Getting out of debt can require extreme frugality. There are 10 EXTREME things we’ve done, to save money, while getting out of debt. If you’re trying to cut expenses to reach a financial goal, get out of debt, or save money, some of these frugal ideas may help you.
Getting out of debt isn’t a cake walk. It takes sacrifice, discipline and time. In order to hit a goal you often need to give something up, in order to get what you want. I’m sharing with you the top ten things we either gave up, or put up with, in order to reach our financial goal of getting out of debt.
1. Cloth Diapers
My husband and I have four children together. In order to cut back on expenses we made the decision to skip disposable diapers and cloth diaper 3 out of 4 of our babies. This was scary at first, but in the end we estimate it saved us thousands. Get started here.
2. Cloth Pads or Diva Cup
This time the cloth is for ME. Somewhat personal, but true. I stopped buying disposable tampons and pads and switched to reusable products for my monthly menstrual cycle. Doing this isn’t as icky as you might think. Doing this has been saving us money for YEARS!
3. Stop Eating Meat
During the process of getting out of debt, I switched to a fully plant based diet. This was not only for financial reason but for health reasons as well. If you don’t want to cut it out completely, you could simply try eating less of it, and see if it helps lower your grocery bill each month.
4. Pack Lunches
Seriously, stop buying your lunch. This seems insignificant, but every dollar adds up. If you find yourself dropping a dollar here and a dollar there for a snack from the vending machine or a sandwich from the deli, that money is one less dollar towards your debt. Add it up and see. Start packing your lunches. We did, and still are.
5. Skip ALL Vacations
Well, we sorta stopped vacations. Instead, we started camping. This terrified me at first, but I’m turning into a real camping pro, and the kids LOVE it. See my beginners guide to camping here.
6. Drive a “Beater” Car
What classifies a car as a “beater”? Well, in my opinion, it needs to be worth under $2,000 and be as ugly as all get out. The car I was driving was covered in rust, had no heat or a/c, and was crawling with ants (don’t ask!). You can drive anything, for a short amount of time, in order to reach your goal of getting of debt. The wheel literally fell off of my car. What I thought was a muffle rattle, was actually some popped lug nuts on a tire, and when I pulled over I saw the tire was tilted at an odd angle. I’ve since traded up to a car I paid ALL CASH for. See how here.
7. Patch Up Appliances
While we were getting out of debt, our dishwasher broke (for the first time). Rather than replace it we chose to hand wash our dishes for a while. Then someone gifted us a new dishwasher and a year later the door broke on THAT one. Again, instead of replace it, we improvised and used a BROOM handle to hold the door shut so it would run. Hey — it worked. No need to buy a new one. So what if it looked a little ghetto. We’re not filming a home show here.
8. Fill the Tub with the Shower Spray
At one point the mechanism in our bathtub that switches the water spray from shower to tub… broke. That meant we had to fill up our bathtub with water for the kids with the shower spray. Of course this took longer, but we made it work. Honestly, we still haven’t had that fixed yet.
9. Shop at GoodWill
I understand that there are many people who feel grossed out about wearing second hand clothes, but I’ve been wearing them for years, and don’t think anyone realizes it. Oftentimes I can find name brand, tags still on, never before worn clothes at second hand shops. I’m amazed at the things people give away. I work in a Corporate office and sit right down the hall from the President of our Organization, and never feel inadequately dressed. We’ve saved thousands in our clothing budget, simply by letting go of pride, and being willing to purchase second hand items.
10. Get a Side Hustle
At this point in my life, it doesn’t feel as extreme as it used to, but I’ve been working a side hustle, in addition to my full time job, for over 7 years. I’m a YouTuber. In the beginning it was merely a hobby, but at this point it earns a respectable amount of money for our family, in addition to being fun to do, and qualifies as a bona fide side hustle. I still don’t tell people about it, because there’s plenty of people who would think I was more than a little odd for putting myself out there online, but over time, it’s less and less weird. Especially as my channel grows closer to 100,000 subscribers.
