Farm-to-table living is something Jenn Collins and Brad Barnes are intimately familiar with.
The married pair from Columbus, Georgia, cultivate a plentiful garden on their land and maintain The Dew Abides, a blog where they chronicle their homesteading adventures.
Their self-sufficient lifestyle enabled them to retire in their 40s — although Collins has since taken a part-time position working on a nearby farm.
In Greenville, South Carolina, Fo Alexander practices a very economical way of life — one that helped her eliminate over $78,000 in student loans within three years.
“During my debt-free journey, I canceled cable, stopped dining out, froze my gym membership and quit getting my hair and nails done professionally,” she said.
Jaime Gibbs and her husband Pierre live frugally in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, with their two children. The family suffered a major financial setback during the 2008 recession, which forced them to adapt to living more simply.
“We had to close our small business,” said Gibbs, who writes about economical living on her site Bubbling Brook Budgets. “Suddenly the money just wasn’t there like it had been. We found ourselves without jobs.”
Millions nationwide — and around the world — have faced similar circumstances after losing work due to the coronavirus outbreak. Embracing budgeting habits and being strategic about spending can help stretch the funds you have.
Changing your mindset and routines isn’t always instantaneous. These prudent people offer their tips for embracing frugality as a way of life.
1. Review Your Monthly Outlays
To spot areas to trim, list your recurring expenses and divide them into essentials and nonessentials.
“Make a list of food and shelter and the things that you must have in your life,” said Collins, who likes to use spreadsheets to make things clearer. “Then… it becomes obvious what you can live without.”
That doesn’t mean you must accept your recurring bills unchanged. Gibbs, for instance, said she’s hopped between several budget cell phone providers, always searching for a better deal.
“So many people just have an expensive cell phone plan and don’t think twice, but there are plenty of low-cost carriers that still offer solid coverage in most metro areas,” she said.
Although groceries are a fundamental necessity, Gibbs keeps costs down by shopping at Aldi, a discount supermarket. When she’s not shopping at Aldi, Gibbs places orders from a local grocer that waives delivery fees for orders over $100.
“Grocery delivery isn’t a bad option because it prevents impulse purchases at the store,” she said.
2. Track Your Spending with Daily Check-Ins
Frequently reviewing your transactions will help prevent slipping back into overspending habits.
A few months ago, Gibbs made a change to better monitor her family’s cash flow. She began setting a daily calendar reminder for a 15-minute check-in with her husband to review the previous day’s expenditures.
“That really helped us be intentional about the money that was coming in and going out,” Gibbs said. “If you’re in a tight spot right now, I think it’s really helpful to set a timer each day and spend a few minutes looking at what you spent the day before.”
3. Find Low-Cost Ways to Have Fun
Cutting expenses doesn’t mean eliminating pleasure from life.
When Alexander started paying down debt, she focused intensely on her goal but didn’t want a joyless existence. So she turned to free or inexpensive alternatives.
“I started watching YouTube instead of cable,” she said. “I did home workouts instead of paying for a gym membership I hardly used.”
Alexander, a financial educator and founder of Mama and Money, suggests finding less costly ways to keep enjoying your hobbies.
Even with physical distancing, you can maintain social connections.
“We still have our Saturday morning coffee dates with friends,” Barnes said. “We’re just doing them on Zoom.”
4. Use the Time to Develop New Skills
Cooking at home rather than eating out was a hurdle when Alexander began living more frugally. In the process, she became a better cook. She also learned to do her own hair and nails after giving up salon visits.
“Getting down to the bare essentials isn’t as bad as you might imagine,” Alexander said. “It forces you to be inventive and resourceful — skills everyone benefits from.”
If you have spare time now and a few gardening tools, Barnes recommends trying to grow some of your own food.
“Planting something in the soil is incredibly soothing,” he said. “Then you enjoy the harvest a couple months later.”
“There are days when we look at every single item on our plate and it came from either our hands or from people we know and love,” said Collins, his wife.
Now could also be a good moment to boost your financial know-how. Gibbs suggests listening to podcasts and reading personal finance books to improve your money management skills.
5. Concentrate on the Upside
Adjusting to a simpler lifestyle isn’t always straightforward, but it helps to focus on the benefits of your new routine rather than what you’ve given up.
Gibbs said when she and her husband were out of work and living on unemployment, money was so tight they often had only about $5 remaining at week’s end. Instead of dwelling on scarcity, they practiced gratitude.
“We treated that five bucks as our entertainment fund,” Gibbs said. “We’d use it to rent a movie.”
Her recommendation for those in a difficult season is to look for something positive each day.
“Even if it’s the simplest things like waking up, the sun shining and birds singing outside the window,” Gibbs said. “Those matters are important to keep front of mind when negativity surrounds us.”
You may even feel proud discovering you can live happily while spending less.
“A self-reliant lifestyle is very empowering,” Barnes said. “If you’re used to dining out five times a week and suddenly you can’t afford that and you figure out how cheaply you can prepare a tasty meal that’s better than restaurant food — that, to me, is empowering.”
Nicole Dow is a senior writer at Savinly.
