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A couple of years ago I wrote a post about four extreme frugal living steps I had taken and asked my readers if they would dare to go as far. With a change to my working hours having an impact on my budget, it got me wondering if I could go further. Were there frugal steps that I hadn’t thought about? What more could I do?
That’s when I thought about asking my fellow money bloggers. They regularly write about saving money and the steps they’ve taken in the past to achieve big financial goals or just survive. So here are 15 of the UK’s best money bloggers to tell me the most extreme steps they’ve taken to save or make money.
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Extreme Frugal Living in 2022
Laura at Savings 4 Savvy Mumssays:
“We’ve turned the heating off in January and all wore 2 jumpers and 3 pairs of socks, wrapped in blankets as well duvets etc at night. Even the kids! When it comes to food or heating we chose food.”
Fiona from Savvy in Somersetsays:
“In 2016 we were saving for our wedding and honeymoon and we cut our groceries bill down to £50 a month for two of us.” Take a look at how she did it.
Emma at Bee Money Savvy says:
“Every Christmas me and my family keep all the gift bags that we give to each other and recycle them for next Christmas. Saving money (and the planet)! ”
Joleisa from Joleisa.comsay:
“Recently, we collected several tubes of ‘sample’ toothpaste at the dentist’s office so we won’t need to buy any when we go on days/weekends away etc. Also, my twinnie and I took turns doing each other’s hair for 2 years so spent no money at the hairdresser!”
Jenny from Mummy Saver Money Makersays:
“When I was a single mum, some months were much worse than others for money. On the bad ones, I used to buy two packets of pork chops for £7 from Tesco, a big bag of spuds, some carrot and Swede, pasta, porridge, jam and a loaf and that would feed us for a week (apart from my daughter needed milk as and when). We had porridge for brekkie with jam in, she’d have jam sandwich for lunch while I had jacket spud and marge and for tea every night we’d have pork and veg or if we got bored, pork and veg pasta. It would come to under £20 a week and we’d have to have the same thing every day but it kept a roof over our heads so it was worth it!”
Victoria at Lylia Rosesays:
“I reduced my wardrobe to 50 items and I keep it that way. I wear the same outfits over and over until they are worn out, then just replace an item when it really needs it! Then I sold all the excess from my wardrobe on eBay. Now, I very rarely buy new clothes unless it’s a necessity.”
Pete from Household Money Savingsays:
“I started to sell the free vouchers you receive on cereal packets that give you half-price entry into theme parks. It covers the cost of breakfast!”
Mark from Not Taught At School says:
“Whenever I am looking to buy something online whether that is eBay, Amazon or anywhere else I always do this.
1 – Right-click the image and click from the drop-down box – Search Google for the image.
2 – Next click on the shopping tab, here it will showyou all the places selling the product online and the price.
3 – Once I find the best price I then look at top cashback or another cashback site to see if I can save extra also.”
Emma from My Debt Diarysays:
“We figured out how to go to the cinema for 70p at a time and have done it several times now. Add in some smart price snacks and you’ve got two people going to the cinema for about £2.”
Michelle at Time and Pencesays:
“I buy most of my shoes and boots used off eBay. If you shop carefully you can find the real bargains, top quality leather boots and shoes that have only been worn once or twice and look perfectly new. My favourite were some Faith boots which would retail at about £80 that I got for £9.50!”
Emily from My Lovely Money says:
“I buy almost everything for my home from eBay or Facebook marketplace. I think I must have saved thousands just on furniture and appliances so far! The best thing I have bought is my Rangemaster oven for just £300 – they are around £1800 new so I’ve saved £1500! I think most people buy new things for the convenience of having it delivered, but for a little extra effort you can save so much money!!”
Jane from Shoestring Cottage says:
“I buy only second-hand clothes. I didn’t make a decision to do this, it just happened! It saves a ton of money and reuses things others have discarded.” She even got a post about this too.
Naomi from Skint Dad says:
“I remember about our salvaged fridge freezer.
We moved and didn’t have one (in rented) but couldn’t afford to buy new. However, for some reason there was one dumped in the shed at the bottom of the garden. After A LOT of cleaning and disinfecting, we got it up and running. It worked perfectly.” They’ve also written a post about unconventional ways to says money.
Lara of Lara Joanna Jarvis fame says:
“I am writing this with both great pride and shock, that after starting what was just a no-spend January at the beginning of this year, I have managed to successfully complete 12 months of not spending on everything non-essential.” She goes on to give her tips and strategies for making this happen for you too.
Katie from Katie Saves has two:
“I took advantage of a new app and managed to get 90 toilet rolls for £12 delivered. I did the same on my husband’s app, so paid £24 for 180 toilet rolls – a massive saving of £42 (compared to the usual Asda Shades toilet roll we buy).
It lasted us about 7 months and my next-door neighbour had a good laugh when he took the delivery for me.
Or before I even started my blog…. when we were saving for a house deposit I spent an entire month living off yellow stickers so we could save the majority of our food budget – it was grim. Wilted salads and soggy fruit… I never find the good stuff!”
What have you done?
Tell me in the comments what extreme steps you’ve taken to save or make money. And don’t forget to check out my post on this – Extreme Frugal Living? Would You Go THIS Far?
Disclaimer: Remember the information you read here does not represent advice. Any ideas or suggestions are just that and may not work for you. Read the full disclaimerhere.
