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If you’re just getting started with budgets and thriftiness, it can be hard to know where to begin. Or maybe you’re a frugalista already and could just use a little reminder of little things that make a big impact on our budgets.

No matter which scenario best describes you, here are 5 things you can do right now to live a frugal life (and cut unnecessary spending):

1. Don’t Pay for Things You Can Get for Free.

We wrote previously about Top 13 Free Things to Stop Paying For Now  and How to Save Money by Getting Almost Everything for Free.  You’ll want to read these 2 articles for tips on free things you could be getting now.  Samples and freebies are plentiful and ready to be requested and used.

If people offer you hand-me-downs, always say yes.  This way they’ll get in the habit of asking you first. Hand-me-downs are great for baby supplies, kids’ clothes, small kitchen appliances, etc. You never know what someone else can’t wait to get rid of that may be on your shopping list. Free entertainment is all around you, just monitor your newspaper for community activities. Finally, don’t rent movies or buy books when you can borrow them from the library for free.

2. Get Magazine Subscriptions Instead of Buying at the Store OR Get Free Magazines.

To some people this is a no-brainer, but I didn’t fully subscribe to the idea (get it- subscribe?!?) until a few years ago. I bought every issue of Parenting Magazine at the store, spending $47.88 for 1 year. Then I subscribed for 1 year and it cost me only $12. I could have spend $35.88 less for the same magazines, gotten them before they hit the stores, and delivered to my door!

I only buy subscriptions when I can’t get the magazines I want for free.  Watch for our freebies lists to get listings of the latest free magazine subscriptions.

3. Make a Menu Plan and Stick to it.

Menu planning is SO important. If you don’t believe me, visit OrgJunkie on a Menu Plan Monday and you’ll see what I  mean. You’ll buy only the foods you need to make meals, which means less food will be wasted (no rotten unused produce in the refrigerator).

Since you’ll only be buying what you really need, your grocery bill will go down dramatically. If the menu doesn’t say “McDonald’s”, chances are you won’t go there.

If you’re just getting started with menu planning, visit us each Sunday to print out a ready-made Take & Make Menu Plan just for you. It has a week’s worth of meals listed with recipes and a printable grocery shopping list.

4. Don’t Pay Retail Prices Unless You Have to.

This goes for books, movies, clothing, household goods, and many more things. Learn to keep a list of things you want, then be watchful for them at garage sales, thrift stores, flea markets, eBay, Amazon, consignment shops, etc.  Check out used book stores, trading in old books if you can.

Buying kids’ clothes 2nd hand makes sense when you realize that they grow so fast that it will be worn only for a short time. To find out how we pay next to nothing for clothing, read How to Save 90% on Kids Clothes.  This goes especially well with our guide on Buying Cheap Kids Clothes: Store Sales and Clearance Schedule.

5. Go for a Walk Instead of Driving.

Remember the old saying, “Getting there is half the fun”? It’s true, especially when gas prices fluctuate greatly and you want to spend gas money on other necessities instead.  If you can find alternatives to driving, take them: walking, carpooling, bicycling, public transportation. You’ll help the environment and your checkbook at the same time.  For when you can’t avoid driving, follow our 13 Tips to Save Money on Fuel.

There you go – 5 quick tips you can use to spruce up your frugality right now!  What are your favorite frugal tips?  Let us know in the comments.  Check out Thrifty Thursdays at Amanda’s Cookin and Frugal Friday at Life as Mom for more frugal tips.

Originally published May 4, 2008.

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• When Budgeting Gets You Down
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The problem with getting so many free samples is making sure they get used first instead of your full size bottles.  Sometimes samples get shoved in drawers and lost underneath other things, they end up in baskets, containers, and all other fashion of out-of-sight places. How can you make sure that your samples get used?

Using Free Samples in the Shower

Make samples accessible to your family by putting them in a convenient location where they will be used! Shampoos, conditioners, and body washes go in the shower; toothpastes go with toothbrushes, etc. If samples are available for use WHERE they will be used, they’ll be visible and ready for your family to grab.

