We sometimes think that being frugal and sad are synonymous. This could not be further from the truth as you can be frugal and happy at the same time.
In fact, some of the happiest people I have ever encountered live in some of the poorest parts of the world where being frugal is a must.
I have seen people who can only dream of necessities like electricity, shoes, etc but are still happy with their life.
I have also seen people who are actually swimming in money and yet still live miserably.
For some of us, average citizens becoming thrifty in our life can actually help us live a happy fulfilled life.
A life free from competing with others. Free from the stress of being chased by debt collectors.
There is satisfaction from living a life of freedom.
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Is it good to be frugal?
Yes, it is definitely good to be frugal or thrifty in our lives. It is good for us personally and the world around us. You will therefore be killing two birds with one stone by being thrifty.
Becoming frugal can actually enable you to save enough money to finance that dream vacation you have always been dreaming of.
A vacation that will leave a smile on your face and make your family happy and proud of you. Who doesn’t want that? I certainly will be excited about that.
The wastefulness of our times has damaged this world and it is time you helped in saving the world by becoming frugal. All major revolutions have started with one person and before long millions get on board. So seriously consider living a thrifty lifestyle.
Think of all the food waste that contributes massively to greenhouse gas emissions. We are slowly but surely destroying this only home of ours – the earth. Remember we only have one home so let’s take good care of it.
If we all just become a little careful in only using and buying only the food we need we could help this world which is being destroyed while we all look and take no action..
Think of all the cardiovascular diseases that affect the affluent parts of the world. They are all a result of overconsumption of all sorts of foods.
As you can see there are several benefits from becoming frugal. Benefits to you and also to the world and people around you.
It is because of these and other reasons that I believe everyone whether rich or small needs to seriously consider living a frugal life.
Living a life of excess has been bad for us and the world around us. It is time to take action and that action starts with you and me. You may feel small and inconsequential but everything needs a start an you could be the catalyst for something good.
How do people become frugal and happy? – Practical Ways to being frugal
According to vocabulary.com, a frugal person is a person who lives simply and economically.
There a few things that you need to do if you are to be successful in this lifestyle. Below are some of the practical things you can do to become frugal.
1. It starts by accepting that being thrifty is cool
As the saying goes, as a man thinketh so is he.
The brain is the first place to focus on when you are about to change your lifestyle.
You need to convince yourself first that being frugal is good for you.
Until you do this changing your ways will be more difficult than it should be.
There are several reasons why someone might want to live a frugal life. Below are some of them.
- One just wants to live a simple life.
- To get rid of debt.
- You want to reduce greenhouse emissions from food waste.
Change starts when you convince yourself that what you are about to embark on is worth the effort. This is why it is important to jot down all the reasons you want to adopt a frugal lifestyle.
2. Cancel Cable tv subscription
I recently canceled my cable tv subscription as I felt that I was just spending a lot of money on a service I rarely use.
Actually I subscribed to it to watch soccer but the soccer was bundled together with other channels I did not need.
As a result, I could only use this subscription on weekends when the soccer was on.
The fact is that we spend too much money on things that we don’t really need.
I would have been better off purchasing some stocks.
I would, therefore, urge anyone serious about their resources to seriously consider canceling their cable subscription.
If you still want to watch something you can go for the Roku tv and other reasonably priced streaming services.
To be honest there are so many free to air channels around that we really do not need to spend $100 for more channels.
The advantage of canceling cable is that you will have plenty of time with your family or do other things that will bring more income to your family.
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How To Make Money With ClickBank: This post will help you find ways people are making money on Clickbank. Here people earn money by promoting other people’s digital products.
Best Money Making Apps. In this post, you will learn all you need to know about the best money making apps out there.
How To Start A WordPress Blog on Bluehost. Blogging is one of the easiest ways of earning money online if you are willing to put in the hours creating content.
These posts should help you to do something profitable with the extra free time you will have by canceling your cable.
