10 Frugal Luxuries
This post was written by Lisa of Condo Blues. I love the concept behind this post, as it reflects my own personal belief that a frugal life doesn't have to be a life of deprivation.
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10 Frugal Luxuries
In order to save money you need to spend less than you earn. Generally that means giving up wasteful habits and frivolous spending on luxuries.
Or does it?
As I simplified my life and saved my pennies I learned that I didn't have to give up my little treats, just change them a bit. If you think you've can't live a big, fun, and beautiful life on a budget, check out these ten frugal luxuries that may be sitting right under your nose.
1. Cloth napkins – I love that I don't have to go to the store when I run low on napkins and the roads or weather are awful. If I need more napkins, I do a load of laundry. Let's face it; consistent napkin use is what sets us apart from the animals. Or from toddlers that eat like little wild animals.
2. Homemade chicken/turkey stock – This is my husband's baby. We have a crock pot that's big enough for a whole turkey carcass and makes heaps of homemade soup stock. When my husband makes stock the whole house smells like heaven! The taste of food made with his homemade stock can't compare to the same thing made with stock from bouillon cubes or a can.
3. Handmade soap – While a bar of handmade soap sometimes costs more than a regular bar of soap, they tend to last longer. My favorites are soaps I buy from crafters and are made with wonderful pampering ingredients like goat's milk or fresh smelling herbs that you can't find in bars of regular soap. It's a two dollar spa treatment that lasts for months on end.
4. Homegrown fresh/frozen/dried/canned vegetables and herbs – I don't have enough room for a big vegetable garden but I do haven enough space to grow herbs. I try to grow varieties that I can't find in the grocery store or that are too expensive to buy regularly at the gourmet grocery store. I pick and dry my herbs throughout the summer and save them in my pantry. Then I offer to trade them with gardeners that are trying to get rid of their extra vegetables at the end of the summer. It's a win/win. What we can't eat right away I freeze for later.
5. Green cleaners – Green cleaners don't have to cost more than conventional cleaners. Actually mine cost less! I was skeptical of the cleaning power of vinegar, baking soda, hydrogen peroxide, and lemon juice but I was quickly converted when I saw the results. Not having to worry about my family accidentally ingesting harmful cleaning chemicals is a load off my mind.
6. Eating leftovers – You may call it cheap. I call it not having to cook dinner or the easiest way to pack a lunch for work which makes it a luxury on lazy weekends or at times when a quick meal is a must. Warming up leftovers is more nutritious and cheaper than frozen microwave meals that always leave me hungry – why is that?
7. More family time - Making time to spend with family can be a luxury given busy schedules. Family time doesn't have to be an expensive outing; sitting down to nightly family dinners does wonders. Some of my favorite family outings are gathering everyone up and taking the dog for a walk in one of our favorite downtown parks.
8. Bubble baths – Finding a few minutes of uninterrupted time for myself is very rare which makes it an even greater luxury - with or without the bubbles.
9. Libraries – I can read the current best sellers and see the latest movies released on DVD all for free courtesy of my public library. One of my favorite activities is spending a few hours poking around the library, which often yields better results and is much cheaper than doing the same thing at a bookstore.
10. Making the last payment on a bill – Big or small it's a wonderful feeling to use those pennies I saved up here and there to make a larger payment on a bill or to clear out a debt.
What are your frugal luxuries?
Lisa Nelsen-Woods is a writer who takes the DIY approach to green living, decorating, home improvement, and crafts. She shares green living and money saving tips with a dash of humor on the side on her blog Condo Blues. She has a one eyed rescue dog named Blitzkrieg. He likes carrots.
my husband allows me to splurge every two weeks on a manicure. we don't smoke. we don't take expensive vacations. we rarely dine out. sooo... that's my 'one thing.' and i love him for it. best part? my friend is the manicurist. sooo... it's like a playdate for mommy. 🙂
YES! to libraries. I can think of few greater gifts than all of the knowledge and beauty available to us for free, anytime we want.
One of mine? Using my solar clothes dryer known as the clothes line. I get to listen to the birds, breathe the fresh air and take in the sky while doing a daily job...then I get to smell the sunshine and watch the swallows swoop while pulling in the warm, dry clothes.
Thanks for the reminders of these simple luxuries...I get so used to cloth napkins, I forget they are considered high-falutin'!
I love my green cleaners! I can clean for hours and not get irritated, and when you come in my house you smell fresh air...not bleach! or other harsh chemicals 🙂
One frugal luxury I enjoy is going to the beach. We live in Cali so we're surrounded by beaches. I like riding bikes, sitting in the sand or just watching the happy people lay in the sun.
For me the obvious frugal luxury is a long hot shower. There's little that can't be improved, at least temporarily, by copious quanitites of hot water cascading down on one's head.
IMHO homemade stock is a necessity, not a luxury.
oh. yes. to MaryLynne... the clothesline is THE BEST!