The photos show how I’ve used this tip in my shower.

I’ve used three Ziploc Twist & Seal containers without lids. Any container will work as long as it fits on your shower shelf.

Each is labeled accordingly and filled up with samples: shampoo, conditioner, and body wash. (To keep the labels waterproof, use masking tape on the inside of the container and write on the adhesive side.)

I also usually remove most of the full-size products from the shower.  This ensures that the free samples will be used up first.  Only put your regular shampoos, conditioners, and soaps back in the shower when the samples are all gone (if you ever run out of them, that is!).

If you like the idea of saving money with free samples, read How to Save Money by Getting Almost Everything for Free.

For more frugal tips, check out Thrifty Thursdays at Amanda’s Cookin and Frugal Friday at Life as Mom.

This article was originally published May 16, 2008.

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• Top 13 Free Things to Stop Paying For Now!
• Free Stuff and Giveaways 10/17/08
• Free Samples and Freebies 8/21/08
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• Free Samples and Freebies 11/3/08

A cashier once asked me where I got all my coupons. I told her I printed them online, and she said, “Wow! You’re so lucky…” It struck me as an odd thing to say, and I told my husband that exact thought. What would luck have to do with me spending the time to print out coupons? As if anyone couldn’t do it…

This distant memory popped back into view as I read Catherine’s article at Frugal Homemaker Plus: Frugality and Luck. Once you read it, you’ll know why it reminded me of the cashier story! The choices we make to be deliberate with our actions and our money have nothing to do with luck. Sacrifices are born of determination, will, focus, and strong, concrete goals.

Are the sacrifices we make to live frugally really worthwhile? When you give up luxuries – items, vacations, services- does it necessarily mean you are lowering your quality of life? It depends on several things, and the qualifiers will be different for each person / family / situation. The big question is: What does money mean to you? It is important to look at your large goals and make sure that the way you live now is helping you to get your money to be meaningful for you. Does your frugal life now allow you to reach your goals with your money?

My husband and I gladly skip movie rentals and eating fast food with the knowledge that the money we save by sacrificing is going to buy our family a home. Owning a home is important to us and that gives our money meaning, making our sacrifices worthwhile.

Conversely, what if you live a strict frugal lifestyle, denying yourself vacations and life experiences when all of your basic needs are already met? If your goals have already been reached, and you continue to deny yourself the use of your money “just because it’s better to save,” remember that money only has the value you give it. If your savings account is robust when you die, but you never did the things that were important to you, you will have lost the meaning of your frugality.

At times, we can start to feel down (see article When Budgeting Gets You Down) about being frugal, about choosing to not do things or not buy things. When people around you buy expensive gadgets or go out to fancy dinners every week, it is easy to feel deprived. Sometimes we even wonder how they can afford to spend money on these things when they don’t appear to make any more money than we do. My husband and I remind each other at that point that they are probably living above their means, incurring credit card debt, and living for the moment instead of for their future goals. In a society where consumption is rampant and living above your means on borrowed money is the norm, frugal families are bound to feel out of place.

The biggest pick-me-up of all is when we pull up our ING savings account online and look at the balance of our house down payment account! Every time we skip a fancy dinner, we get $50 closer to our house. We keep our goals visible and real, and we physically look at our goal when the sacrifices seem too much. Thinking of the positives – what we DO have – instead of what we’re missing out on is enough to make frugal living worthwhile.

Homemaker Barbi Says: Keep Your Goals Visible to Make Your Frugal Sacrifices Worthwhile!

Originally published April 17, 2008. Grocery graphic by Mike Licht Notions Capital.

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You can quickly and painlessly recession proof your family now with our easy step by step instructions.  Even if the worst-case scenario never comes true, you’ll still have extra money in the bank and the knowledge that you can have a great life on less.  You’re going to get good at frugal grocery shopping, planning ahead, and being creative.  Don’t worry- we’ll teach you how!

