For some reason, there is a myth out there that living a frugal life means you are living a boring life. Some even believe that if you are frugal then you are a bad parent, a bad person, and a bad friend.
If you don’t believe that, I recommend you read the comments on the next frugal living-related article on a major website such as Forbes, YahooFinance, or something similar. One thing that will be in common with most of the comments is the negativeness from many of the commenters.
I’ve even overheard conversations myself where people think I’m missing out on life because they assume that all frugal people just sit at home all day and do nothing with their lives.
That is FAR from the truth. I know many who are taking part in frugal living and I think they are some of the best 🙂
Sadly, many aren’t interested in frugal living because they believe the myth above.
There are many reasons to live a frugal life, though. Continue reading below to see the reasons for why many choose to take part in frugal living.
1. You want to be comfortable in your financial situation.
Seeking financial freedom is something that many are aiming for by living frugally. Being frugal may give you a better chance at reaching this since you are most likely honest with yourself about how much money you earn, how much you spend, and how much you need in order to survive.
Knowing that you are in control of your financial situation is a great benefit of living a frugal life!
Not being comfortable may even lead to debt, which I discuss in the next reason…
2. You want to avoid debt.
No one actually wants debt, right? By choosing to live the frugal life, you may be able to avoid debt much more than the average person.
By avoiding debt, you will have less stress due to the fact that you won’t be worried about the next bill you have to pay and the amount of interest that is building up.
You will also be more likely to retire earlier, buy the things that you actually do want to buy, and more.
Related article: How To Live On One Income
3. You want a simpler life.
Bigger isn’t always better. More isn’t always better either.
By living a frugal life, you are most likely making do with what you have, buying and using quality items that will last, and so on.
By having less stuff and less clutter in your life, you will live a more simple life that you can truly enjoy. Material items do not always equal happiness. Sometimes they just add stress, debt, and more. Think about it – the more stuff you have, the more likely that something will break, something will get lost or tossed to the side, and so on.
4. You know that you can still have fun while being frugal.
Anyone who thinks you can’t have fun while being frugal is crazy. You don’t need to spend a ton of money or be rich in order to enjoy life.
Yes, you can still go on vacations, buy your dream home, have a family, spend time with friends and family, and more. Being frugal doesn’t mean that you are giving up fun things in life.
Side note: I recommend looking into Digit if you want to trick yourself into saving more money. Digit is a FREE service that looks at your spending and transfers money to a savings account for you. Digit makes everything easy so that you can start saving money with very little effort. Read Digit Review – A New Way To Save Money.
5. You want to appreciate everything and anything around you.
When we were spending more due to lifestyle inflation, we realized we weren’t really appreciating the things we were spending our money on.
We were buying things, not enjoying them, and just being a little lazy because we weren’t in the right mindset. I didn’t like feeling this way because I felt wasteful and even guilty of the way I was behaving.
Life is great and you don’t need to be rich in order to enjoy it. By living a frugal life, you are more likely to appreciate what you have.
Would you rather enjoy each meal you eat, each item you buy, and more? Life is a great thing and appreciating the little things can be a great feeling.
Are you interested in frugal living? Why or why not? Why do you believe some are so negative about frugality?
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Yes, exactly!
Yes, same here!
Great job Rebecca!
You make excellent points Michelle! Lliving a frugal life is simply a trade-off. We trade “stuff” for peace-of-mind. We trade financing for patience, and put what we would have paid in interest, right into our bank account! We trade eating out for cooking at home and eating healthy food. We have everything we want and need in life, and I would venture to say, someone on the outside looking in, wouldn’t think of us as frugal. The main reason for our frugal lifestyle is as Christians, we believe we are honoring God by carefully managing the resources He has given us.
Thanks Jen!
Great job!
Great job!
Frugal living gets a lot of bad play. I think if we changed the word ‘frugal’ to ‘independent’ we would have a lot more people interested in it.
I think people who choose frugal live well because they do so ‘mindfully’. There is an easy to understand difference between ‘frugal’ and ‘cheap’ and the people that understand the former and shy away from the latter end up having better lives.
I became a frugal traveler years ago and because of it I have seen the world, Iceland, Croatia, Tokyo, etc all because I focused on my experience of being in those places instead of how much I could spend while I was there.
Yes, changing the word would be interesting 🙂
Nelson, I 100% agree with you here. I’m progressively getting rid of stuff, and one of the blessings in my life is that I never lived in a big place (since I moved out from my parents’ house). As a result, we have been constrained to small places all the time, reducing the amount of stuff we could buy. In my “spending” years, I hated it, but now I am glad this was enforced on me, as it increased my frugality. I wouldn’t change it if I could.
Great to hear 🙂
I try to live my life to the frugal-est. I don’t think that spending money can make a person happy. In fact, it can be quite stressful if you overspend. My husband and I try to live frugally and enjoy what we have in order to make the most of my life. I think frugality will always be a big part of my life, no matter what my salary is. Maybe people talk so negatively about it because they don’t want to think there is anything wrong with their lifestyle. Since frugal people do things differently than them, they just assume it’s bad. Which is crazy!
Yes, crazy!
All of those make perfect sense. A lot of people think that frugal living means having a boring life and not allowing yourself to have any fun or buy anything new.
Thanks!
Being frugal is something that I work towards. No day is perfect for me considering I am living with a spender who does not see things the same way I do. It’s hard finding a new perfect balance especially with a fluctuating income every month. But the best part is that being in my 20’s allows me lots of time to play around with what works for me.
Yes, for some it’s something that constantly has to be worked on. It’s worth it though!
I started being frugal a few years ago when I realized that I needed a change. Some people understand what I’m doing, but a lot of folks don’t. They are too busy keeping up with the Joneses. Being frugal has helped my debt get lower and has allowed me to raise my credit score by 168 points in 8 months.
Good job!
Thanks for bringing this up! I have experienced some of the negative attitudes firsthand toward being frugal, and it’s a really hard line to draw sometimes, especially with family. Some of our family have more money and are used to spending more because they have always had a stable large income (though they did work hard to get it), or because they equate spending with living the good life and don’t view debt as something to be paid off immediately. Our income is really limited right now, though, and we have a lot of debt to pay off and would like to before our kids get older and need more money (for things like orthodontia, sports, college, etc.)
I guess it depends on what frugal means. I don’t think it always means avoiding spending money. Sometimes you have to spend money to do certain things that are needs/are important. For us, being frugal allows us to do the most with our limited budget, and hopefully as time progresses and our alternative income streams grow, it will allow us to save money by cutting unnecessary spending and direct it towards things that matter to us, or to help out others, support our kids/our dreams, etc. Right now being frugal is also helping us to get out of debt.
Yes, I am interested in frugal living! 🙂
I think there are negative stereotypes in the media that frugal people are hoarding money and not living the life, they want. For us when we reach our early retirement, our focus is on experiences rather than on things.
I have a post about experiences vs. things going live this week 🙂 Perfect timing.
I agree!