“The Half Rule” – A Frugal Hack I Live By

[Good morning, friends! Got a fantastic guest post for you today that’s got me reconsidering all kinds of habits over here! It comes from Amanda Grossman over at Frugal Confessions, and hopefully it gets you rethinking some of your routines too 👊 Take it away, Amanda!]

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I’m about to introduce you to a frugal living rule I started using almost a decade ago.

It’s saved me untold amounts of money.

And to be honest, it’s without much sacrifice at all (none, in some circumstances).

It’s called The Half Rule.

I only wish I’d discovered it back in my early 20s when I could’ve really used it!

It’ll help you fight inflation. It’ll cut your grocery bill down without having to stop buying the products that you like.

And you’ll start to have some money left at the end of the month.

While it can’t be used on everything, it can be used in more cases than you think.

Ready for it?

What is the Half Rule?

The Half Rule means cutting the amount of product you use in half, and seeing what happens.

Does it still perform like it should? Then keep it at the new, half-level. Do you need to add a bit more to it? Go ahead and do it.

You’ll likely always end up using less than you were before, causing you to have to buy a replacement product less (and saving you money).

I started playing around with this over a decade ago. and I can’t tell you how much money it’s saved me (without having to buy generics or go without).

You see, I’m going out on a limb here, but I think we all use too much product.

And there are three main reasons for that:

• Manufacturer Recommendations are Inflated: Manufacturer recommendations are often asking us to use more of the product than necessary.
• Habits are Hard to Break: We have developed a habit of using a certain amount of a product, and it’s hard to change habits. (J$: This is me!! I need to work on this!)
• Product Inflation is a Real Thing: We’re experiencing product inflation, where we think to get the same amount of pleasure out of something, we need to use more of it (has anyone increased their Starbucks size to grande, for example, to get the same degree of pleasure they used to get from a tall?).

I tested this rule out by cutting in half my use of:

• Shampoo
• Laundry detergent
• Dryer sheets (I’ve cut them in half to no bad effect for decades now)
• Cooking oil (started using an oil mister instead of pouring it)
• Restaurant meals (I typically take 1/3 to ½ home for lunch)
• Bagels for breakfast (I started eating half a bagel at home, instead of a whole one)
• Starbucks order size
• Glass stovetop cleaner
• Tape (when wrapping gifts)

And those are just the easy ones you can start with.

[TIP: to save even more money, pair this Half Rule with my Bank It! Saving Money Challenge.]

Why is the Half Rule So Effective?

When you change a few things here and there, or something by a little amount, it’s not really noticeable to your bank account.

Not enough to make you want to keep doing it.

By cutting your use of many things in HALF, you quickly see the change to your money.

Imagine having to buy 10 products half as often – that’s a significant change to your spending.

And with these current prices?

Yeah… you’re going to notice.

It starts a ripple effect of savings – one that you can control.

[TIP: you could then use your extra savings to get one month ahead on your bills!]

A Specific Example of Where This Paid Off

Most of us don’t want to take a close look at how we’re using products, because it’s become a habit.

And habits can be hard to break.

I’m no different from you in this.

But many times, the money we need to actually increase savings is being spent on our habits.

For example, I love Dr. Bronner’s Peppermint soap. I use it to create foam hand soaps for each of our bathrooms.

I was filling up half the bottle with the semi-expensive peppermint soap, and then the other half with water.

I can’t even blame this one on a bloated manufacturer recommendation; when I finally looked at the instructions, I noticed that I was only supposed to use 1 part soap to 3 parts water.

It was all me (product inflation? Habit? Not really sure).

I changed. Now, I’m buying Dr. Bronner’s refills less often.

Ka-ching!

When you bring awareness to how you’re using a product, then you can make a change.

Is The Half Rule for Everything?

Again, this rule does not work for everything.

But I would argue it works for MUCH more than you will initially think.

For example, you can’t fill up your gas tank halfway and still commute the same number of times to work.

Never, EVER, cut a prescription in half.

And you won’t catch me eating ½ of a single serving size of yogurt.

But why waste your money on a daily, caterpillar-sized amount of toothpaste on your toothbrush when a dentist-recommended pea-size will do just fine?

Take a handful of products, cut your use in half, and see if anything changes. You might be surprised. I know I was.

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Amanda L. Grossman is a Certified Financial Education Instructor (CFEI®), a 2017 Plutus Foundation Grant Recipient for her kid money program, The Mt. Everest Money Simulation: A Kid’s Educational Adventure, and founder of Frugal Confessions and Money Prodigy. You can learn more about Amanda here.

// Image by OpenClipart-Vectors from Pixabay
// Link to soap and mister are Amazon affiliate links

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