Recession Proof Your Food and Pantry

Click this link to learn easy ways to  save money on groceries.  We’ve written before about the best ways to save on groceries.  Make sure you learn those basic tips first to get you on your way towards frugal shopping.

Inventory your pantry.  Get step by step instructions for how to inventory a pantry. The pantry is going to be a lifeline when your income is reduced or gone, and you need it to be functional and ready.  You may have to live off of the pantry for months.

Stock up your pantry.  Now that you know what you have, you also know what you need.  Be on the lookout for coupons and sales, and combine them. 

Buy cheap and free food to fill your pantry.  There are many blogs about frugal grocery shopping to share matchups and sales and coupons.  To save you the time of bouncing from site to site, we recommend Money Saving Mom, the most complete frugal grocery shopping site out there.  Crystal Paine lists the best sales at different grocery stores, along with printable coupons you can use on the sale items to buy them for free or very cheap.

What to buy for stocking up the pantry:

• Go heavy on beans, grains, dry pasta, dry and canned foods. 
• If you find good deals on perishables that can be frozen or canned for later (like fresh veggies or bread), buy as much as you have room to store.
• Buy flour, sugar, and other baking staples.

Start cutting your ground meat now.  If you normally cook ground beef or ground turkey pure, just the way it comes out of the package, it’s time to learn how to cut ground meat with frugal fillers.  You’ll need to know how  to stretch the small amount of meat you buy to make more than one meal at a time.

Request as many free samples as possible.  There are many free sample offers for food items, as well as cleaning supplies and personal health/beauty items.  Freebies are IMPORTANT – these are items you don’t have to pay for. Free samples come in the mail and should be put right into your stockpile to be used up along with items you purchased on your own.  Last year I received free cereal, granola bars, cookies, coffee, sweetener, drinks, and more in the mail – and those were just the foods.   

Gather bread recipes and practice making your own bread.  It may take several attempts before you settle on a recipe you really like.  Of course, if you find day-old bakery items on clearance, such as bread, bagels, biscuits, etc., buy them and pop them into the freezer for later.  However, you can almost always make your own bread for less than clearance prices.

Plant seeds now.  Growing food does not have to be an expensive project.  If you don’t have a garden, you can use odd containers you have around the house to start your plants indoors, then move them to larger pots on your porch or patio.  Perfect starter containers include plastic butter tubs, plastic yogurt cups, sour cream containers, coffee containers, styrofoam meat trays, and plastic trays that taco shells come in.  There are many more perfect seed-starters around your house – just don’t throw away any food packages that might have another use.  Buy your seeds in packets.  Packaged seeds are very inexpensive and will save you the expense of buying plants someone else has gone to the trouble to start.

Share frugal food with others.  Find a like-minded frugal family (neighbors, friends from church,etc.) that you can exchange cooking tips and food prep with, and have potlucks, cookouts, and weekend meals to share.  Living History Farm writes, “During the Depression, this self-sufficiency carried over into their social life. One-dish suppers and church potlucks were important ways to have fun and share food.”

Have you read the previous pieces in the Recession Proof Your Family series?  Read about making it work as a one income family and growing a container garden.   We have more exciting recession proofing articles coming in the following weeks, so make sure you subscribe now to have them sent to you.

How have you recession-proofed your family?  What recession-proofing tips do you have to share?  Feel free to let us know in the comments. We are still taking guest posters in this series.  Check out Frugal Friday for more frugal tips – thanks Crystal for hosting! Retro dining room image by mrbill. Family food image by Seattle Municipal Archives.

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Don’t miss the rest of this series, subscribe (free) now: 

We’ve been talking to stay at home moms and dads about the measures they are taking for recession-proofing their families.  What can you do now to ensure that a financial hardship would have the smallest possible impact on your family’s well-being?  This week, Amy is giving us her take on how she recession-proofed her family.

The following is a guest post written by Amy, from The Finer Things in Life.  Amy is a Tiny Town coach’s wife and mom of three littles who is convinced that living a life rich in The Finer Things will bring much more fulfillment than anything money can buy.   

