“How to live frugally as a teenager?” – Has this question ever occurred to you? If yes, then you’re surely on the path towards a more wholesome life. If not, now is most certainly the time to begin.
Saving money might appear boring. But in actuality, it is the key to lead the kind of life you desire. A life based on your terms and conditions is possible only if you start being frugal as a teen.
In my current blog, I will share with you exactly how to live frugally as a teenager. By the end of this piece, you will get a sense as to why saving early will genuinely transform your life and become the gateway to a happy future.
How to live frugally as a teenager?
All through my teens, I made an effort to make my life more and more simplistic. Back then, I didn’t quite realize the significance of frugal living but now when I’ve entered my 20s, all of it makes so much sense.
You don’t have to be a miser to be frugal. You certainly don’t have to be cheap to be frugal. All you need to do is to chalk out a road map for yourselves. I’m listing some of the ways that will help you live frugally as a teen.
| Stop relying on mom dad for everything |
| Eat more at home rather than outside |
| Buy clothes and accessories that you genuinely need |
| Don’t buy gadgets just because your friends are buying them |
| Pay your mobile recharge and data bills yourself |
| When going out with friends, pool money |
| Use public transport more than cabs |
| Start adapting towards minimalism |
| Avail free courses online |
| Acquire skills and invest for your future |
If you can sincerely start by implementing the above ten points, step by step – you surely are investing for a happy and bright future.
Remember this that they are individuals around the planet who are much younger to you and have already started to embrace frugal living. These are the people who will the most wealth when the days become rainy. Even I started to add money to my piggy bank in my childhood.
Make sure you have enough too and you truly live the life of your dreams. Else, all you will end up doing is being frustrated with the life ‘you have’ instead of the live ‘you could have.’
Understanding all ways leading to how to live frugally as a teenager?
It is essential that you understand each and every way that answers the question of how to live frugally as a teenager. Not only will you make your life much simpler this way but also end up saving a lot more money.
Stop relying on mom dad for everything
The first rule of frugal living for all teens is to become as independent as possible. I know that you’re young and most of your bills will be taken care of by your mum dad. But even then, constantly look out for ways where you support yourself.
Join a community club and earn a buck or two. Start freelancing from home and see yourself earning by the hour. Pursue part time internships during holidays and earn money. Most of all, learn to look after yourself and your family.
Eat more at home rather than outside
As shocking as it might appear but most teens end up spending way more money on outside food than most other things. Consider this – you spend $20 each week only on food. That makes it $80 per month and $1040 in a year. All this money is just draining away just because you don’t eat at home.
Can you imagine the kind of things you could have done with this amount of money? You could have gone sailing around the Caribbean sea. You could have joined a vocational course and earned a certification. Best of all, you could have set up an emergency fund for the near future. So start to save money on food.
Buy clothes and accessories that you genuinely need
I’m not sure whether you’ve noticed but you do end up buying a lot of clothes and accessories just because they ‘look good’ in the store decor. The bright colours and the latest fashion trends tend to make them appealing.
However, more often you won’t even wear them once they’re inside your wardrobe. So, pick up clothes that you will wear a lot and the ones that are durable. There is no point cluttering your cupboard and not using the things in there.
Don’t buy gadgets just because your friends are buying them
Be the kind of teen that all the others in the group look up to and not the kind struggling with low self esteem. This is easier said than done. However, folks who are able to achieve it, don’t end up wasting money. After all, you don’t need to impress anyone.
Buy gadgets that you actually need. Don’t waste money on one gadget this year and then on a new one another year. Unless you happen to be a hardcore techie with a high paying job, there is just no point changing gadgets each year. This is especially true for teens who use their phones for taking Instagram selfies.
Pay your mobile recharge and data bills yourself
Inculcate a habit of paying for your mobile bill yourself. Now, this can happen only if you have some kind of side income or some savings. Either way, you will end up being resourceful because it is you who needs to pay the bill.
The sooner you learn responsibility, the more quickly you will end up being financially stable. Nothing, and I mean nothing can make you feel so confident as paying for your bills yourself. Start with the phone bill.
When going out with friends, pool money
As teens you will and should hang out with your friends a lot. It’s important to be part of a community, a tribe so be it. However, the underlying principle of any community is looking out for each other.
Therefore, when you head out with friends, encourage everybody to pool – for food, cabs, leisure activities and even candy shopping. Sharing is caring and an excellent way to stay frugal.