I'm so interested in what you clean with lemon juice? We have a lemon tree in our backyard (been making lots of lemonade:-)).
Lemons can clean so many things. I clean my counter tops with them. Their bleaching action and smell is great. I also clean my stainless steel sinks with them. They shine like never before. Cut a lemon in half and run on the counters and sink. Leave for about 10 min and then rinse. You can look up online loads of other uses too. =)
I love this post. I've turned frugal on so many things that it is hard to go back. It is almost as hard as it was to commit to a routine to make sure our life was frugal. Even though our life has changed we are in no way deprived from enjoying things.
One of our favorite frugal outings as a family is a long walk to an old fashioned diary. They have lovely (handmade) ice cream and it is much cheaper than chains like Cold Stone or Mr. Softee. We spend our time walking home sharing each others' flavors and commenting.
I love my homemade laundry detergent! It smells way better than anything store-bought because I can use my favorite scented soap and costs us a mere $15-$20 a year (yay)
Okay, I am not the most frugal person there is, but you have to start somewhere. So, I am off to the fabric store to purchase fabric to make my own napkins. Should be fun and add a needed punch of color to my table.
I love green clean cleaners and find they often work better! Is hydrogen peroxide green? I'd hate one of my little ones downing that!
I was wondering that also. The question is, how MUCH of something is dangerous. Anything can be dangerous if you ingest enough.
The OTC version is just 3% hydrogen peroxide; two of the recommended uses are as a gargle and mixed with baking soda to make toothpaste. OTOH it also irritates abraded or sensitive tissue and can - under the right conditions - negatively affect red blood cells. (Sidenote: despite what I just wrote, hydrogen peroxide is great for scrapes and shallow, messy cuts. It stops slow seeping bleeding and disinfects - the foam you see is the peroxide killing bacteria - and can do it without having to poke and prod at the scrape. To keep from overly irritate the scrape, rinse off the hydrogen peroxide after 30 sec or so.)
My conclusion is that it's a bad idea to drink it and if someone did I'd call Poison Control immediately, but that it's a lot less dangerous than 409, ammonia, bleach, and other common household cleaners.
Actually, hydrogen peroxide is what we gave the dogs to make them throw up after ingesting poison. This was on instruction from our vet ; Wikipedia also mentions this as a use of hydrogen peroxide.
There were no side effects from the hydrogen peroxide (they still needed a stay at the hospital to get the poison out of their liver though).
My "cloth napkins" are actually bandanas!
That is so neat!
I splurge on nice liquid hand soaps for the bathrooms...of course I find them at TJMaxx and such at a fraction of the cost.
Good extra virgin olive oil.
Candles...the best, no drip are from IKEA.
I also believe in keeping a nice red wine on hand!
~kristin
I make my liquid soap last longer by using the bottles that pump suds. You only add a little soap then fill with water! An added bonus was getting the bottles filled with soap as a gift so I didn't even have to buy those in the first place!
For me, its new kitchen towels in January. We use NO papertowels, and my cloth ones are major workhorses in our home. By December they are just rags! So in January I splurge and buy myself 24 brand new ones.
One "frugal" thing we try and do is have one night a month my husb and I go out to a cheap dinner for the evening. We skrimp everywhere to make this work, but we have 3 little ones, 2 with autism, and even a night out a month is cheaper than couples therapy and helps us reconnect.
Definitely bubble baths!! I've hardly taken any since my daughter was born, but I love a good bubble bath.
Oh, so many frugal luxuries: homemade bread and other baked goods, piles and piles of library books, freecycle finds...I could make a long, long list!
Cloth handkerchiefs. They are kinder to tender noses and are more environmentally friendly than disposable tissues. I look for fine linen ones in their original packages at thrift shops for less than 25 cents apiece. They last forever, wash and line dry in the sun (a natural disinfectant) quickly. Even during cold season we never buy paper anymore.
I have to admit that my frugal indulgences are definitely all about food.
1. Homemade Stock is a part of life--and a tasty one at that, but my real weak spot is:
2. The Garden--seeds, a good pair of gloves, and a water bill that may or may not make up the savings in produce cost. It does, however, get me out of the house and keeps me sane--all while having tasty organic produce outside my back door. (And the occasional frustration, but I don't remember those when biting into a juicy home-grown watermelon!)
And the non-food indulgence:
Handkerchiefs. Basic, soft cotton, white, heavenly for noses, handkerchiefs. For the price of $4 I got 10 large ones brand new and the only reoccurring cost is washing them. The only time our house uses tissues is when we have guests or when people manage to get good and sick, and even then we just keep a stack of recently cleaned ones around.
not to mention that gardening is kickin' exercise! I also have the problem of munching fresh veggies while I pick them!
To cut your water bill, keep a bucket of some sort in all the bathrooms used for showers. Collect the water that runs as it heats up & use it to water your garden! Also, rain barrels are awesome!
