

Wait for items you covet to go on sale-either in stores or online. (There's usually at least another full ounce of liquid inside.)ġ3. Cut open squeeze tubes and pump bottles-for example, of shaving cream, sunscreen, cream rinse and moisturizer-once they yield nothing but air. (Wine by the glass typically costs as much as an entire bottle of the same stuff bought in a liquor store.)ġ2.

Have wine or cocktails at home before you eat out, rather than ordering them with a meal. Unless a restaurant offers free soda refills, drink tap water with your meal.ġ1. Carry a refillable water bottle instead of buying bottled water.ġ0. If you're watching your waistline, confine yourself to half-cup servings and resist the temptation to eat directly from the container.ĩ. You're much better off buying your favorite flavors on sale at the supermarket by the quart or the gallon. The markup for ice cream cones and cups bought at those cute little joints is enormous. When ordering from a restaurant menu, choose something that you can't prepare as well as home.ħ. Eat at restaurants only on special occasions.Ħ.

Cook meals instead of relying on takeout and ordering in. Don't go food shopping when you're hungry.ĥ. Purchase seasonal foods and shop for supermarket specials.Ĥ.

(For an easy, versatile recipe, check out “Muffin Madness” in Moosewood Restaurant Cooks At Home.) An easy way to prepare lunch is to simply cook extra for dinner and take the leftovers to work the next day.Ģ. Make your own muffins instead of buying one on the way to work. Here are 40 relatively painless (or even pleasurable) ways to be fabulously frugal.ġ. So in the spirit of Warren Buffett, look for ways to cut your spending this year. If that's more math than you'd like to do, look at it this way: every penny that you don't spend unnecessarily leaves more money to invest for the future or allocate to something you might enjoy more-like your next vacation.īy example, Buffett has demonstrated that being thrifty isn't just for poor folks. Whether investing in companies or buying everyday necessities, the Berkshire Hathaway Chairman and CEO (currently #3 on the Forbes Billionaires list) has been driven by the notion that small sums compound. Buffett, he writes, once said about himself that he was “working way up to cheap.” Roger Lowenstein recounts these and other examples of Buffett's personal spending habits in his biography Buffett: The Making of an American Capitalist. He drove a Volkswagen until his wife decided it was bad for his image and upgraded him to a Cadillac. While in New York signing up clients to invest six-figure sums with him during the 1960s, he reportedly phoned a friend from New York's Plaza Hotel to bring over a six-pack of Pepsi so he wouldn't have to pay for room service. When his first child was born, the famously frugal Buffett turned a dresser drawer into a bassinet.