Use public transport more than cabs
You’re obviously more agile and feisty as a teen. So instead of being lazy and picking up a cab, go for public transport. Not only will you end up saving a lot more money but will also learn to do away with all sense of entitlement.
If you’re lucky enough to live in a region where you can hike around, pick that over any kind of transport. You will surely end up being frugal along with being healthy.
Start adapting towards minimalism
Minimalism is a philosophy whose underlying principle is simplicity. You can call yourself a minimalist if you surround yourself with things that you genuinely need and do away with all others.
Minimalism is the key to conserving the planet. Minimalism is the key to a more wholesome living. Minimalism is the key towards eternal happiness. The sooner you adapt to minimalism, the better it will prove for you.
Avail free courses online
In today’s era of free good content, how about availing some in order to learn a thing or two. You can always check out Youtube and Google.
Instead of just scrolling your phone and stalking others, isn’t it better to actually learn new things. Go in for free courses online based on your interest and you will end up knowing way more than others.
Acquire skills and invest for your future
You will not remain a teenager forever. Sooner than you expect, adulthood will arrive for you. When that happens, keep your skillset ready. You will bag a decent job and that monthly income will start flowing.
Invest in a safer future by acquiring a good skill set in your present. Be it writing, photography, graphics, marketing, sales, blogging and anything that interests you. Just learn, learn and learn.
How to live frugally as a teenage girl?
On an average, a teenage girl spends more than her male counterpoint, across the world. Reason being, that girls tend to spend more on cosmetics and toiletries. Also, teenage girls have surpassed boys when it comes to food spending.
Wasting money is never good. So instead of draining away the resources that are not even yours, how about adding resources that end up being yours. The first step will obviously have to be to just start right.
I’ve addressed the question of how to live frugally as a teenager girl in another blog of mine. There, I’ve mentioned all the effective ways that teenage girls must follow in order to adapt to a more frugal lifestyle.
How to live frugally as a teenage boy?
Even though teenage boys tend to spend less than teenage girls, they overdo it when it comes to gadgets, shoes and surprisingly clothes. Peer pressure is as high here as it is in the female world.
I’ve addressed the question of how to live frugally as a teenager boy in another blog of mine. There, I’ve mentioned all the effective ways that teenage boys must follow in order to adapt to a more frugal lifestyle.
Being a teen can be hard but the only way to beat the overhyped peer pressure is to stand out. By pursuing activities that will fruitful and add to your holistic being, you surely will end up being happy.
A thrifty teen is a happy adult
For most individuals around the planet, teenage is either a boon or a bane. In either case, the attachment is too much on this one phase – teenage. What people tend to forget here is that this too shall pass and adulthood will arrive.
So, for those teens who start preparing early as far as being thrifty and frugal is concerned, end up being well adjusted and happy adults. For the rest of the people out there, even adulthood becomes a struggle.
Being frugal will help you beat conformity
Remember that just because you’re stepping into early adulthood, doesn’t mean at all that the world will alter the rules for you. Nope – not at all! You will be expected to cater to the same conformities just as your ancestors did. The only way to beat that conformity is to start being frugal early in life.
Making choices that matter to you depend to a large degree on the money you have in your pocket. Since thrifty teens start preparing early in life, they most certainly land up living the life they imagined as adults. In fact, these are the folks that have the luxury of retiring early.
Conformity is the number one factor for more people being followers rather than leaders. If only they had made informed decisions pertaining to frugal living early in life, they could have beaten all odds. Leading people, new attitudes and mindsets is super empowering. So why not adapt early?
Being frugal will help you lead a happier life
As teens, when mum dad cater to all your financial needs, happiness comes in easy. After all there are no bills to be paid, to houses to mortgage and no college funds to raise. So, there isn’t any real worry. Trust me, teen breakups are the least of your life problems.
However, as life progresses naturally and adulthood arrives, that is the time for real messed up situations take place. I mean these things happen to the best of us as well. So you too won’t be spared. But this is not a situation to worry about. It’s to make informed decisions.
Frugal living leads to a happier life because the biggest mental constraint gets taken care of – Money. Trust me, money is a big barrier when it comes to happiness. So try not to be at a disadvantge. Please be at an advantage and the only way to do that is to start saving early.
As a frugal being, you’re not expected to cut down on any relevant thing you like. All you need to learn is to stop wasting. That is all. Do just this much and you will never will miserable again. I say – try it now.