Raindrops on roses, whiskers on kittens, here are some of my favourite frugal things. It is true that some of the best things in life are free or more accurately cheap. I have made a little list of my favourite frugal things because I find it helps to appreciate the little things while keeping an eye on the big picture.
1. Niceness – It is free to smile at people and say hello even if you live in a big city. I make a point of being friendly and open to the people I deal with, such as the man in the market I buy my tomatoes from or the butcher I buy my eggs from. You never know sometimes I even get some free vegetables.
2. Crisp Clean Sheets – Every time I crawl into bed after changing the sheets my body says ahh while laying against the cool crispness of freshly wash bed linen.
3. Homemade Chicken Broth – I get great satisfaction from making my own broth. I love taking a cube of broth from the freezer and knowing that it doesn’t have the same high salt content of a stock cube and that I made it myself.
4. Fresh Herbs – Cooking with herbs from my window garden – makes me feel like a real gourmet and adds fantastic taste to any frugal dish.
5. Walking – Going for a walk and exploring my neighborhood. In these economic times there are always new businesses popping up, so going for a walk is the best way to see what is new around you and it is also good exercise.
6. DIY Cleaning – The satisfaction of cleaning your own home. This is one put in by my lovely sister, who is relishing saving the money it would have cost her to have her house cleaned for her. I do my own cleaning but must say I hate it and don’t get much satisfaction from it. I would in better financial circumstances be happy to pay someone.
7. Second Hand Shopping – Visiting car boot sales, yard sales and the like. I am still trying to be some sort of a minimalist but it is great to hunt amongst the stuff that people are throwing out to look for Ebay salable items. I like to call it research. ; )
8. Alfresco Dining – Eating dinner on the terrace on a summer’s evening. If you make a nice dinner, set the table with candles and put on some music, you can pretend you are on holiday. Very romantic too.
9. The Library – Visiting the library is so much fun on so many levels. I love to take out cook books to try out new recipes. Novels by authors that I have never heard of so if I don’t like their writing style, I can just take them back. Audio books to listen to when I am doing the dreaded cleaning. So many fantastically frugal treats under one roof.
10. Easy Dinners from the Freezer – What is better than coming home from a hard day’s work than to have a ultra easy, tasty and frugal supper. It makes all that weekend cooking worthwhile.
What are your frugal favourite things? Help me add to the list.
I’m with you on every one of these – great list! I’d probably add (only a slight variation on yours) having a BBQ on the beach with friends. Particularly if one of those has a fishing rod and the mackerell are out! And maybe wallowing in the bath with a good book…