Smart Money Management Through Frugal Living
The mere mention of the word frugality sometimes automatically connotes some form of sacrifice or deprivation. In truth, frugal living is about making smarter choices in relation to the management of goods that are consumable such as food, money , and time, However, money management remains to be the primary concern when aiming to achieve a frugal lifestyle.
What is Frugality?
Frugality is often interchangeably used with thriftiness and economical use of commodities. A frugal person is known to avoid waste and extravagance in daily living. There is purposeful intent to stay away from lavish expenses that are considered unnecessary.
A person who exercises restraint in buying goods and services is said to be practicing frugality in the sense that he or she only purchases what is actually needed. The only time that frugal people will willingly give in to buying in excess is if such decision will result to a cost-effective result at the end. A good example of this is stockpiling on products that are regularly used and currently being offered on a low price. Assured usage avoids wastage which is often a result of buying items on sale that are not actually needed.
How to Practice Frugal Living
Frugal living in order to be effective is adopted as a lifestyle in itself. It is not about being unreasonably stingy on one and then being extravagantly lavish on another. It is essentially about maintaining consistency so that the practice becomes the chosen lifestyle and not a heavy burden to carry everyday.
Stretching our money’s value to its maximum capacity is the goal to be attained. This simply means finding opportunities to enjoy what is desired without breaking the bank, so to speak. Most of the time, finding these opportunities is a true test of resourcefulness and creativity.
Where can our money buy more? There are thrift shops, yard sales, and clearance sales as well as barter boards that can be looked into for possible purchases. The use of coupons and rebate offerings will not make us any less of a person, just a person with less financial worries to contend with. It is about living a better life at a lesser monetary cost.
The Rewards of Frugal Living
When people are able to successfully live a frugal but contented life, they are able to provide more for the attainment of their bigger goals such as being able to travel extensively or having a sizable bank account to be able to live comfortably for the rest of their lives. Being free from debt or having the ability to pay off necessary debts is one of the most desirable effects of leading a frugal lifestyle. The more a person is able to exercise restraint in unnecessary spending, the more he or she is able to provide for the highly desired things in life.
My Say
Nobody gets to attain what he or she wants without working for it. Even heirs to enormous wealth will have to do something productive sooner or later to avoid losing everything that has been painstakingly worked for by those who came before them. In essence, frugal living is determining what a person wants to achieve in life and finding the means to make them happen. When we are able to manage our money and other resources wisely by “postponing” self-gratification until the opportune time, we stand to enjoy the fruits of our hard work and temperance more.
Mommy Pehpot
as much as I want to be frugal, it’s hard not to give in to my kids’ request 🙁
Teresa Martinez
That is true. What we can deprive ourselves, we find almost impossible to apply to them.
Ron Leyba
Love this info about Frugality. I think I must start having a frugal living.
teresay
Every person should consider practicing it especially during times where income is flowing regularly so there will be something set aside for the not-so-good times.
Rizza
Hmmm… always saving a portion from a day’s earning is good. then, do the finances for the rest of the moolah!
teresay
Its good to have a portion of our earnings set aside for everything.
The Chef
thanks for this tips.. it is really hard to sustain living with frugality.. I cannot resist to buy something especially food hahaha.. thanks again.. but I am still forcing myself everyday to be frugal..
teresay
Food is something we need everyday to sustain us physically. As long as it does not border on gluttony or result to wastage, then there is nothing wrong with that, I suppose. Let us just remember to avoid the extremes.
dimaks | The Urban Walker
Frugality will be best kept when coupled with the concept of sustainability in mind.
teresay
That is true. We are most able to practice the principles of frugality when we support them with the concepts of sustainability.
Janine
wow!! bull’s eye for me. truthfully, i find it difficult to restrain myself from buying unnecessary things. well as for foods, its hard for me to resist as it is a F-O-O-D. i crave a lot when I see yummy foods. hard to control.. but as much as possible I am trying to have discipline. O_O
teresay
My parent always say that its alright to spend money on food especially those that will not make me sick. They have another thing to say however for what they consider “luxury” items such as clothes, shoes, and tech gadgets.
Gigi Beleno
This is something I’ve been practicing for a long time, I am a typical frugal. They call me “kuripot” actually. But no, I just wanted that my hard-earned money will always be equated with something useful.
teresay
Good for you! I’m sure you’ll reap the benefits of frugal living much earlier.
Les-Joey
Guilty of not living a frugal life. 🙁 Lately, hubby and I learned to become more frugal because we live on a paycheck-to-paycheck right now. Hopefully when our income becomes better, we can apply what we have learned and be able to save money.
teresay
Same thing here, don’t seem to have much left after paying all the bills and expenses. That is why financial advisers will always recommend putting aside an amount for savings first before any other.
Pal Raine
Love this frugality thing. I am guilty, so guilty. Thanks for sharing.
teresay
Most of us are guilty in a way since it is not always easy to apply this on actual practice.
Orly Ballesteros
Frugality is a trait i want to develop. I have some ways to be consistent in order to really call myself frugal
teresay
We all wish we could practice frugality in the truest sense of the word.
Tess
well, all the while I am practicing frugal living and I am so proud of it. thanks for this post, i have been seeing the world ” frugal life “and this is the first post that I really read all about what frugal means.
teresay
Everything is a lot clearer when we understand the meaning of something. We have so many pre-conceived ideas of everything around us that we sometimes forget to exert effort in knowing more.
mavicdesigns
Then I am guilty..lol…though I don’t see frugality a sin. Or I may say economically wiser.. It helps in time of rainy days…Nice article and maybe it’s about time to let everyone know it’s true meaning and how impt it is to our lives… 😀
teresay
Frugality is probably more of a virtue especially in the highly-materialistic world we live in today.