It’s not about how much you make.  It’s about making that amount, however large or small, work for you.  My husband is a teacher and coach in a small town.  Without getting too specific, his salary qualifies our kindergarten daughter for reduced lunch prices at school.  It’s not a lot of money, but it’s working for us.  We chose to live on this income.  We chose for me to be a stay at home mom.  We are thriving.  In the event that your income is reduced for whatever reason, maybe some of what works for us might just work for you, too.     

1.  Ditch the Joneses.  They are not your friends.  They will tempt you to spend money that you don’t have on things that you don’t need.  Surround yourself with like-minded frugal friends.  Make it a game… who can find an item for the least expensive price?  Network and help each other save money. 

2.  Learn the power of contentment and gratitude.  Truly, we have so much.  Our vehicles are old, but they are paid for and run well.  We don’t budget for big vacations, but there are many activities we can enjoy as a family for free.  Don’t waste your time worrying about the latest and greatest that you don’t have; rather, focus on your many blessings. 

3.  Swallow your pride.  If you shy away from second-hand stores, clearance racks, or garage sales, get over yourself!  My daughters are constantly complimented on their fashions, and I’m always willing to report that we receive fantastic hand-me-downs.  Without a doubt, I have spent less than $300 TOTAL on children’s clothing in the last 6 years.   

4.  Just because you have it doesn’t mean you have to spend it.  In the days when we both had jobs and no children, we did our best to live on one income while saving the other.  That made my transition home so much smoother.  Even now we usually have extra at the end of the month.  Sure, we could use a new (fill in the blank) but we could also save that money.  We choose to save.  We refuse to be caught with a new TV but no money to pay for an unexpected emergency.        

5.  Take up a “lost art”.  Don’t know how to cook?  Learn!  Can’t sew a button?  Figure it out!  So many things that we pay for can be done at home, saving countless amounts of money.  Last year we planted our first garden.  While much intimidated by my proven black thumb, we were pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to produce crops of potatoes, peppers, tomatoes, and even pumpkins.  I smile every time I pull tomatoes and peppers from the freezer to add to soups or casseroles this winter. Not paying store prices for mediocre veggies is definitely a Finer Thing!  We plan to expand our garden this summer. 

6.  Use your talents for profit.  Even if you have no desire to start a home business, you can make money from home.  While I would never want to commit to running a daycare, we do have a couple of sweet preschoolers who stay with us a few days a week.  They are very little extra work for me, and my son gets a kick out of having playmates at the house.  The extra cash I make from babysitting really adds up!  Another idea… if you’re cooking for your own family anyway, why not make a few extra meals for someone to pick up on their way home from work?  It’s amazing what people will pay for convenience!

Living happily on one (smallish) income is possible.  Focus on the Finer Things and thrive!

How have you recession-proofed your family?  Are you thriving on one income?  What recession-proofing tips do you have for other stay at home moms?  Feel free to let us know in the comments.  Read about how Phoebe recession-proofed her family, and get a great checklist for determining needs vs. wants for grocery shopping.

We are still taking guest posters in this series; if you’d like to tell us how you’re recession-proofing your family, please leave a comment below or email tips(at)HomeEverAfter.com.  Check out Frugal Friday for more frugal tips – thanks Crystal for hosting!  Retro kitchen photo courtesy mrbill.

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We’ve been talking about recession-proofing your family lately, and it’s mainly because we have so many readers asking this question: What will I do if my husband loses his job? (or wife, if she’s the main breadwinner).  If you haven’t been following our series on How To Recession-Proof Your Family, catch up with it now by reading how one SAHM recession-proofed her family.

Although not all subjects we talk about at Homemaker Barbi apply to all people’s situations all of the time, sometimes they really hit home.  In this case, this topic may be hitting my household and my family.  Let me explain.

Layoff News While Shopping

A week ago, I was at the grocery store doing my stock up shopping when my cell phone rang.  Since my husband is the only person who knows my cell phone number, I knew it was him before I even got the phone out of my purse. 

