Saving Money - Frugal or Stingy Living?

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Category: Personal Finance & Saving

One doesn't have to spend tons of money in order to live well – you can lead a frugal life and live very well

Money is never enough. Or more precisely, more money is always welcome. No matter how carefully you spend your money, you often find yourself waiting impatiently for the next pay check. At some point, the magnificent thought to save dawns on you. Not a bad idea, especially of you know what you can save from and what you must spend money on.

How Do I Start A Frugal Life?

At first the idea to start saving seems like the life belt for your sinking ship. But when you start saving, you discover that it is not as easy you thought it would be. First, you are not frugal because you are still tempted to spend money on things that you can easily live without. Second, you notice that even if you don't waste money, it is still going out of your pocket because you have expenses, for example utilities and food that you just can't skip. So, quite soon you arrive at the conclusion that even saving money must have its tips and tricks.

Yes, it is really so. Saving money and being frugal without being stingy does have its tips and tricks. The most important step in saving money is to find the balance between wasting money and being stingy. You can start your brainstorming with questions like:

  • How much do I make a month and are there any chances of increasing my income (without stealing, of course)?

  • How much do I need in order to cover my monthly expenses like rent, utilities, transportation and food?

  • Are there any costs that can be reduced?

These are some really basic questions but your trip to saving money and frugal life starts from here. Quite naturally, the most important question is how much you make and if there are chances to increase your income. If there are – for instance by finding a second job – than this could be a better solution to your money issues than going on a savings program. But if there are no chances to increase your income, then you need seriously to think about how you can decrease your expenses.

Frugal Life Suggestions

For instance, if your rent is too high, you might consider moving to a cheaper place. Well, the cheaper place will most likely be worse than your present one but if there are only minor inconveniences, like for instance to balcony or the living space is a few square meters less, then moving to the cheaper place is a frugal decision. On the contrary, if you move to a place, where you will be sharing a room with somebody, or which is far from public transportation (and you don't have a car), then you can consider such a decision to be a stingy one.

Utilities also eat a significant portion of your money, though in many cases you can't cut them drastically. For instance, hardly anybody in their right mind considers washing themselves with cold water only because (in many locations) cold water is cheaper than hot water. Or using candles instead of electricity for lighting. These ideas are not only stingy but frankly ridiculous. But if you don't leave the tap open or the light on when you are not there, you can really save some money – this is frugal.

However, utilities are not always the best way to cut expenses because no matter how frugal you are, the monetary results are not very high. Well, you can save a lot if you use fuel-efficient heating systems but such systems do require investments, so if you plan to save money by decreasing your heating costs, you need to plan it in advance and to invest in it.

A lot of money is spent on transportation as well. Here costs can be reduced significantly and you can save on gas but this depends a lot on your daily routine. If you work far from home, biking to your job might not be possible at all. Biking is cheap but you just can't bike 200 miles a day to and from work. Another frugal alternative is going by public transportation. In many cases this is cheaper than going by car but sometimes it is more expensive, so again, it depends on many factors if this is a solution for you or not. Saving $2 a day and wasting 2 hours on the road is stingy.

Food is another candidate for frugal adjustments. If you happen to eat out a lot, you have certainly noticed that this costs a lot. Cutting eating out, if you have not already done it, is one of the easiest ways to save money without getting stingy. Cooking at home is more time-consuming but is also much cheaper. If you have a family, i.e. there are 4 of you, sometimes you can save $60-70 if you have the meal at home instead of eating out. Besides being much cheaper, eating at home is often more delicious, too. So, this is one example when you are saving money by being frugal and not stingy!For more frugal ideas how to save on food, clothes, transportation, utilities, entertainment, read the articles in the links.