With the cost of living rising, the topic of 節約 (setsuyaku, saving money) has made its way into more and more of my daily conversations.

Gone are the days when I could put a bag of carrots into my shopping trolley without looking at the 値段 (nedan, price). These days, that carefree attitude has been replaced by an insatiable thirst to hunt down 割引価格 (waribiki kakaku, discounted prices) and お得な (o-tokuna, good-value) deals.

The Japanese media depends heavily on advertising and often it seems like you’re bombarded with 広告 (kōkoku, advertisements) whenever you’re in a major city. It’s therefore no surprise that the skill of getting the most for your yen, or コストパフォーマンス (kosuto pafōmansu, cost performance) — also known by its shortened form, コスパ (kosupa) — is highly prized. Praise for such bargain hunters can go both ways, though, as you might be considered a 節約家 (setsuyakuka, thrifty person/economist) or a ケチな人 (kecchina hito, cheapskate). Just as in English, there’s a positive or negative connotation to each.

To feel more like 節約家 instead of a ケチな人, there are a lot of places where you can scrimp and save without going overboard. 上手に節約すると心が貧しくならない (Jōzu ni setsuyaku suru to kokoro ga mazushikunaranai, If you save money skillfully, you won’t feel poor at heart).

In fact, a few things that allow you to save money and resources are encompassed by the first kanji of 節約. 節 in its Chinese reading is pronounced “setsu,” and can be combined for use in words like 節電 (setsuden, saving electricity), 節水 (sessui, saving water) and 節制 (sessei, moderation).

節電をして電気代を節約できますので、つけなくていい場所には電気をつけません (Setsuden o shite denki-dai o setsuyaku dekimasu node, tsukenakute ii basho niwa denki o tsukemasen, If I save electricity I also save on electric bills, so I don’t switch on the light in places that don’t need it).

Another way to get into that 節約 mindset could be by creating new habits with small goals. 小さな目標を立てると諦めにくくなります (Chīsana mokuhyō o tateru to akiramenikuku narimasu, By creating small goals you’re less likely to give up).

A good place to start is with your grocery shopping. Why not look up some 節約レシピ (setsuyaku reshipi, money-saving recipes) to get some inspiration and see if there are any お金を削るところ (o-kane o kezuru tokoro, places to cut down costs)? Once you get to the supermarket, you might also find that it’s cheaper to まとめて買って冷凍する (matomete katte reitō suru, buy in bulk and then freeze). Otherwise, you can try looking in the 地物コーナー (jimono kōnā, local produce section) or, more obviously, the 割引コーナー (waribiki kōnā, discount section).

Something most 節約家 in Japan know about is that the supermarkets get a lot cheaper in the evening, as they want to avoid wasting food that is about to hit its expiration date. In the fresh produce and ready meal sections in particular, you’re likely to see 割引 (waribiki, discount) plastered everywhere. It’s also not uncommon to see 割 (wari) preceded by a number in big letters. In Japanese, 割 is used to denote 10% increments. For example, 8割 (hachi wari) means 80%, and 2割 (ni wari) means 20%. In the context of a supermarket, you might see it on a sticker as: 表示価格より３割引 (hyōji kakaku yori san waribiki), but the font for the 3割 will likely be larger than the rest of the sentence in order to grab your attention — 30% off the listed price.

If one of the reasons you’re hunting for all those 割引 is to save up for something, you can express that in Japanese with 貯める (tameru, to save up money [for something]). Pair it with ために (tame ni, in order to), and you can quickly start a conversation about your dream trip, or fish for tips on how to achieve that goal: 旅行するためにお金を貯めています。節約術を知っていますか？ (Ryokō suru tame ni o-kane o tamete-imasu. Setsuyakujutsu o shitte-imasu ka? I’m saving up in order to take a vacation. Do you know any money saving tricks?)

Of course, when you’re saving money and making compromises, you might have to rethink your 優先 (yūsen, priorities). For example, if you’re still pinching pennies to forge a path to your dream destination, you might choose to compromise on speed for a better price: 安さを優先して夜行バスで行きました (Yasusa o yūsen shite yakō basu de ikimashita, I prioritized a cheap price so I went by night bus).

There is also a direct translation of “compromise,” which is 妥協 (dakyō). But it has a more negative connotation, and is most often used to describe something to avoid: 節約ご飯でも美味しさに妥協はしない (Setsuyaku gohan demo oishisa ni dakyō wa shinai, Even with money-saving recipes I won’t compromise on good taste).

By taking on some of these new frugal phrases and using them more liberally than you might be using your cash, hopefully you’ll make the jump from 節約家 to 旅行者 (ryokōsha, tourist) in no time.