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Frugaling ain’t easy. In fact, that’s usually why we don’t want to make adjustments to our daily lives to save more money – it’s hard! Trust me, sometimes I succumb to shortcuts out of laziness, but I always pay for it later.

So what’s the secret for becoming frugal and staying that way?

One word: routine.

Routines make frugal living a no-brainer. There’s less mental resistance to doing frugal activities when it’s automatic. Making your coffee in the morning, meal prepping, doing preventive maintenance, changing your own oil – all of these actions save lots of money, but not everyone does them, because they don’t sound fun! However, when we kick the excuses to the curb, we can start to save bookoo.

In fact, here’s a look at my daily routine and how I integrate frugality automatically into my life. Share yours in the comments!

My frugal daily routine

5 am:

My first alarm goes off. I pick it up, grimace, and think about going back to sleep. But somehow I always convince myself to get up. Zap weaves in between my legs as I stumble through the dark to my office.

This is a special time of day. After reading several productivity and time management books (Overlap is my favorite), I realized I needed an hour each day to devote solely to my projects, with zero distractions.

I’m an insufferable morning person, so 5 am seemed like a good time to make this happen.

Do I need a few minutes to wake up? You bet! But I get a lot done. I make sure to work at my standing desk in the morning so I’m immediately up and active. I also put on special glasses for reducing screen damage to my eyes. I’m on the computer for 12+ hours a day, so avoiding eye strain is super importante.

It’s all about trying to be smarter about how I use my time. Don’t get me wrong – sometimes I sleep in until 6 am. But if blogs are to be written and freelancing is to be done, I have to wake up at 5 am.

This is a frugal choice because I’m making the most of my time. I’m intentionally building opportunities for myself to work on projects that (hopefully) will help me make a living one day. Lots of us complain about not having the time to do the things we love. But if you love it enough, you can make the time for it.

6 am:

My second alarm goes off and it’s time to shut the laptop. From 6 am to 6:30, I cook breakfast for Mr. Picky Pincher and I.

Oh, and little Zap gets his breakfast, too.

We used to be guilty of snagging drive-thru breakfasts. Although a breakfast taco goes for a buck, a daily taco adds up over time. We can cook (slightly) more nutritious meals at home that taste great and don’t break the bank. I’ll use meal components that are pre-cooked and then frozen. My favorites to use are bacon, sausage patties, biscuits, crepes, and more, which we usually pre-cook during the weekends.

Since the difficult stuff is already made, I microwave the components and occasionally whip up a fresh component, like fluffy scrambled eggs. I also start a pot of coffee (learn more about our coffee brewing Pickiness here). The coffee we make at home is tastier and cheaper than anything we could pick up at Starbucks.

Well, I mean, it’s not as sinfully delicious as a sugary Frappucino, but you get what I mean.

Once the hoomans are taken care of, I feed Zap. We used to feed him cheap dry food, but on our vet’s recommendation, he’s on a canned food diet with supplementary dry food. Although the dry food was cheaper, we’re committed to Zap’s health, so we spend a little more to keep him healthy. That’s worth spending the extra money to us.

6:30 am:

Once breakfast is made, coffee is brewed, and hubs is off to work, it’s time for me to hit the gym!

The home gym, that is. We’ve transformed our converted garage into a hobby room of sorts. Mr. Picky Pincher’s mini-micro-brewery is in there, in addition to my fitness equipment.

And a couch that we couldn’t get rid of, but I digress.

I often use an elliptical machine to work out. We bought this puppy as a floor model on fire sale for $120 a few years ago. We’ve gotten a crazy amount of use out of it, so it’s more than paid back its upfront cost.

If I’m feeling like something more fun, I’ll use free YouTube videos to do a Zumba routine or strength training exercise. I have zero motivation to go to a gym or group fitness classes when I can access them for free without leaving my house.

We have a TV in this room with a cheap manufacturer-refurbished Roku, which I use to watch the YouTube videos. Or hell, sometimes I’ll watch TV while I’m on the elliptical. It’s a luxury, but it motivates me to exercise.

