EMBRACING THE FRUGAL LIFESTYLE

EMBRACING A FRUGAL LIFESTYLE

Sometimes there can be negativity towards living a frugal lifestyle. Some people feel like if you are not super carefree with where your money goes you are restricting yourself too much. Often people think that being frugal means that you are cheap or stingy with your money. Others will think that you are struggling financially and are being frugal out of necessity. When you speak to people about living a frugal lifestyle you often get this funny look like they cannot relate in any way! So, at times it can be difficult to embrace living a frugal lifestyle. Today I want to talk about some of the great benefits we can get out of living a frugal lifestyle so that we can really embrace it.

GETTING THE MOST VALUE FROM YOUR MONEY

When you embrace frugal living, you become very intentional with your money. You make sure that it is put to good use.  Saving money where you can is not done because you are a scrooge.  It is done so that you can have more for what you really love.  Who wouldn’t want that? You are definitely not cheap!  Actually, a frugal lifestyle often prompts us to buy more expensive quality items that we really value and that do not need to be replaced frequently. Having a frugal mindset is being smart with your money! You make good choices so that you can afford the things you really want.

BEING FRUGAL IS NOT ABOUT RESTRICTION

You can achieve so many things that you want out of life by embracing a frugal lifestyle. Would you like to travel more, work a little less, retire earlier, volunteer more often? Whatever is important to you can come much more easily when you are really careful about what happens with your money. You are not restricting yourself.  You are choosing to prioritize where the money you have available to you gets used. This helps you prioritize and achieve what you really want most. How is it restricting to put money towards what you really want and not towards what is not really important to you?

WE CAN ACHIEVE FINANCIAL GOALS MORE EASILY

By being mindful of how we spend our money, it is often easier for us to achieve our financial goals. Often people struggle to meet their financial goals because they make spending choices that conflict with their goals. We are much more likely to make progress on financial goals when we live a frugal lifestyle. Really considering where our dollars are going makes a huge difference in being able to achieve whatever goals we have set. We also are able to set more realistic financial goals because we really know what we have available to us. It’s difficult to set and achieve financial goals when you don’t have a good handle on what is coming in and going out. Practicing frugality allows you to see what goals you can realistically set and achieve.

WE STRESS LESS OVER MONEY

  Of course, we all have stressful money situations that come up. I recently had to take a pretty big portion of my emergency fund savings to pay for some significant medical bills.  We now have to work hard to replace that money, which is definitely stressful. It’s also stressful thinking about the fact that another emergency could arise before we have the fund replenished. However, living a frugal lifestyle vastly reduces the daily stresses that can come from not having control over your money.

Have you ever felt anxious about making a purchase of a non-essential item because you really don’t know where the money is coming from? I don’t mean that you are out of funds, or your bank account will overdraw. It’s kind of the unknown of how much these little purchases you have made throughout the month will impact what you will have left to pay bills or save money. When you start making purchases intentionally and have decided before making a purchase that this is how you want to spend your money, you will find that anxiety about purchases will no longer be there. When you are clear on what your income and expenses are and have goals in place, you will feel much less stressed about money.

WE NATURALLY HAVE LESS CLUTTER

Because you are mindful of your spending you are much less likely to just purchase things on a whim. Not that this will never happen, because I think we all get caught up in impulse spending on occasion. But, for the most part, we really focus on having things that we really value. This helps us eliminate the things that we have that don’t really want or need. As we do get rid of things that we don’t value they often do not get replaced by other things.

THINGS THAT WILL BE DIFFERENT AS YOU  EMBRACE A FRUGAL LIFESTYLE

You probably won’t be tempted by sales to go out shopping or buy something that you had no intention of purchasing. Just because something is a good deal, you don’t need to buy it! You will realize that your phone does not need to be upgraded so often. If the old phone works fine and you are happy with it, you will keep using it! Even if you can afford the payment! You won’t feel the need to replace your car because it’s over 10 years old. If it still runs great, you will be happy about the good choice you made in buying it! You will get much more appreciation out of the things you do have and do spend money on. If you have planned for something and saved up for it, you will really enjoy it and have no guilt about it.

FRUGALITY IMPACTS YOUR WHOLE LIFE NOT JUST YOUR FINANCES

Frugality really has an impact on so much more than just your money. When you really think about what you value most it improves your entire life. I really focus on planning how I spend my time, just as much as how I spend my money. I am content and really take the time to appreciate the things I have. Simple things can be appreciated much more when you are not always looking to upgrade and find the next big thing. Managing your money can actually be really fun. When you see the things that you can do and how simple your life can be embracing a frugal lifestyle is really easy!

Thanks so much for checking in! If you would like to hear the podcast version of this topic to check out Lola’s Frugal Life Podcast! Also, be sure to check out my other blog posts on this site!

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