Living A Frugal Life

Living a frugal life is not the same as being cheap or stingy. A frugal lifestyle is achieved by determining what is really important in life and then taking specific steps to make it happen.

Appreciating the gifts we have been freely given in our relationships and in our world can be the antidote to our attempts to make ourselves feel good or be happy by spending money.

Frugality doesn’t come naturally for most of us. However, many of us have had to face the fact that debt, and desire for even more stuff, has created deep dissatisfaction instead of the life we had imagined. It is then we become willing to learn to live frugally so we can have time and money for what really matters.

One of the best ways to learn to live frugally is to hear what others are doing---and share your wisdom as well. A wonderful place to create a community with a common interest is on a forum. Our Frugal Living Forum is a place for your to share what you have discovered about frugal living and gain from the knowledge of others.

Frugality is not a decision about one aspect of life, like deciding to eat out less frequently. Living a frugal life, as a lifestyle, is about setting goals and making wise choices about everything. It begins with deciding to block and filter the messages that tell us we are what we possess.

Making the choices needed to live a frugal lifestyle need not be done all at once. Like any major change of habit, it is best done in “frugal phases.”

Even in these very difficult times we can learn how to achieve financial independence through better life choices.

Thinking about what is truly satisfying and what we really value can be the best inspiration for learning to be frugal. Here are a couple of examples:

• You may decide that one of your highest values is family or the companionship of friends. That can lead to the realization that you don’t have the time you would like to have to spend with those you love because you are working two jobs to support your expenditures. Now you are at a point to make a decision for frugality.

  Different choices might allow you to take the vacation with the family you have put off for years. You will learn to let go of the high-ticket lifestyle and, instead, enjoy activities and adventures with your friends. Your friends may be impressed and want to know about living a frugal lifestyle as well!




• Another value for many of us is better health. We know that eating fast food every day is making us fat and that our long hours on the job hinder our goal of getting more exercise. Our society’s message is that, to fix the problem, we need to spend even more money.

  A frugal solution to both is a better choice. We can become experts at frugal shopping for healthy food. There are hundreds of websites offering recipes for frugal, yet easy, meal preparation. Making some changes will save money, give us more family time and lead to the healthier body we want.

A frugal lifestyle is one that is:

• Creative: A creatively frugal person enjoys "the game." Part of the fun is to see how little you can spend to get the things you need. (We know that wants and needs are not the same--right?) It is creatively replacing "usual" expenditures with low-cost alternatives or using something we already have to meet a need.
• Careful: To be careful is to avoid putting ourselves or our families at risk by wasting what we have. Frugal living includes carefully monitoring and managing our resources. It is about keeping a careful accounting of expenses and exploring where they can be reduced. It includes careful--care filled--conversation between family members. Careful spending in some areas can free up funds for things that matter more.
• Simple: Enjoy the simplicity of frugal living. It is a way of living that is simply more responsible. It is affirming that the most precious things in life are those intangibles that can't be bought or sold. Life is too short not to enjoy the important things.
• Liberating: Possessions weigh us down. Debt is crushing. We cannot spend our way to freedom. The only real freedom is a freedom of simplicity that allows us to enjoy the real, and simple, joys of life. Living a frugal lifestyle is not a burden; it is a benefit.

"By sowing frugality we reap liberty, a golden harvest." ~ Agesilaus

"Less is more." ~ Mies van der Rohe

"With greater emphasis on working to live, not living to work, we are creating awareness for simpler solutions, a more creative existence with healthier, happier longevity, for those brave enough to accept the challenge." ~ Tracey Smith