I don’t wear fancy workout clothes, either. After all, who am I going to impress? Zap rolls in dirt and eats lizards like spaghetti – he doesn’t care if I’m wearing Lululemon. I just work out in my pajamas. Mr. Picky Pincher says that’s weird, and I guess it is, but I don’t care. It’s one less wardrobe change, and one less set of clothes that have to go through the wash. (I wash the pj’s immediately after working out; I’m not THAT gross)

While I’m working out I also drink from my reusable water bottle. No bottled water in this house.

7 am:

My alarm goes off a third time. I know I have a lot of alarms, but it’s the best way to keep me honest with my routine. I lose track of time otherwise!

After my workout, I take a shower. If I don’t want to wash my hair, I use a very attractive reusable plastic shower cap, which saves me from having to blow dry my hair before work.

Since realizing I like my natural face, I don’t care to get dolled up before work. I only do my makeup and hair if I feel like it, or if I have a big client meeting that day.

This way, I preserve my pricey makeup products and avoid unnecessary makeup use or damage to my hair. As a result, I don’t have to buy makeup every month or get my split ends trimmed as much, saving even more moolah.

After the shower, I do like to apply coconut oil as a lotion and moisturizer. Who says we need to pay for super fancy products, eh?

I lay my clothes out the night before, so I don’t have to make any wardrobe decisions. At this point in the morning I’m feeling a little harried, so this seemingly small step helps tremendously.

It’s funny though: I work remotely. No one can see what pants I’m wearing.

For this reason, I usually wear a nice work-shirt and pajama pants. This preserves the life of my nice business clothes. I can’t tell you the last time I had to buy expensive business attire.

7:30 am:

I’m dressed and ready to take on the day.

Before work I like to clean the house. I’m fortunate to work remotely so I have extra time to do this. But my house is also my work space. If it’s dirty, I’ve found that I get distracted more easily, and that’s good for nobody.

I first unload and load the dishwasher. There’s nothing like having a clean set of dishes when I make Dinner after work. A few times a week I toss dirty clothes into the wash, using our homemade laundry soap.

I’ll also add a few drops of orange essential oil to my homemade dryer balls to improve the dry time and make our clothes smell great.

I used to sweep and mop the floors every morning, but I use a Roomba for this task now. I know it doesn’t sound frugal to outsource cleaning to a robot, and maybe it’s not. But it’s something that is SO worth the found time and effort to me.

I think the Roomba has paid for itself and then some just with the time I’ve gotten back. I do a weekly sweep and mop to keep things clean, since the Roomba doesn’t pick up everything.

I make it a point to make the bed each morning. Mr. Picky Pincher thinks it’s silly to be so strict about making the bed, but it makes me feel like the day is off to a great start.

It wasn’t until I saw this great video that my feelings about bed-making were finally articulated:

Before the day starts, I check my Any.do app (and occasionally my paper planner). I like knowing what the day holds so there are no surprises. For example, if I have a meeting scheduled from noon to 1 pm, I know that I need to eat lunch sooner. If I have a late meeting that day, I need to use my lunch hour to pre-cook dinner if possible.

Knowing what’s on the schedule helps me strategically plan and adjust as needed.

8 am:

At 8 am I begin working remotely. I love that my commute is a mere 20 steps by foot. We save significantly on car costs and frustration. I don’t have to think about some a-hole cutting me off earlier; I just start working.

To be honest, my remote job is a big reason I can get so much done in the morning. While I was productive with a commute, this is much better.

As I work, I sip on homemade coffee (in a mug that was gifted to me, no less) and drink from my reusable water bottle. If needed, I take out meat for dinner so it can defrost. I hate getting ready to cook and realizing that your chicken is a block of ice. Ugh!

For the next few hours I handle conference calls, emails, and other uninteresting work tasks.

12 pm:

I nibble on a lunch of leftovers from the night before. I don’t have to leave my house to grab takeout or worry about what I’m eating. If we don’t have leftovers for some reason, I pull a pre-made freezer meal, microwave it, and call it lunch.

After a quick lunch, I like to take a nap. I know it sounds weird, but daily naps keep me more focused and less stressed. If I don’t take a nap, I’m ready to fall over at 7 pm.

This is only a good option if you work from home. I tried napping when I worked in an office setting and it was really difficult. But I’m fortunate and I get to nap in my own bed during my lunch break.

