Frugal has become somewhat of a bad word in our vocabulary.
It carries the negative connotations of being stingy or penny-pinching – the idea that you’re somehow missing out while others are having fun.
But that’s not the definition of frugal, just one that we’ve come to associate with it.
For the purposes of this article, frugal will mean living simply and within your means without excess.
Living frugally may mean telling yourself no once in a while or separating needs from wants, but it definitely doesn’t have to mean you’re missing out.
In fact, by the end of this article I hope you can see how sometimes it’s the exact opposite.
1) Peace of Mind
When you choose to live a frugal lifestyle you can have peace about your finances. Excess spending and debt is what gets us into trouble and causes us stress and headaches.
The first and most obvious reason to choose frugal living is that living within your means is a far less stressful way to live.
If you only have two credit cards to pay off, rather than say five, then you have less to keep track of and less payments you’re likely to miss.
If you decide to cycle to work, then you have less money spent on gas and gym memberships each month – less money you have to keep locked up in an emergency fund in case your car dies.
Choosing a frugal lifestyle is going to help with your financial peace of mind.
2) Easier Identity to Maintain
Building an identity around being a frugal person is an easy identity to maintain. Whether your income goes down or your expenses go up, you can make adjustments and still live within your means.
Living large is a harder identity to maintain. I’m assuming you’ve probably heard about Kayne West recently announcing he’s a cool $53 million in debt, or 50 Cent filing for bankruptcy. Both of these men built identities around being wealthy, ridiculously wealthy in fact, which is great – until you run out of money.
If you build an identity around being rich, then it’s going to be difficult to stop living that way if your circumstances change. On the other hand living a frugal lifestyle is something you’ll always be able to achieve, regardless of your financial situation.
3) The Minimalist Lifestyle is Cool
In times gone by being trendy – having the right clothes and house – was only achievable through wealth. In the early twentieth century, for the most part the ornamented fashions of the day were only affordable for the rich; today we have billionaires walking around in T-shirts. Simplicity is cool now.
True, those same billionaires probably drive a car you and I could only dream of, but the point is in areas like fashion, home, and lifestyle (check out Leo Widrich’s blog), minimalism is trendy and the best thing about it is that you don’t necessarily need lots of money to achieve it. In fact, it will probably involve getting rid of things rather than buying them.
They say less is more, and if you combine minimalist style with frugal living then it’s a combination that’s economical and trendy all at once.
4) It Helps Achieve Long Term Goals
If you’re living within your means then you’re earning more than you spend, which means the leftover money can go straight towards achieving your financial goals.
Rather than spending your money on alcohol or eating out or clothes – immediate pleasures – you can save for long term goals: a postgraduate degree or that vacation you’ve always wanted.
Make achieving your goals fun by outlining rewards along the way. You can still enjoy things like buying clothes or eating out, but incorporate them into a rewards system that helps you stay on track with your goals.
Living a frugal lifestyle doesn’t mean delaying life, but it can mean helping you to set and achieve long term goals that others only talk about.
5) It Forces You to Discover Simple Pleasures
Finally, choosing a frugal lifestyle will force you to be creative.
It’s easy to have fun when you’re spending lots of money. However simple pleasures can be just enjoyable, only it might take a little more creativity on our part. Instead of going to a fancy restaurant, try a hole-in-the-wall place. It might be good or it might be bad, but it’s always adventurous.
Save money on movie tickets and instead go for a walk somewhere. There’s always places in your town or in your county you’ve never been. Learn to enjoy the little things and look forward to the challenge of creating your own fun.
One theme I’ve often heard from people who are successful is that the best times in their lives were when they had to be frugal – when they had to be tight with their budget and live creatively at home and in their business. Once that mystical goal of financial independence is achieved, many find they actually miss the frugal lifestyle.
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Being frugal shouldn’t be a negative lifestyle to us – it probably should be the norm. In a world that’s always wanting us to upgrade, take out a new plan, and open a new account, being frugal isn’t about saying no, it’s about asking “why?” Why do I need that new phone when my old one works fine? Why do I feel like I need to live outside my means when I can be happy just as I am?
Being frugal isn’t a goal you suddenly achieve, it’s a lifestyle you live and enjoy.
What things do you do to live frugally? What are some of the best things about living within your means? What are some of the hardest?
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The best thing about frugality is that it’s allowed us to pay off big medical and student loan debts and meant we got a house when my in-laws were about to become homeless. It definitely hasn’t been easy — things in our house seem to take a sadistic glee in breaking — but it’s been huge for our life and, of course, our future.
I think Netflix saved the millennial generation so much money and helped with the transition to frugality. I used to spend money on going out, restaurants, and movie tickets but “netflix and chill” sounds like a great night to me now!
Regarding the postgrad degree – I am getting a graduate degree now but I really recommend trying to maximize employer reimbursement and going the part-time route versus going for an in-person graduate degree. Unless you’re in STEM, it’s hard to get the ROI on the full-time IMO. I’m sure people have done it successfully, it just seems like alot of money to take out in loans and the opportunity cost of not working during that time is high.
All great reasons, particularly working toward minimalism, something I recently wrote about myself. There really is something to the idea that less is more. Less helps you focus and enjoy more.
A great read! Just as the saying says: “he who will not economize will have to agonize” – so true! And I totally agree about the meaning of the word “Frugal” that has become negative….
Helping achieve long term goals is my main focus. Living beneath my means allows me to save for the future. I’ve also learned to enjoy the simple things in life and they are often better then things that are costly. Spending quality time with family is often free or low cost. It can be tough sometimes when you see other families with nice houses, fancy cars and taking exotic trips.
I’m alllllll about that minimalism lately! Being frugal has also taught me how to do a bunch of random little things like basic car maintenance, mending clothes, etc. I’d rather watch a YouTube video and DIY than pay someone when I can!