Being frugal has always been a way of life for us. Here is some of what we used to do ~
In our home we had an oil burner and that was costly, so I kept the heat down, wore toasty warm totes and kept a quilt on hand in my studio. I also used a kerosene heater. If you use it properly, there is no smell at all. We saved so much that the oil company called us up to question us about the bill being so low! They thought we were getting oil from someone else!
My husband and I each had a car. We once purchased all our cars at marshall's auctions and only got burned once. When his finally gave out, I told him we could share a car. He only works five blocks from the house, so he would often take his bicycle to work. In all honesty, that didn't always work out, but it could have if we tried hard enough.
I got sick and tired of paying high water/sewer bills for my front lawn -- not to mention the constant battle against the weeds and trimming the edges. So we ripped out the grass and put in raised beds for veggies. The azaleas and other shrubs that looked nice for a few weeks and then were just blah went too and in went blueberry, raspberry, blackberry shrubs and a couple of fig trees. I can't tell you what a joy it was to go outside to pick your breakfast in the morning. I did keep some marigolds but never purchased new plants. When I dead headed, I'd toss the seeds into the bed and voila! new plants year after year. The flower bed turned into an herb garden.
In the backyard since I no longer had children playing back there I had a grape arbor and another spot for veggies. The paved section of the driveway had pots full of tomato plants. I invested in canners and canned everything. Fruits got frozen and put into a small chest freezer along with any meat or poultry that was on sale.
I had jars and jars of canned chicken, beef stew, chili and many other things all made when things were on sale. Working at home, I didn't need much in the way of clothing, so that wasn't an issue. We did have a washer and dryer, but one birthday I asked my husband for a clothes tree and just loved hanging sheets on it -- the fresh scent was wonderful.
I purchased lots of fabric, thread and quilting tools -- including a huge cutting table -- at estate sales. Can you imagine getting a shopping bag full of thread for $5?
Retail was a dirty word. I was a coupon fanatic. BUT if there was something I didn't normally use, I wouldn't get it unless is was dirt cheap and then I had things to donate. Since I made a lot of jam and the cost of sugar was going up up up, I started buying 50 lb bags at a restaurant supply store for a fraction of the cost. Bulk items were stored in 5 gallon tubs that I got for free from a bakery.
Now, life is different. On October 29th Hurricane Sandy destroyed our house and everything in it. Starting over, if we are ever able to rebuild, is going to be tough, but there is an upside to it all. When you have less, you don't have the maintenance you once did. Simplicity is now the word of the day.