1 pm:

Back to work! I continue working for the next four hours. If I need an afternoon pick-me-up, I sometimes treat myself to a caramel macchiato made with my espresso machine (Amazon link here).

But hey, sometimes I need a break from work.

Us hoomans can’t stare at spreadsheets all day without losing our minds. I take breaks throughout the day and I make sure they’re productive. Sometimes I’ll do dishes, fold laundry, stroll around the yard, or play with Zap. This sounds counter-intuitive, but breaks help me stay focused and get more done.

If I were in an office, I would take breaks and meander around the office, idling by the coffee machine. But when I’m home, I can optimize each second, even when I’m on break.

5 pm:

It’s quittin’ time! I shut my laptop and immediately start cooking dinner.

We prioritize homemade dinners so we can save even more money on our grocery bill. It’s right about now that I’m grateful I defrosted all of my ingredients earlier in the day. No nasty surprises or missing ingredients!

It takes about 30 minutes to cook dinner, depending on how much of the meal has been cooked ahead of time.

Again, super thankful not to have a commute because it means a good, hot dinner is on the table when hubs gets home!

Occasionally we do opt for takeout (I’m known to indulge in a quesarito from time to time). In this case, I go through our collection of takeout coupons so we can save money, even when we do eat out. We try to eat at restaurants that will give us enough leftovers to eat for lunch the next day.

5:30 pm:

Mr. Picky Pincher and I sit down to eat dinner. We eat off of our Corelle dishes that should last us forever and a day. We also eat with thrifted cloth napkins to reduce our paper towel use. We dine on our fancy-as-hell homemade dinner with hand-me-down silverware from Mr. Picky Pincher’s bachelor days.

6 pm:

Once we wrap up with dinner, it’s time to tidy up. Mr. Picky Pincher rinses the dishes and loads the dishwasher. He adds one cup of vinegar to the dishwasher to keep hard water from gunking up our dishes.

In the meantime, I pack our intentional dinner leftovers in Tupperware for lunch tomorrow. One Tupperware is for hubs and one is for myself. That way, in the morning we simply grab a Tupperware and boom – lunch is ready. Grab ‘n’ go options are the best way to save money when life gets crazy.

6:30 pm:

Time to have some fun! Mr. Picky Pincher beats out some sweet tunes on his drum set to unwind. Fortunately I’ve learned to tune this out, and spend my time working on freelance writing projects.

I’m able to bring in a little extra money with these side projects, which is quite nice!

8 pm:

I’ve been trying to stop looking at screens an hour before bedtime. I’ve found that it helps me fall asleep more quickly, and that means I’m not a grouch the next day.

Instead of screens, I’ll read books or magazines to stay entertained. The books I read are usually provided free from my employer, or they’re old favorites bought at Half Price Books decades ago. Lately I’ve been breaking my no-screen rule to read free eBooks on Kindle Unlimited, which is included in my Amazon Prime membership.

I also take this time to lay out my clothes for the next day and brush my teeth. A little bit of pre-planning saves so much time!

Bonus tip: Brushing my teeth early in the evening discourages pre-bedtime snacking. 

9:30 pm:

Time to hit the hay!

I know 9:30 might seem early, but I need my sleep, y’all. I sleep with a miniature fan on my nightstand to help me sleep. I love having a breeze on my face when I sleep.

I check all of my alarms to make sure I wake up. I don’t want to miss crucial parts of tomorrow’s routine. My alarms are automated for weekdays, but if there’s a fluctuation in schedule, I need to make adjustments.

I lie down for a good night’s sleep in a comforter I’ve had for years. I listen to thunderstorm sounds to fall asleep – on a retro iPod from 2010, no less.

The bottom line

There you have it, folks! I hope this schedule revealed just a few ways you can integrate frugality into your daily routine. Routines and good habits are the best ways to save money without thinking about it.

Routine also gives us the predictability and sense of stability we crave. In fact, I don’t think it hurts to follow a strict schedule, especially when it’s designed to further your goals. Try implementing a routine to have an easier day while saving tons more moolah.

We want to know: How do you build frugality into your routine?

The post How to build frugality into your daily routine appeared first on Picky Pinchers.