Last weekend, my very best friend and college roommate S came to visit me. We had such a great time – we had lunch at a cute little cafe, saw He’s Just Not That Into You (the book was our go-to dating guide in college), had coffee and champagne and appetizers at a really quaint coffee and wine bar in Alexandria, then met up with T and her boyfriend J for dinner. It was definitely NOT a frugal day, but I see her so infrequently that it was worth the splurges. And ironically, over champagne, our conversation turned to frugal behavior. I was blabbing to her about April 10th being my big payoff day, and she asked me how I managed to pay off that much debt that quickly. I told her that it definitely didn’t feel quick, but she pointed out that almost $5,000 in two years on a teacher’s salary is impressive. At that, I was feeling pretty puffed up and I started listing some of my new frugal habits, as well as some of the frugal “moves” I’ve made. I thought I would post them here, because even though they’re pretty basic, I’m very committed to them.
Ten Frugal Habits
My 10 best frugal habits/moves:
1. Packing my breakfast and lunch EVERY day
2. Making dinner at home at least 5 nights a week
3. Canceling cable, and resisting the urge to hit my local Blockbuster every night
4. Coloring my own hair
5. Brewing my own coffee at home most (5+) mornings of the week
6. Opening up a bottle of wine or beer at home, instead of going to bars
7. Quitting the gym – I now use exercise videos or walk outside
8. Quitting smoking
9. Quitting my credit card – I now use only cash
10. Using the public library to feed my book addiction
What are your best frugal habits?