There are seven common frugal mistakes which may be keeping you from saving more money. Whether you trying to be frugal, but seeing little or no savings at the end of the month—or worse—you’re frustrated, tired, or even falling further behind—you are not alone.
By recognizing, and fixing, some common frugal mistakes, you can get unstuck and being making progress on your financial goals.
In this post, we’re pulling back the curtain on the seven most common frugal mistakes (we’ve made them all!), telling you what we learned, and how we now do things differently.
(Please note: This is a paid post written on behalf of TextNow. All opinions expressed are our own. Links in our posts are affiliate links. When you click on one of our links and make a purchase, we receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. To read our complete affiliate policy, click here.)
Mistake #1: Not Giving Every Dollar A Job to Do
A few years after we learned to budget and live within our means, we had saved a few thousand dollars. We thought we were crushing this “budgeting thing”. Then—we made a common frugal mistake – and spent nearly our entire savings – all on a van.
Did we need eight seats? Not really. How about that door that automatically closed for us? Nope! Did we stick to a budget for that purchase? Not by a long shot. Ultimately, we didn’t think through what our savings was actually for.
We call this our “big green pile of cash mistake”, because savings without a clear purpose just looks like a big heap of cash which is meant to be spent.
We’ve learned a hard lesson: Money with no purpose disappears fast.
Now, every dollar has a job—whether it’s for emergencies, replacement items, upcoming expenses, or future dreams. It turns out that Dave Ramsey is right about that—thanks, Dave!
Mistake #2: Not Setting Clear Financial Goals
This goes hand-in-hand with the pile of cash mistake. We were saving money, but we had no idea why. We didn’t have any written financial goals. If you aren’t aiming at a target, you are sure not to hit it. Goals which contain a clear purpose and timeline are far more likely to be reached that those which are simply ideas which are in your mind, but not on paper.
Now, we set three financial goals each quarter—and only three. We track our progress regularly and evaluate them every month.
We ask ourselves these questions:
What strategies worked? What didn’t work? Do we keep the same goals or pivot and add new ones for the next quarter?
This structure gives our savings real direction—and we’re making way more progress because of it.
One of our long term, financial goals has always been to figure out how we can reduce our monthly bills, like our cell phone bill. That’s where our sponsor, TextNow, was able to help us.
When our sons were young teenagers, we wanted to be able to stay connected, text, and call them – without paying for a monthly cell phone contract. That’s when we found TextNow. It’s a completely free service, which allows you unlimited calls and texts each month. It’s easy to sign up. Download the TextNow App. Fill in some simple information and TextNow assigns you a phone number. Use it every month and that number is yours to keep.
TextNow uses available WiFi connections, but you can also purchase their very low-cost SIM card and activate it through the app to place calls and receive texts, using the nation’s largest 5G network.
How does TextNow keep their service free? They run ads from their trusted partners. But, if you’d prefer an ad-free experience, you can upgrade to one of TextNow’s low-cost monthly plans.
Honestly, as a parent it was such a relief to know that whether my boys were at the library studying, at the movies, or shopping with friends, they could now just text me or call when they were ready to be picked up – and TextNow didn’t cost us a dime! Check out TextNow, today.
Mistake #3: Not Pivoting When a Frugal Habit No Longer Served Us
Just because you adopt a frugal habit right now, doesn’t mean you have to keep doing it forever. Sometimes, it no longer makes sense for your situation. When that happens, you need to be willing to pivot and try something else.
Here’s an example. For years, I baked all of our bread and muffins from scratch once a week. With four hungry boys and a tight budget, it absolutely made sense.
But now? It’s mostly just the two of us at home. Our adult sons are in and out, but they’re not eating us out of house and home anymore.
These days, when I find markdown bread at Kroger for 79¢, I grab a few loaves and toss them in the freezer. It’s faster, it fits our current needs, and it still saves money.
Being frugal isn’t about rigid rules—it’s about being smart with your resources right now.
Mistake #4: Buying Cheap Instead of Buying Smart
A great sale doesn’t always mean a great deal—especially if the product doesn’t work.
We recently bought our older sons combination air compressor/jump starters for Christmas. They were on sale for Black Friday, so we jumped on the deal…without doing much research.
Big mistake. Two of the three units were completely dead out of the box. None of them inspired much confidence. We wound up returning all of them.
Now we’re doing what we should’ve done in the first place—taking time to research and read reviews before we buy.
On the flip side, we’ve owned the same Shop Vac for 15 years. It’s worked hard and never let us down. So when our son bought his first home, we didn’t hesitate to buy him the exact same model.
Frugal isn’t about the lowest price—it’s about the best value for your money.
Mistake #5: Saying Yes to Every Freebie
For years, we said yes to every free offer—friends, family, co-workers… they’d all send their attic, garage, or basement castoffs our way. And to be fair, sometimes it worked out. We cleaned things up, did a few repairs, and resold them for a profit.
But not every haul was worth flipping. Sometimes, we’d get stuck with stuff we couldn’t use, couldn’t sell, and didn’t want—so we were back to deciding: do we toss it or donate it?
These days, we’re more intentional. We say yes to free stuff only if we know it’s something we can truly use or easily resell.
Free isn’t always frugal—especially if it becomes clutter.
Mistake #6: Failing to Set Boundaries on Special Event Expenses
It’s hard to say no—especially to family. But when we were figuring out how to live within our means on a small income, we had to make some tough calls.
One year, extended family asked each of us kids to pitch in $500 to send our parents on a dream vacation for their 50th anniversary. We love our parents—but $500? That wasn’t in the budget.
We said they could count on us for $50—toward something practical, like a new microwave. Be open and honest, but kind and firm in situations like this. You cannot let others control your spending.
Another example? We stepped away from the extended family Christmas gift exchange. There was a general spending limit, but even that was too much for us at the time. Our decision didn’t go over well with some people, but we knew it was the right choice.
These days, we plan ahead. We buy gifts throughout the year when we find brand-new items for 75–90% off and stash them in our gift closet. That way, we’re prepared—and we stay on budget.
Frugality sometimes means setting boundaries others don’t understand—but you’re the one who has to live with your budget, not them.
Common Frugal Mistake #7: Waiting Too Long to Start Saving for Retirement
If we could go back and change one thing, this might be it.
Larry didn’t start saving for retirement until his mid-40s. And while we’ve made huge strides since then, we can’t help but wonder what a difference 15 extra years would’ve made—even if we had only contributed a couple hundred dollars more each month.
We underestimated the value of compound interest—and overestimated how much time we had. Even if your income is tight, even if you can only put away a little—start now. It adds up faster than you think.
Your Turn!
What common frugal mistakes have you made with money – and do you handle that choice differently now? Tell us in the comments.
