Frugal February Challenge

Most of you have probably heard of Dry January, but have you heard of Frugal February? It’s kind of the same…but for spending. Your budget is probably a little tapped out after the holidays. Frugal February is a month to get back on track by spending very little and taking time to get a fresh look at where your money is going and setting some goals for the rest of the year.

Here are 5 ways to be frugal in February:

1. Keep Tabs- 55% of people don’t use a budget, and 56% don’t know how much they spent the previous month, according to a 2021 survey from The Penny Hoarder. The research also found a correlation between not tracking and owing more than $5,000 in credit card debt. Review your credit card, bank or credit union statements and tally up where you’re spending. You may be surprised to see where your money is going. This exercise can help you prioritize what’s important and what’s not.
2. Eat Your Pantry (And Freezer)- Each year 130 billion meals and more than $408 billion in food are thrown away, with nearly 40% of all the food in the US being wasted. Don’t waste yours. Instead, make it a point to meal plan and use up what’s in your pantry and freezer. It’s a big way to get frugal. According to the USDA, nearly 9% of our budgets are spent on food, with about 5% going to eating at home and 4% to eating out. Post-COVID food prices increased dramatically, so this is an item to consider carefully.
3. Join Your Local Buy Nothing Group- Need a ladder to reach those gutters you’re trying to clean out? Or a crate to train your new pup? It’s Frugal February, so you’re not buying, right? Consider your local Buy Nothing group. These local groups, most of which are Facebook-based, have racked up 7.5 million members as of August 2024. It’s a great way to give away your unused stuff, too.
4. Use Those Gift Cards- For years, gift cards have been the most requested/popular gift at the holidays. Perhaps, as a result, 51% of adults have unused gift cards, and the average adult has $116 in gift card value. And, for nearly three-quarters of people, they’ve been sitting on those gift cards for a year or more. Consider Frugal February a great time to break them out. And if you don’t need to use them, make a plan to spend them sometime soon!
5. Set Some Goals For the Upcoming Year – Research shows we’re getting better at achieving our financial resolutions/goals. Maybe that’s because digital banking enables us to constantly check our spending.  So set some goals! Here are the most common: build an  emergency fund, pay down debt, and save more for retirement.

There’s no better time to start trying to be more frugal than during Frugal February. Now if you are reading this in April or October, you can start now too! The point is to START. We cannot treat our finances like we do a diet that we are ‘going to start on Monday’ yet Monday never seems to get here. Make your financial future a priority.

YOU CAN DO HARD THINGS!