10 timeless money-saving tips

Frugal living is all about simplifying our lives and been resourceful – the way our grandparents used to do it.

These old-school practices still make sense in 2025, especially when budgets are tight.

Embrace the ‘waste not, want not’ lifestyle with these 10 helpful tips:

1. Cook your own food – homemade meals cost less and give you full control over ingredients to make it healthier.

2. Make do and mend – instead of throwing out a garment that has a tear, patch and repair or sew that missing button. Respect the resources you already have.

3. Grow your own food – even a small pot of herbs on your windowsill can cut down on your grocery bill. Home-grown tastes better and gardening can be a calming hobby.

4. Use leftovers – don’t let food go to waste. Stale bread? Turn it into bread pudding, croutons or French toast.

5. Live within your means – the generations before us didn’t have credit cards to back them. They made do with what they had.

6. Embrace second-hand shopping – preloved treasures can be found at the Zululand Hospice shop, Empangeni SPCA’s Paw’s Charity shop and Richards Bay SPCA’s Sky Paws shop.

7. Find free entertainment – find no-cost fun, from board game nights to local trails.

8. Bulk cook – save time and money by cooking in big batches. It beats takeout dinners when you’re too tired to cook.

9. Use cash instead of swiping – digital spending can feel abstract, but when you use real cash, you feel what you’re spending. It helps you to be mindful.

10. Save scraps for future – keep old jars for storage. Being resourceful is about respecting what you already have.

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