidays and special times of the year. A good strategy is to always buy only when something is greatly discounted and on sale…. think red tag sale or blue light special at K-Mart… uh huh?

Okay, I’ll try to post more Frugal tips at another time. If you have any suggestions that I might’ve missed, please let me know and I’ll publish them in my next post along with a link back.