Well, the holidays are over. I bet you’re waking up from that shopping hangover right about now wondering what the hell you spent over the last month, am I right? Fear not. There are ways to recover! Pop a couple of asprin and take some advice from author Natalie P. McNeal, aka the Frugalista!
1) If you have credit card debt, call the provider and ask for a lower rate.
2) Download a FREE money-saving app on your mobile. You always have your mobile with you. You can use Shop Savvy, which is available on Droid and iPhone. It allows you to scan the barcode on your phone’s camera and searches for the best deals at more than 20,000 local and online retailers. The Coupon Sherpa app finds and displays in store coupons. It’s available on iPhone.
3) Cook a meal using ingredients from your refrigerator. Don’t let the vegetables wilt. Be determined to put your grocery shopping to use so you don’t waste food or money. The website, supercook.com, does a great job of finding recipes for the ingredients in your home. Just plug in what food items you have in your home and super cook does the heavy lifting.
4) Go over your mobile phone bill to make sure you have the right plan. If you are constantly going over your minutes, it may be wiser to call and get a flat rate plan. If you often have minutes left over, maybe you consider getting a smaller plan.
5) Make a plan to attend at least one free event in your community. It could be a free museum night. It could be a speech at a college. You could go to a happy hour with free drinks. Be determined to find a way to have fun on a discount, so you can see that it can be done. Read the event sections of online newspapers and scour local blogs. Websites such as Citysbest.com often write about the best events going on in your community.
Along the lines of make your own coffee at home and use a reusable beverage container, also bring your own water from home and when in the grocery store, library etc refill at their clean great tasting water, drinking fountains.
And check out freecycle.org for your area and find items you need for free. If you and your friends wear similar clothes sizes, consider a clothes exchange once every six months. With springs and summer just around the corner, check with your city/town cultural arts commission to see what FREE events like music in the park etc they have.
Volunteer at your local farmers market and you can often get fresh fruits and vegetables at the end of the day for nothing. And its a great way to meet good people.
Our local book stores have FREE activities like when an author comes to town. My local Sierra Club, bike, ski etc group all have FREE activities.
I am reading your book right now and I just love, love, love it!!! I’m starting to put in practice some of your tips and ideas it inspires. Thank you.
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