Frugality that feels good: Grocery tips + holiday spending with The Frugal Girl
We met Kristen, the brilliant mind behind The Frugal Girl, at FinCon this past September, and we've been obsessed ever since. She's been blogging about intentional spending since 2008 2008!!! — and her approach to money is smart, simple, and refreshing.
Before you decide that “frugal” isn’t for you, know this about Kristen: She doesn't do deprivation. She doesn't believe you have to choose between having nice things and being smart with money.
Right now, as grocery prices stay high and the holidays are almost here, her practical wisdom feels more relevant than ever.
Episode highlights
[0:00] Why we're talking about frugality in November
[3:00] Kristen's origin story — where her frugal mindset came from
[5:00] Strategies for stretching your grocery budget when money's tight
[8:00] How to fight food waste without burning out
[15:00] The frugality ≠ deprivation mindset shift
[20:00] Holiday spending, gift-giving, and having the money conversation early
[25:00] Meaningful gift ideas that don't cost a fortune
[30:00] The power of noticing + practicing contentment
[35:00] Frugal practices Kristen's let go of (and why that matters)
Frugality isn't about saying no (it's about saying “how?”)
One of our favorite moments from the episode was when Kristen shared her personal approach to money. She said: "My brand of frugality is not about deprivation. I'm not trying to save every last penny that I can, and I'm usually not approaching my money saving efforts thinking like, well, I just, I can't have this thing because I'm trying to save money. More like, I want this thing. How could I get it for less?"
Let that sink in for a second.
The difference between "I can't afford this" and "How can I get this for less?" is everything. One comes from a place of lack. The other comes from a place of problem-solving. That shift in mindset might be the most valuable thing you take away from Kristen's work.
This is why her approach feels so different from the minimalism movement or the extreme frugality culture that tells you to have an empty house and question every single purchase. Those approaches can work for some people, but they often leave you feeling depleted instead of empowered.
Kristen's way? You get to want things. You get to enjoy your life. You just get intentional about how you make it happen.
Stretching your grocery budget (without burning out)
If you're feeling a financial squeeze right now, Kristen has some genuinely helpful strategies that don't require you to become a full-time budgeting machine. Here are some tips so save money on groceries and food:
🦞 Start with the biggest wins. If you're eating out a lot, that's priority number one. Kristen puts it plainly: you can literally buy a lobster tail at the grocery store for less than the cost of eating out. So if that's been your habit, shifting to cooking at home is the biggest bang for your buck.
🛒 Then optimize where you shop. Check out prices in your area. Maybe Aldi is cheaper, or there's a grocery outlet nearby. Warehouse clubs can be great too. Even switching stores can make a real difference.
🍪 Go generic. Kristen's been buying store brands for decades, and she points out that most come with money-back guarantees. So if you try something and don't like it, you can return it. The risk is basically zero, and you'll probably be surprised at how often the generic version is just fine.
🥪 Loosen up your definition of dinner. This one's freeing: you get to decide what counts as a meal. A BLT? Dinner. Soup and bread? Dinner. Breakfast for dinner? Also dinner. As long as you're covering your food groups over the course of the day, you're the boss. And honestly, this takes so much pressure off and helps reduce the burnout that comes with meal planning.
♻️ Fight food waste. Here's a wild stat: the average American household throws away 40% of the food they buy. That's 40% of your grocery spending literally going in the trash. Kristen's got a whole section on how she fights food waste, but the quick version: use clear containers (what you see, you eat), inventory your fridge before you shop, and skip the aspirational purchases. You know—that bag of kale you swore you'd eat but didn't.
If you want to dive deeper, Kristen has a whole collection of food waste posts on her blog that are honestly game-changers.
Holiday spending without the guilt
The holidays come with this unspoken pressure to spend, give, and celebrate in specific ways. But Kristen’s approach gives you permission to do things differently. For example, if you can’t afford to buy gifts for everyone, suggest a gift exchange where you draw names. Instead of buying gifts, go homemade. If you want to skip gifting altogether, suggest an experience with your loved ones instead.
But here’s the catch: Be honest about your financial situation, and talk about it early. You might be surprised how many people are actually relieved when you suggest alternatives like Secret Santa or skipping gifts altogether.
"If the truth is that you just don't have the money, I think it's okay to just be honest about that. Be like, you know what, I've had more money in the past. I just don't right now. I love you and I would love to spend time with you, but I can't maintain the level of gift giving that I did before."
If someone reacts poorly to that? That's on them, not you.
🥖 For a meaningful gift that doesn't cost a fortune, Kristen's go-to is homemade yeast bread. (And yes, she's been baking bread since the '90s—way before it became trendy.) She's got beginner-friendly bread recipes on her blog, including a super simple French bread recipe with just water, yeast, flour, and salt. People genuinely love receiving homemade bread, and it costs pennies to make.
The practice that changes everything
One thing Kristen mentioned that we can't stop thinking about is the power of noticing. Our brains naturally notice what's wrong or unpleasant without us trying. But appreciating the good stuff? That takes intentional practice.
She puts it this way: The more you practice noticing the good things in your life, the easier it becomes. And when you have a strong "noticing muscle," you have more appreciation for what you have. That leads to contentment, which leads to needing less, which makes frugality actually feel sustainable instead of like deprivation.
This isn't about toxic positivity or ignoring real problems. It's about training your brain to see the full picture instead of just the gaps. (If this sounds impossible, take a break from social media and see how you feel. It’s a lot easier to want less when it’s out of sight.)
Don’t strive for perfection
Kristen’s clear about one thing: You don’t need to be frugal 100% of the time. In fact, there are certain ways she’s tried to save that just didn’t work for her.
For example, she tried line-drying laundry (stiff clothes, not worth the $100/year savings) and making her own laundry detergent (it ended up smelling like dirty socks). She cheerfully ditched both and never looked back.
The lesson? If a frugal practice is making you miserable, it's not sustainable.
As Kristen says, "If you are miserable, it's really hard to maintain that over a lifetime. But if you find a way to make it work for you where you don't feel terribly stressed out and you don't feel deprived, then you're gonna be able to maintain that over time and that matters."
TL;DR
Frugality doesn't have to feel restrictive. Instead of thinking, “I can’t afford it,” think, “how can I get it for less?”
Frugality can look like wasting less food, giving unconventional gifts, and noticing the good stuff that's already in your life.
You don't have to do frugality perfectly. You just have to do it in a way that works for your life.
Whether you're tightening your grocery budget this season or rethinking how you approach holiday spending, Kristen's work — and this episode — is worth diving into. Head over to The Frugal Girl to explore more of her strategies.
