There are many keys to getting your finances in control and getting any and all debts paid off. Sure, increasing your wage or having a budget are extremely helpful, but so is how you live your life and how much you spend. High spending is a major problem amongst Americans and can lead to a lot of financial problems.

Living in a frugal manner, on the other hand, can free up a ton of money to put towards debt, saving or other goals you might have. This article is going to take a look at four great ways to help you live more frugally, without sacrificing too much at all.

Start With Your Mortgage

If you are trying to be frugal, that involves being restrained when it comes to how much you spend. Well, for many people, their biggest expense every month is their mortgage, so let’s start there. While these are expensive, there are ways to cut down how much you spend on a mortgage, and they come down to the type of mortgage you are able to get.

For example, most traditional mortgages will have prepayment penalties if you try to pay them off early and save interest. However, FHA-insured loans do not. You might be wondering “what is an FHA loan?”, well, they are mortgages that are insured by the Federal Housing Administration and generally come with a low (or no) down payment to make home ownership accessible to more people.

While the rates might be higher on these FHA-insured loans (which means they will likely be more expensive over time), there is no prepayment penalty present, so you can pay them off ahead of time and save a lot of money in the long run, which is what being frugal is all about!

Look for Used Items When You Can

While there are some things that you should definitely only buy new, there are plenty of different items that you can get away with buying used. For example, you generally shouldn’t buy mattresses, baby cribs, vacuums or shoes used. But things like cars, clothes, tables and other furniture are generally okay.

Buying used will save you a ton of money in the long run, without much sacrifice in quality. While you can buy used from certain stores, the real treasure is found on online classified sites and garage sales. Great deals can be found in every city on a variety of items, happy shopping!

Pay Attention to Your Utilities

While most of us think about our rent or mortgage payments exclusively, there are other monthly costs we should be considering and worrying about, and they are our utilities. Power, water, energy, internet and cable can make up a significant chunk of your payments every month.

However, that chunk can be significantly smaller if you watch your usage. Turning off lights when you can, watching your thermostat and limiting how many times you run the dishwasher or washing machine every month can save you a decent amount of money. Also, cancelling cable and going with a different option like Netflix or Hulu, should also save you hundreds of dollars a year.

Shop Intelligently

The way you shop (and where you shop) can have a huge impact on how frugal you are able to be. Some stores have certain items cheaper than other stores, and there are always deals and sales on everywhere. You need to keep tabs on these sales and shop intelligently.

Not only that, but technology has also helped us be able to shop in a smarter manner. There are several helpful apps out there to track deals, get discounts, learn about various products in the store and more. With all the easy to use options out there to help you shop smarter, there is no excuse not to.

In conclusion, these are just a few of the many ways to help you live a more frugal lifestyle and save more money than ever before.