You may not think living frugal is the most glamorous lifestyle and in a sense you would be right. The words frugal living may bring to mind positive but tedious words like responsibility and discipline. Frugality may also make you think of those crazy coupon people or people who go dumpster-diving. Let me put your mind at ease.
Frugality doesn’t have to be that extreme. There are plenty of approaches to a frugal lifestyle but the only necessity is that you pay attention to your spending and cut out useless expenditure. Doing that can be extremely valuable.
1. Security
Anyone who’s ever been behind on bills, or just generally strapped for cash, knows that awful sinking feeling that comes with it. Guess what, financial security is like the mantra for frugal living. When you live within your means and maintain a balanced budget you are living a viable lifestyle. It takes some of the worry out of life to plan your finances. If you have an effective budget you will also have a relatively secure future.
Even though it is impossible to know what the future holds, the proper amount of savings can help you prepare for emergencies. The good news is that it is never too late to start living frugal. Even if you are deep in debt and you are using the services of a debt management group like Consolidated Credit, frugal living can only help any efforts you are already taking to become debt free.
2. Less Paperwork
Who wants to spend a whole afternoon paying bills and doing paperwork? Not me. With frugal living you can cut down on the amount paperwork you create for yourself by owing less money. The less money you owe the less bills you will receive and the fewer bills you receive the less time you are stuck paper pushing.
3. It Saves the Planet
There are an abundance of ways you can simultaneous live frugally and green. Frugality and going green have a lot in common. They are both about eliminating waste. Here are some practices that benefit your pocket and the earth.
- Buy used products when you can.
- Walk or bike when you can in order to save gas.
- Try to fix things when they break instead of replacing them.
- Cut down on water and power use.
There are plenty more opportunities for you to save money and the earth on top of these. Try a few and see what you can save.
4. Be More Content
A strange phenomenon occurs when we constantly try to get to the next step in life or next new product. When we live for tomorrow and the things we want instead of for today and the things we have we often disappoint ourselves. This phenomenon actually has a name. It’s called the Hedonistic Paradox and the idea behind it is that you will either get what you want and get bored with it or you will not and become frustrated. For instance, have you ever really wanted some new product like a smart phone and when you got it you became bored with it in a month? Conversely, have you ever really wanted something like a smart phone and became frustrated or disappointed when you couldn’t get it? Either way you are left discontented. Living frugally can teach you to be content with the things you have and break the cycle of the paradox of hedonism.
5. You Grow to Appreciate Social Experiences
When you stop spending so much time and money with things you buy you have more time and money to spend with friends and family. In my experience, you will probably start you appreciate people and being social more than you ever appreciated stuff. I know I sound like your grandmother here but give it a try and prove me wrong.
There are so many ways frugal living can be really beneficial. Try a few of these and see how much it helps you.