First, I have to give you a little insight into my mood while I’m doing grocery shopping.  If I’m hunting for deals and it’s not a busy time in the store, I enjoy my shopping time thoroughly!  I love using coupons, I love finding bargains, and overall I just love frugal shopping because I know I’m adding value to my household.  I bring a big cup of coffee in my travel mug and cruise up and down the aisles with my coupon organizers.  It’s heavenly!

So back to the story about my husband calling:  I was in a great mood when I answered the phone.  My husband told me he had just been called into his boss’s office, as had other employees, and been given a briefing on the current state of their department.  A hiring freeze was keeping them from hiring new people to fill empty positions.  The recession and the current state of the economy are causing many companies to evaluate what they are spending money on and if they can really afford to pay the employees that they have already.  My husband’s employer is no exception.  We knew things were shaky, so the hiring freeze wasn’t really news, but what came next was.

They may have to lay off one person in the department.  It might happen, it might not happen, but if it does -nobody knows who it will be.  It could be anyone.  It could be my husband.  I hung up the phone feeling unsure how large of a grocery stock up I should do that day.  What lies ahead for my family’s finances?

Prepare For the Possibility of Losing Your Job

My husband isn’t the only one in his section with children to support and a stay-at-home wife.  No matter who is laid off, someone is going to have to deal with an immediate financial hardship for their family.  Will they be ready?

I’m lucky in the respect that my husband and I live a very frugal lifestyle.  We’re cautious, we plan for the unexpected and take actions very deliberately.  We weren’t always like that though.  We went through many years of financial hardship during which being frugal was an absolute necessity to allow us to make ends meet.  Losing our income during that time period could have destroyed us financially.  With this experience under our belt, I feel that we may be better equipped to handle a layoff than many other people who would be completely caught off guard.

No one should be caught off guard!  With the uncertainty of jobs and the economy in the United States right now, there should be no reason why anyone is not recession-proofing their family.  With simple planning and very small, easy changes to your lifestyle, you can get your family prepared to get through the hard times in case there is an unexpected layoff.  And what if the layoff never comes?  Then you’ll have a nice little monetary cushion as a reward! You’ll also have the peace of mind that comes from knowing you can take care of your family in the worst case scenario.

Recession-Proofing Your Family

Next week’s installment of Recession-Proofing Your Family features Amy from The Finer Things giving practical tips on how to live a great life on less money.  The week after that I’m offering my comprehensive strategy for preparing for your husband to lose his job.  I hope you’ll join us for these articles; get our free updates and we’ll send you the articles as soon as they’re ready.

Would you be ready to make changes and sacrifices if you knew this could happen to you tomorrow?  Do you have a plan to prepare for the unexpected as far as your primary income is concerned?  We are still taking guest posters in this series; if you’d like to tell us how you’re recession-proofing your family, please leave a comment below or email tips(at)HomemakerBarbi.com.

Check out Frugal Friday for more frugal tips – thanks Crystal for hosting! Woman photos by spaceodissey.

Related Articles:

• Recession Proof Your Pantry and Food
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• Are Frugal Sacrifices Worthwhile?
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The following is a guest post by Phoebe Hendricks.  She is married to the most amazing and supportive husband and is a stay at home mother to three children.  You can follow her and her family on a frugal journey to find the Cents to Get Debt Free.

How one SAHM Recession-Proofed Her Family

Every time you turn on the television or open up the newspaper you get bombarded with the latest news of the failing economy.   It seriously makes my stomach turn.  We are a one income family, so if anything were to happen to my husband’s job, I want to know that we would be okay.

What are Negotiables?

We are currently on a gazelle intense mission of getting out of debt.  We have been on this journey since September of 2007 and in the process have cut our bills down to bare bones.  This has not only enabled us to use that money towards our debt, but it has given me peace.  Currently, other than my home, I have only a handful of bills that I can do nothing about.  I call these non-negotiables. 

