I hope I do not get lynched for the title that I am using. For heavens sake do not show it to your mother, or if you are young enough, to your grandmother.

These days it is customary (and profitable) to run a website in the US teaching people to be frugal. For the Indians born in the 1960s, right up till the 1980…it came easy I guess. So what are such amazing tips to save money:

1. Bottle your own water: When the elders in the house carry water..it is customary to tell them….”Do not carry water, we can buy it. It is more convenient”. True but apart from saving money, it is far healthier for you to CARRY WATER. There is absolutely no guarantee about the quality of water that is available in the so called packaged bottles. I used to do a lot of work for Bisleri long ago..and in the research that they did they came to a conclusion that it was better to drink local water instead of so called bottled water in most places of India. Sad, but true.

2. Carry your own food: Instead of buying food, carry home made food. This is actually much more healthy than eating out. This also looks so ‘uncool’ and old fashioned. After all your grandmom did it. Your mom did it when she was young. Now she has also forgotten that…well, start again.

3. When travelling by car (even just 2 hour rides) carry food and water. It still saves time and money doing this. Of course assuming that home food is cooked food and not just some ‘Kurkure’ and Coke. EEks. People call this food? yuck.

4. Use cloth napkins instead of paper napkins – it works out cheaper in the long run, except if you are traveling long distances.

5. Walk and cycle instead of using a car or motorcycle.