Frugal shopping should be considered an art form. For many, the ability to shop with savings and efficiency in mind can be a key to building wealth over time. And for some, it is the difference between being able to put food on the table or not. Whatever your reason for wanting to become a more frugal shopper, there are numerous benefits to boot. So if you are into saving money and still getting what you need (or want), keep reading for some of our top tips on how to achieve that balance.

1. Shift Your Mindset

As with most things financial, the first issue you will need to address is your mindset around money. It is easy to waive off a dollar here or there as being insignificant, but these are the places that add up over the long run when the behavior is repeated. You don’t need to be obsessed or spend countless hours working to save a dollar or two. There are ways to save money quickly and efficiently, without spending all your free time looking for deals. When you start to believe that you can make a difference in your finances, you will start to see it. Five bucks filling up at Costco 3 times a month is $15. Using the target app for additional digital savings and submitting the same receipt to Ibotta, coupons.com, and checkout51- there's another $20. Wash your car yourself and enjoy the sunshine and exercise- another $30. Before you know it, you have saved hundreds over the course of a month and thousands over the course of a year. Throw that money towards debt or savings and the savings will continue to stack up with interest saved or earned.

2. Reuse & Recycle

Reuse and recycle before replacing. Before purchasing an item, search your home to make sure you don’t have something that will work for the purpose intended. Can you modify something you don’t need or use to serve a different purpose? Or does that item even need to be replaced at all? Stay objective and really think about whether you can save money by avoiding the purchase. Even more powerful than using coupons for the things you buy is learning to improvise or do without on things that you don’t really need or don’t really bring you joy.

3. Clip Coupons

Always look for coupons before purchasing- online or in-store. There are way too many apps and programs to let anyone with a smartphone slide on this one. Retailers don’t even require you to physically cut coupons anymore (although you can if you are committed to maximum savings- which isn’t a necessity if you are just looking to do better.) Many retailers have their own apps that offer digital coupon savings and specials. Add this to apps like Ibotta, coupons.com, checkout51, and Rakuten (to name a few) and you can double, triple or quadruple your savings. One important thing to remember- if you wouldn’t have bought the item without a coupon, you most likely don’t need to buy the item at all. Work your “no” muscle and get good at avoiding unnecessary purchases regardless of whether or not you have a coupon.

4. Quality Over Quantity

Buy quality over quantity. Just because it’s cheap doesn’t mean it is a good buy. Anything you plan on holding on to for an extended amount of time and will stand up to repeated use, you will want to do some research on getting the best quality for your money. Cheap items break and fail, forcing you to replace them. Most times, the replacement makes the initial savings a moot point when you have to shell out twice for the same thing. Again, do your homework and buy quality over price when it makes sense- and within reason.