We have cut our negotiables greatly so that we could use the extra money towards our debt.  This would include things such as cable/satellite, landline phone, cell phone, entertainment, etc.  I have outlined more of this process in my Managing Expenses post.  In doing so, I have not only gained peace, but I have gotten a tighter grip on my finances.  If something were to happen to my husband’s job at this point, I know that we could get rid of the majority of my negotiables. 

Urban Homesteading aka “Grow Your Own”

I do call groceries a negotiable because if I really had to, I can cut the spending down.  I obviously cannot cut it out completely, but I can make the number smaller.  With all the scares recently of salmonella in our food, I have been on a bigger mission of making the majority of our food from scratch.  Not only that, but we hope to be able to raise the majority of our food.  I want to know what is in my food, and where it has come from.  The only way that I can know these things for sure, is to have a hand in where it comes from. 

Not only does this take most of the worry out about food poisoning, but I get added security.  Harvesting my own food gives me the ability to store up great amounts of food for future use, on a tighter budget.  I am able to store up enough food for one year, on about half the budget of buying all my food for one year!  In the event that my husband was to lose his job, I could almost get rid of my grocery budget, and we would still have plenty to eat.  I would be able to use my current grocery budget to pay part of my non-negotiables.  Talk about security!

Even if you live in an urban area, with not a lot of extra room, you are still able to grow your own vegetables and some fruits.  Container and patio gardening, if done right, can produce just as much as a typical row garden.  Using your available resources now could grant you a lot of peace and security.  Knowing where your food is from and knowing that you will be able to feed your family if something happens to your income is priceless.  The added nutritional benefit, is, well, icing on the cake!

What are you doing to recession-proof your family?  Have you changed your approach to bill paying, shopping, etc.?  Would you like to hear more from Phoebe?  Let us know in the comments.

Photo by ellievanhoutte.

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Financial situations can change dramatically without warning, and have enormous effects on your household’s spending money.  Whether your main breadwinner has lost their job, had work hours reduced, or you’ve lost the second income in your family, there are ways to make ends meet even when the going gets rough.

Get Frugal with $5 a Week

A while back, a reader shared this problem with me. She described how, after many years of two incomes, they now have only $5 a week leftover after paying for necessities.  She had gone back to school, leaving their family of 5 to get by on only her husband’s income. 

We may forget how tight a budget can be if we’re not in an extreme situation right now, but it is a real possibility for many and a current reality for others.  How can you possibly get by when you pay for your bills and necessities and have only $5 per week leftover?  Get frugal!

10 Tips for Tightening the Household Budget

1.  Learn the difference between needs and wants.  This can be difficult when you’re used to having a little flexibility in your shopping budget.  When that flexibility disappears and you have to cut back your budget, identifying needs and wants becomes crucial. 

2.  Forget brand loyalty.  Buy the cheapest brand that will meet your needs, whether it’s a generic, a store brand or a brand name on sale.  This is not about disliking your favorite brands, so don’t feel guilty for leaving them behind temporarily.  Sometimes price and value have to come first.

Even a teenager that thinks they have to have a certain brand of shampoo can be taught the importance of forgetting brand loyalty.  How?  Let them (make them) ration their “expensive” shampoo over an entire month!  Chances are when they see how hard it is to make expensive products last a reasonable amount of time, you won’t hear as much complaining when you buy several bottles of the 99cent shampoo instead!

3.  Gather coupons.  Ask friends and family to save coupons for you, cut coupons out of the newspaper, and print free coupons online.  Many companies, like uPromise, are now offering e-coupons that can be loaded directly onto your grocery store card.

4.  Use coupons only when it’s cheaper than generic.  Check the prices carefully.  Very often, a generic or store brand is still a better value than buying a name brand with a coupon.

5.  Cook with cheaper ingredients.  World famous chef Gordon Ramsay may be foul-mouthed, but he sure knows a thing or two about being frugal in the kitchen.  He identifies how restaurants are losing money by using expensive ingredients, and helps them find cheaper ingredients that will make good substitutes.  You can do the same in your kitchen! 

