Saving as an Art; Frugal Living Ideas to Help You Retain Value

Quality helps to determine value and desire for ownership. Over time, man has created physical and virtual embodiments of value: money. What you truly want is not the piece of green paper you can touch or the figures in your bank account but rather, what you can get with them that appeals to you. The need for money only came about in order to create a generally accepted means by which value can be exchanged.

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This brings us to the point of quality of value. The focus of this article is to serve as an eye- opener, helping you see the kinds of value you should prioritize and ways by which you can retain value, with frugal living being our point of focus.

Bring yourself to reality

There is a world of difference between what you want and what you need. Some things are valuable to us but are of low quality. Not everything you want is needed. Humans are insatiable, and our priorities are infinitely dynamic. You earn $1,000 per month, and your priority is to get your bills settled; spend $200 on your wardrobe, fuel your car, pay your electricity bills, and whatever necessities need to be settled. You live a comfortable life and are satisfied. But as soon as you get a breakthrough and start to earn $3,000 per month, you suddenly start to see how uncool your car is and the need to get a new one. You envy someone wearing a pair of shoes worth $400 and decide to get yours. In the end, you spend to the same extent as you earn and you get broke towards the end of the month waiting for your next paycheck.

We are naturally greedy and unable to be satisfied. The more we get, the more we want to spend. Fashion trends, pressure from friends, etc., all contribute to keeping us trapped in this vicious circle of expenses.

Reversal; The way out

It appears as though man is doomed. Value comes and surely slips out of our hands. Is all hope lost? The answer is no. How come people get richer and have so much to spend? Saving money is the way to ensure you both retain and add to value your possessions. It demands dedication, resolve, and consistency to truly achieve. You want to start saving money by cutting out unnecessary spending. Outlined below are life tips on frugal living to help you channel your resources properly and avoid losing your money.

Save your money before it gets to you

This is probably the best tip of all. The only way you can spend is when you have money in your hands. To avoid this, set up an automatic deduction system, channeled to a savings account that you don’t have access to until an amount has been reached. Sometimes, your discipline won’t just cut it, so it’s better to remove your savings before you even have access to the cash. With automatic deduction systems, you can determine the amount you want to be removed, following a schedule.

Invest

This not only helps you retain value but also increase it. There are literally an infinite number of businesses, both upcoming and well-established, that you can invest in. However, be careful and beware of scams. Make sure to use qualitative research and find out about the business you want to invest in before you put your money down.

Purchase assets; avoid liabilities

As part of your investment strategy, consider that these assets are money-earning possessions. On the reverse, most things you have are liabilities; they depreciate or lose their value with time and even drain money from your hands. For example, your car is a liability as you need to fuel and service it often. Instead, think of accumulating assets; it could be as little as setting up a savings account. If you have excess money, building an apartment and renting it out is a good way to get profitable returns. This way, money keeps coming to you.

Learn to control your expenditure impulses

This is perhaps the hardest of the tips outlined here. You will find reasons why you need to get some particular unnecessary fancy item; after all, you have the money. There are an enormous number of things you can and want to get. However, most of these are not necessary. As soon as you get them, something better comes out. The companies making these products are exploiting this flaw in you to maximize their sales. Learning to control your impulses would separate you from the rest and give you freedom from the vicious cycle most people are bound to.

Controlling expenditure is probably the best way that keep you out of debt or will help you to come out from it. If you lived in a controlled environment, then it became easier not to get any emergency loans to cover extra needs.

Cook your food

Most working-class people neglect the importance of this and prefer to buy fast food. In reality, cooking your food saves you money. Go to the grocery store and buy food items in bulk. The food you cook is cheaper and healthier in the long run. If you are busy during the week, use the weekend to cook and store food in the refrigerator or freezer. This way, you can always put it in the microwave whenever you need. Minimize your buying food outside and only do so in emergencies.

Use your appliances only when they are needed

A lot of people have a bad habit of leaving lights and other appliances on 24 hours a day, every day. Use your lights at night or when it’s getting dark. During the day, enjoy the sun. Remember, you always pay the electric bills. No matter how little you feel it is, value is value. Cutting your electric bills would help you channel more resources properly to where they are required.

My Say

We are humans and easily submit to the basic instinct of insatiability. Everyone wants what they can’t have and when they do, they look for new things they can’t have; the cycle goes on. Saving your money isolates you from this vicious cycle and start you on your way to getting rich, ensuring your future.

These outlined tips give you the means to conserve money. It is not about getting more money, but about taking charge of your spending. You are working with the same thing, but you have to gain better results. In the end, your future is secured and you come to appreciate the true meaning of value.