3. Review your mobile phone usage and contracts
If you took your time to review your mobile phone usage and your contract you could find out that you are more money than you need to.
Some of us have data packages that we rarely fully utilize.
As a member of the frugal society, it is not time to call your service provider and ask for a reduction in the data packages.
It may be difficult to achieve this with a current contract but you never know.
If you cannot do it now you can just wait until the end of the contract and move on to another reasonably priced package.
There are some good mobile phone packages that are being offered by some small providers lately.
It is just a question of searching for the best contracts around.
4. Buy second hand
Another suggestion for the frugal is to buy second things if possible.
I recently went to a thrift store and was surprised that I could buy some branded stuff at very reasonable prices.
These were items that I could rarely try to buy brand new even if I was not living a frugal lifestyle.
By buying second-hand things we could not only save money but also get quality stuff.
5. Take advantage of sales, clearance sales
Did you know that the best time to buy Christmas gifts is right after Christmas itself?
This is because this is the time when you can buy these things at a very discounted price.
You are therefore better off buying your holiday gifts for next year’s Christmas soon after this year’s Christmas holiday.
You will find that you will make massive savings for quality gifts.
Another thing that you can do as a frugal person is to take advantage of clearance sales.
This way you will find that you will be able to buy things sometimes at half their original prices.
There are actually websites that track the times in the year when prices of items are likely to be discounted.
6. Go for a free checking account
Nowadays there are banks like Capital One, Chime, Simple.com and Ally Bank that offer free checking accounts.
There is, therefore, no reason why you should be paying fees for having a checking account.
If you are in this situation seriously consider transferring your bank account to a free one.
7. Start preparing monthly budgets
One of the best ways if not the best way of monitoring your expenses is through a budget.
At the end of each month before you start spending any penny sit down with your family and prepare your household budget.
After that make sure that you stick to it throughout the month. A budget will also help you to do your savings.
You can, for instance, use a budget to save for your vacation. To assist you in the preparation of your budget you can use budget apps such as Personal Capital and Tiller.
Without a budget, you will never be able to live frugally and save money.
8. Learn to DIY
We usually spend a lot of money paying people to do things like simple repairs that we can easily do ourselves.
A few years ago I learned how to install satellite dishes by just studying some materials freely available on the internet.
I now save up to $50 for satellite tv installation by just doing it myself. And besides saving money it has now become my hobby too. I enjoy it too.
There are so many DIY youtube videos that can teach us how to do various repairs.
So before you hire a technician search on Youtube to see if you can just do it yourself.
It may take time the first time but once you do it the first time then it will be very easy next time.
A few days ago my computer stopped working and I was about to take it to a technician when I decided to find DIY videos on Youtube.
Even though it took a bit of time I managed to find the problem.
I eventually bought a hard disk and fixed my computer myself.
My computer is now working properly and much better than before for a total cost of $15.
Had I taken it to a technician I would have spent three times this amount.
9. Frugality by bringing your own lunch to work
The average American spends between $5-$20 for lunch every working day.
This adds up to $100-$400 every month and $1200 – $4,800 a year.
And if you think this is peanuts think what a $1000 can do if you invested in stocks.
For example, I just read that if you had invested $1,000 in the Amazon IPO in the 1990s your stocks will be valued at over $1 million now.
So saving $1,000 a year is a big deal.
You, therefore, need to consider preparing your own food and bringing to work as your lunch.
It not only saves money but ensures that you have quality food too as you are the one preparing it yourself.
We have little say in how food in restaurants is prepared as it is all standardized.
Another advantage of preparing your own food is that it can help you to reduce weight if you are overweight.
This is because when you are preparing your own food you can control the nutrients in your own food.
Further preparing your own food can also help in sorting out the problem of food waste.
It has been reported that food waster is one of the culprits for greenhouse gas emissions that are depleting the ozone layer.
When you prepare your own food you can easily just prepare what you need and therefore less food waste.