For people who don't use paper towels etc, I have a question - what do you use to cover up food when heating in the microwave? This is my main use for papertowels, along with cleaning up spills ( I also use cloths for this). Do you use a plate on top to prevent splashes etc? Or do people just not worry about 'food explosions' ? Just curious!
I use a plate on top of some things, but other times I just don't worry about it. I have to clean the microwave more often, though!
I have a couple sheets of flexible, yet flat plastic that I put on top of things in the microwave. One side is etched so it doesn't create a seal on the edge of something wet. One is 6x6 inches and the other is probably 8x8 inches. They work great and cleanup is easy.
If I don't use a plate, which I usually do, I'll grab a coffee filter or a piece of cheesecloth, which can be washed and reused. but my husb just lets stuff splatter everywhere!
I often use my corning ware dishes with glass lids. Or a plate on top of a bowl.
At home I use a plate (or would if I would get around to diagnosing the microwave's nonfunctionality!)
At my job in the microwave I take a piece of cardboard from the back room and cut it in a circular shape and put it on top of the bowl I am using.
Did you know you can cook perfect brown rice in the microwave? Just use the normal amount of water ( I use a 1.3-1.5 cups of water to every cup of brown rice) cover, get the water to simmering using full power, then cook for 25 more minutes at power setting 2 or 3, then wait another 10 minutes or so and take the covered bowl out of the microwave.
I found a plastic microwave food cover at the dollar store. It it dome-shaped, so it goes over a plate without touching anything. If I am heating something in a glass bowl, I just put a lid loosely on top of it.
We've been trying to use our microwave less. There was a study recently that shows a surprising amount of food's nutritional value is lost when microwaved compared to conventional heating. It takes a little retraining of your habits, but heating on the stove or in a toaster oven isn't much extra time or work. Plus you keep all the flavor of your delicious food!
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jsfa.1585/abstract
http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/bk-1989-0409.ch049?prevSearch=microwave&searchHistoryKey=
hahaha! apparently you're unaware of the wonders of cast iron.
I have a witch's cauldron with lid and two skillets. i'm also strict vegan. (lifetime vegetarian and vegan far back as memory serves).
This is ALL you need for baking and cooking. Heat anything you'd heat in a microwave (which no one is certain of dangers of -- particularly if you're using plastic, which is absolutely carcinogenic; especially when heated) in cast iron on the range.
amazing. my utility bill is about $25 a month, i bake my own bread daily. i do not own a microwave and don't use plastic containers for anything to do with heat.
the noggin is a great thing when employed properly.
I love this topic. I agree that being frugal is not the same as being ascetic or depriving yourself. My favorite frugal luxuries are home made bread and jam!
Making my own juice! I know making my own juice isn't exactly frugal, but the health benefits and taste make it worth it for me! I try to always at least make juice from seasonal produce. My favorite juice ever is carrot tangerine!
I have a compost!
My favorite subject!!
A lovely list!
Warmly,
Tracey
One of my frugal entertainments is taking the big beef bones from making stock and giving them to the dogs. It is amazing how long the yard is quiet when each is in his spot gnawing away.
As for frugal luxuries - homemade dried apple rings. I could eat buckets of them.
Frugal luxuries:
1) Cooking in with a glass of wine and watching a video with my cat!
2) Taking a relaxing, unhurried weekend morning to do some mechanical work from the priority list on my car or bicycle.
3) Taking a couple of hours uninterrupted to putter around the house and do basic cleaning and organizing or whatever small project suits my fancy!
4) A mug of hot tea and a good book, hopefully when the cat is outside so he doesn't try to lay down on the book.
I am a recovering shopaholic. We are VERY tight on money, so I save all of the gift cards, store credits...etc for the first weekend in May and me and my girls go on an all day shopping spree. It feels like we are spending, spending, spending! I LOVE IT!
Wonderful subject matter...I have been practicing the philosophy of Frugal Luxuries tm for decades (I wrote my first book, "Frugal Luxuries: Simple Pleasures to Enhance Your Life and Comfort Your Soul; Bantam Books, NY, NY, 1997). It's lovely to see that others are discovering the value of living such a wise philosophy.
Warmly,
Tracey McBride
P.S. In fact we trademarked the phrase "Frugal Luxuries" and it's derivatives.
Seems a very generic and unenforceable trademark. Also seems below the belt to come to someone’s article and claim a right to the name they’ve used when it is a generic use.
Oh, I've got lots today:
- a glass water bottle
- wonderful homemade soap (thank you, Chagrin Valley Soap and Craft!)
- homemade custard I finally mastered
- my husband who cut up my regular carrots into sticks so we don't have to buy baby carrots
- bubble baths
- and the cat.
I'd be interested in seeing any of your green cleaner recipes. Are they already on your site somewhere and I've just missed them?
Have you tried making your own homemade soap? We do it with used cooking oil. Instead of taking it to the recycle point we make soap out of it, both for laudry and body. And it's great for difficult stains on clothes! Those old grandma's tricks...