6.  Request and use freebies.  There is an abundance of free items online, from toothpaste to food to laundry detergent.  Homemaker Barbi lists the best free samples every week, so start requesting them today and see your mailbox fill up with free things you’ll never have to buy again.

7.  Don’t be wasteful.  From throwing away leftover food to doing extra loads of laundry, we can all identify areas in which we are wasteful.  Tighten up those areas: for example, use bath towels more than once to cut down on unnecessary laundry.  That ONE simple action will save you water, electricity, laundry detergent, money and time!

8.  Save on heating costs.  Save money on heating fuel overnight shows how a little investment in quality supplies will cut down your heating costs.

9.  Save on laundry costs. 

10.  Learn to do things yourself (DIY).  Services provided by professionals can be very costly.  If you learn to be self-sufficient and take care of those chores yourself, you’ll save money by paying only for materials.  Learn these DIY projects: unclog a drain, replace a broken window pane, change the oil in your car, and more.

If you found the tips in this article useful, please consider subscribing to our updates for more frugal living tips!  Photo courtesy of stock.xchng.

Learn the Difference Between Needs and Wants

It can be difficult to learn the difference between needs and wants when you’re used to having a little flexibility in your shopping budget.  When that flexibility disappears suddenly and you have to cut back your spending, identifying needs and wants becomes crucial.  This is a great exercise for children and teens to do with you.

It’s true that frugal living can cut your shopping expenses dramatically, but the decision always lies with you, the frugal homemaker, to say what’s really needed.  These easy questions can help get your mind discriminating as you distinguish needs vs. wants.  Take this list with you to the grocery store (or during other types of shopping) to have a reminder of your temporary focus on need items.

11 Questions for Needs vs Wants Shopping

For Grocery Shopping

1.  Would I put back the milk and get this for my family instead?  If you answered yes, you must really NEED it!  Milk is such a basic necessity and ingredient in most families that using this as a comparison will likely give you a Need vs. Want decision pretty easily. 

2.  Is this a healthy food?  Healthy foods are needs. Junk foods, prepared foods, sugary desserts, and convenience foods are wants.  Under this rule, fast food drive-thru will always make it to the want category.

3.  Can this be used as an ingredient to cook a healthy meal?  Doritos and diet soda, for example, may be items you want, but they won’t help you cook a casserole for dinner!  If you can’t use an item as a healthy ingredient to prepare meals for your family, just say no.

4.  Can I substitute something I already have in its place?  Do you need to buy jarred sauce or could you make sauce from ingredients you already have?  Do you need to buy sour cream for a recipe or could you substitute the plain yogurt you already have?

5.  Is this something that can wait until later?  Do I really need to buy a cake mix now for a birthday party that isn’t for three months?  Probably not!  Just because we’re thinking about something right now, doesn’t necessarily mean we need to buy it now.

6.  If I go home without this, will things be okay? 

7.  Can I substitute something I already have in its place? 

8.  Can I borrow it from a friend, family member, neighbor, or library?  Things like books, magazines, and newspapers can be borrowed instead of purchased for huge savings.  Find frugal friends who are willing to share and trade all kinds of things, even trading clothes outgrown by your kids.

9.  Is buying this item brand new a need?  Will buying it used still serve the same purpose?  A thrift store, garage sale, or second-hand dealer may have just what you need at a fraction of the cost.  (Example: Used sports equipment for kids can usually be found at a second hand sports store for cheap, then sold back at the end of the season.)

10.  Do I have enough of these already?  This works great for clothing shopping.  If you have enough socks, jeans, or shirts, another one probably isn’t a need.

11.  If I don’t buy this, will things be okay?

You may have noticed that #6 and #11 are very similar.  The bottom line when determining needs vs. wants is simple:  if everything will still be okay without the item, it’s probably not a need.  Learning the difference between needs and wants is a skill that will serve adults and children alike in many different situations.  Homemaker Barbi Says: Make smart choices between needs and wants to save your money and control your budget!

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