Spend less, live below your means, save & invest wisely, stay out of debt – life is not only better this way, it’s exponentially better with frugal living. I would go so far as to say that frugality is a superpower. Life is challenging and unexpected events come up all the time but being frugal helps to put you in a much better position to face these challenges.
The Oxford dictionary defines frugality as, “the quality of being economical with money or food; thriftiness.”
Instead of living paycheck to paycheck, those that are frugal should find themselves with extra money in their pockets at the end of each month that can go towards savings and investing.
Frugal Superpowers
The ability to have peace of mind.
More than half of Americans and Canadians are living paycheck to paycheck according to recent studies and I’ve seen numbers as high as 56% of Americans that couldn’t cover a $1,000 unexpected expense. These average folks don’t have peace of mind. It doesn’t matter how much they earn, they are spending all of their money or more every single month.
You can’t have peace of mind if you can’t go without a few paychecks.
You can’t have peace of mind if you are having a hard time paying your bills.
You can’t have peace of mind if you are carrying debt. Your debt is an emergency.
What matters is how much money you keep and if you have savings in place to give you peace of mind. You will have peace of mind if you have been frugal, you have no debt, you live below your means and you have a robust emergency fund in place.
The ability to make work suck a little less.
No one really likes working. Work isn’t very fun. But we have to work because we need money.
Part of why people hate working so much is because they feel stuck. They feel desperate so they can’t say NO to their employer when they are being asked to do something unreasonable. They have no options.
But if you’re frugal you can make work suck a little less because you will have options. You won’t be desperate. You will be able to tell your boss that you won’t do something that goes against your values. You can say NO because you can go without a paycheck if you have lowered your expenses and built savings by flexing your frugal superpowers.
The ability to see past the absurdity of trends.
Frugal people don’t run out to buy the latest Iphone or fill their closets with this season’s hottest clothes. The majority of people spend their money based on trends that are continually changing. The trouble is, if you spend on trends, your quality of life doesn’t improve. They are consumeristic tricks and marketing strategies and your life is no better after you’ve purchased that Coach bag.
Frugality is not about not spending money. It’s about spending your money consciously on things that you value. It’s about having control of your life and this control is exercised by seeing past the giant marketing machine of trends.
The ability to look yourself in the mirror.
Money is a necessary evil and people will do some crazy or unethical things depending on how badly they need money or how greedy they are. People lose their ability to look themselves in the mirror when they’re buried in the consumer lifestyle.
When you’re frugal, you can create a sustainable lifestyle, avoid the pressures of debt and be content with what you have. You can confidently look at yourself in the mirror and like who you see… even if you’re not wearing the latest Jimmy Choos.
The ability to not take crap from people.
We all have to deal with people that we don’t want to, but you mainly have to deal with them for one of two reasons. Either you owe them money, or you need money from them.
So, the less debt that you have and the less expensive your lifestyle, the fewer people that you’ll have to take crap from.
Flex your frugality superpowers. Spend less, live below your means, live frugally, stay out of debt, celebrate often. Life is better this way.
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