10. Use coupons and save money
We all get coupons that for some reason we don’t always use.
As a frugal person, you need to start taking advantage of coupons to save money on your expenses.
There is no reason not to take advantage of discounts.
However in doing this be mindful that you don’t end up buying things you don’t need just to take advantage of discounts.
That will be against the spirit of being frugal.
11. Reduce your heating costs spending by replacing your windows
Did you know that you could save thousands of dollars in heating cost spending by just making sure that the seals for your windows are in good condition?
Therefore if your windows need replacement, replace them and you will save a lot over time.
Besides saving money you will live in a house that is warm and a nice place to stay in during weather extremes.
12. Being thrifty by decluttering
As a frugal person, your goal is to only have what you need.
You, therefore, need to look for things that need to be gotten rid of in your house. We all have things that we never or rarely use in our houses.
These need to be gotten rid of.
You can, for instance, make money by selling them at a flea market.
Decluttering will free up valuable space in your house among many other benefits.
Quality of life is not a function of how many toys you have.
Related Post: Things To Do On A Sunday That Are Productive
13. Move to a smaller house
If you are living in a house that has more rooms than you need then maybe it is time to move to a smaller house.
There is no point in spending more money on rentals for space that you don’t need.
Therefore moving to a smaller house not only makes sense but will save you money.
Money that you can use for other important things in your life like saving for a vacation.
As we come to a close I would like to invite you to read some funny and wise quotes on frugality.
14. Best Use of Your Time: Living Happily
Frugal living is not just about money but also concerns your time too. It is about the best use of your time too. Sometimes we forget that time is limited. There are only 24 hours in a day. No more no less.
How do we use that time? I hope we don’t use it for things that do not add value to our lives and that of our families.
It is high time we all started to seriously use our times frugally. Frugal living means having more time with family and those that matter and not waste it on useless things.
Use your time to do things that improve your well being healthy wise such as going to the gym or even better cycling or taking a walk. I enjoy time I walk about with my daughter while admiring nature and the neighborhood.
Maybe you could also consider using your time to learn new things. Learning a new language, new skills, etc.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you get rich by being frugal?
Yes, you can get rich if you invest the savings that you make from your frugality or frugal life. If you are really thrifty chances are high that you will be spending less than you earn leaving you with excess money that you can invest.
And if you reinvested the dividends that you receive over a period of years you will be surprised at the amount that you will own over ten, twenty years. This is because of the principle of compounding where a small amount increases in value over time as growth piles on past growth plus the principal amount.
And if you are really lucky like the people who invested in the Amazon IPO in the 1990s your investment could make you really rich. I am told that if you invested $1000 in the Amazon IPO your investment is now worth a million dollars. This is however an outlier.
It therefore depends on what you mean by being rich. For some people you cannot consider yourself rich until you have assets of at least a million dollars. While for some people even a 100 thousand dollars is something that would get them excited.
All in all being thrifty is the best thing you can do the world and to your family. It will enable you to save money that will fund your children’s education and other needs.
Is it worth being frugal?
In my opinion, it is definitely worth it being frugal unless ofcourse you don’t care about the future or the environment. If you care about the future of your children and your own retirement then you better learn to be frugal so that you can save money in your savings account that you will need when you retire.
With the savings that you make and invest, you will also be able to pay for your children’s education. I that way your children will avoid student debt and start off their independent life with a clean slate.
By being thrifty one is also helping the environment in that most of the greenhouse gases that are destroying the ozone layer are from farming and manufacturing. Did you know that animal farming is a major contributor of greenhouse gases through manure and all the processes involved until it reaches your table?
Reducing the consumption of meat therefore can go a long way in reducing greenhouses.
frugality is therefore worth it as it not only helps you financially but also protects and preserves the environment.
Conclusion
Becoming frugal is cool. It will simplify your life in such a way that will give you peace. It will free you from competing with others and will promote your wellbeing. There is no better way to live on this earth than by being frugal, economical, and thrifty.
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