Frugal February 2026

[Dave Gray]

This is the last weekday before Frugal February.  Here's a quick list of the rules so that you can be prepared for work on Monday.


1) No impulse buys.  You can need a lamp and go to the store to buy a lamp.  But you can't browse and say "oh, I like that lamp."
2) No eating out.  Basically, this means you have to pack your lunch and prepare you dinners at home.  Of course there are exceptions, for birthdays or valentines day or whatever.  But in general...no food for convenience sake.
3) No premium on alcohol.   Essentially, beer at home is OK.  Beer at a bar is not.
4) You cannot buy any clothing or accessories.
5) You must make a budget and review your finances.
6) You must track each cent you spend and share your results.

Reminder: Don't get caught up on the details.  If your specific situation requires addendums, that's understandable.  For example, I allow myself to "eat out" and get a Costco hot dog, because it's literally cheaper than making the food at home.  Also, if a friend comes to town and I have to meet for dinner, you do what you have to do.  ...Valentine's Day, etc.  But in the spirit of the rules, don't eat out for convenience.


I work primarily from the house, so I don't think I have a ton of room for savings, but the budgeting part will likely help.  Everything is so expensive now that I'm already pretty mindful of what I'm spending.  But we shall see.

[Sibster]

What about coffee?   I can understand cutting out expensive gourmet Starbucks type coffees, but I usually run through the drive thru at Mickey D's and spend a buck on a large black coffee.

[Spider-Dan]

#2 would be the toughest for me, as I have eaten out for lunch almost every workday for the last 20 years.  There are sacrifices in other areas of my life I am willing to accept to enable this.

And except for #2 (as stated) and the budget/tracking stuff... I pretty much already do all of this?  I don't drink alcohol at all, and almost everything I buy is either 1) a replacement for something that broke or 2) something I've been planning to buy for months.  I'm not a very impulsive person.

But I am interested in getting a call from the judges on one thing: if there's a new sneaker set to release in February, I've known the release date for months, and it'll sell out on the first day, is it a violation of Frugal February to buy this article of clothing on schedule?

[Sibster]

But I am interested in getting a call from the judges on one thing: if there's a new sneaker set to release in February, I've known the release date for months, and it'll sell out on the first day, is it a violation of Frugal February to buy this article of clothing on schedule?

Surprised they don't let you pre-order it.

[Dave Gray]

Well, like I said, modify if you have to modify.  A particular shoe purchase that you'd planned in advance would be something that you set money aside for ahead of time and it's just a release thing -- do you.  I don't think that this particular purchase is against the spirit of the month.  That's more of a collectors' item and not just someone who buys a lot of clothes on impulse.

I really think that one full month of not eating out would be a game-changer for you.  Several hundred dollars there.

As for the coffee thing, Sibster, $1 + tax daily is about $30 for the month and I'm sure you can make drip coffee for less.  ...but do you.  I don't want you not to get the benefits of this over $1 coffee.  But I wouldn't do it, for me.

Spider, it doesn't sound like you do this at all -- the budgeting and sharing is a big part of it, as is the food.  The tracking the daily spending on a spreadsheet is worthwhile, as well -- and ties to the budget.



I don't think I'll be saving any money this month because of how my life is set up but I still like to do the exercise.

[Sibster]

As for the coffee thing, Sibster, $1 + tax daily is about $30 for the month and I'm sure you can make drip coffee for less.  ...but do you.  I don't want you not to get the benefits of this over $1 coffee.  But I wouldn't do it, for me.

Here's the thing.   It's what I do normally.   I don't have a coffeemaker at home.   I used to a while back but it wasn't doing coffee the way Mickey D's does theirs.

[Spider-Dan]

Spider, it doesn't sound like you do this at all -- the budgeting and sharing is a big part of it, as is the food.  The tracking the daily spending on a spreadsheet is worthwhile, as well -- and ties to the budget.

I get it; the budgeting is an integral part of the "Frugal February" exercise.

I'm just saying that I don't think it would make much of a difference in my spending, because (outside of take-out lunches, the cost of which I have previously calculated and consider an acceptable tradeoff for quality of life) I already follow the "spending rules" for Frugal February basically year-round.

[Spider-Dan]

Surprised they don't let you pre-order it.

Allowing pre-orders would not solve this problem, as these sneakers all have limited production runs.  So pre-orders would simply shift the traffic from "the day of release" to "the day pre-orders become available."  They'd still sell out just as quickly.

[Dave Gray]

I did some budget work today.  I learned some things about my electric bill during December and my water use, in general.

I found that my car insurance offered a rebate due to a slow hurricane season and some kind of class action payout.
But the big win was calling my cable company and getting my monthly bill lowered by 35 for the exact same service.

[SCFinfan]

I always hand out yearly raises in February, so, it's never a frugal month for me.

[Sibster]

I did some budget work today.  I learned some things about my electric bill during December and my water use, in general.

I found that my car insurance offered a rebate due to a slow hurricane season and some kind of class action payout.
But the big win was calling my cable company and getting my monthly bill lowered by 35 for the exact same service.

So if being frugal means budgeting and finding ways to cut costs, let me tell you what I discovered last night while at the Sanford Mall.   I currently pay about $140 per month for Hulu with Live TV.   This includes all your typical and some atypical cable channels, the Hulu/Disney Plus/ESPN Plus streaming bundle, and premium sports channels including my favorite one... NFL RedZone.   I also pay $7.99 per month for Netflix with Ads, $7.99 per month for Peacock, $8.99 per month for Paramount Plus and $14.99 per month for Amazon Prime.

I ran into a guy promoting Spectrum.  He says he can get me all those channels for $115 per month, plus all the streaming services except for Netflix and Amazon Prime.   My wife and I immediately jumped at the deal and we will pick up our equipment tonight at a local Spectrum store.   So we basically get all the content we currently have and save $41.98 per month.

[Dave Gray]

If you've evaluated your bills and switched to a service that keeps you happy, and saves you $42 a month, I'd say that's successful.

[Sibster]

If you've evaluated your bills and switched to a service that keeps you happy, and saves you $42 a month, I'd say that's successful.

Indeed it is.   We're getting the same exact services for $42 per month less.   Normally, we'd find other ways to spend that money, but for the purpose of Frugal February, we're going to deposit $42 into our savings account.

[Dave Gray]

I have filed my taxes.

I always do it in February.  ...not specifically tied to Frugal February, but when you're thinking about money, doing taxes just makes sense.   I will use my refund towards a Roth IRA.

[Dave Gray]

A minor failure yesterday --

I took my daughter to a school audition and didn't properly plan ahead.  I got caught as a captive audience in a situation where she was going to go a long time without food, in addition to the nerves of the audition.  I didn't feel right about that, so I bought her a $2 bag of chips.

Not a big deal, but in the interest of full disclosure (and the fact that I caused it by not being prepared), I thought I'd mention it.