After so many years, whenever the word frugal comes, people give some bad expressions like it is illegal. I even heard people assume that being frugal means living on beans and water, and they spend even after giving 1000 thoughts to their needs. This is something boring about a person. If they are frugal, they might not know how to have fun, etc., but ground things are different because it is not true that frugal people can not have fun or live on air.
How to be extremely frugal?
People can be extremely frugal if they first analyze their expenses deeply, including spending habits, bad living habits (smoking, alcohol, drinks, etc. ), and unnecessary spending costs. Everybody can be frugal and still have fun because petty pleasures should be preserved. Walkingg, reading,, and activities are free of charge and can fill a large part of the day. However, a large family frugality is possible if you have children, but only up to certain limits.
Research is the first step to realizing opportunities to save and reduce costs.
I do Pareto analysis.
Pareto analysis
In the first step, you need to write all the Excel costs, and then I sort them and calculate the average cost. Then, mar all costs of above-average cost with one color and all costs oflow-avebelow-averagest with some other color. In the first step, see if you can reduce costs to above-average value! Higher value costs need to be reduced first. Usually, 80% of the effects (80% of all costs) come from 20% of the causes. For example, if you have 100 items on the list, 20 items will be above average, and those items will be worth 80% of all expenses.
Being frugal defines two things: you have to spend and where you have to spend, which is the real thing of being frugal. People on a budget can feel the difference between frugality and being boring and cheap.
Now, here comes another difference between savings and earning: Many people argue that earning more is the right and better option than saving or becoming frugal, etc.
Let me share a story with you. My colleague did her MBBS last year, and soon after her degree, she got a job in a renowned hospital; after some months, she started to have increments as she gained experience.
One day, we met in a boutique, and she asked me to refer her to other people for regular checkups, etc., because she intended to buy a new car. Since I was aware of her job and her salary increments, I was shocked to hear this from her. However, I asked her why she didn’t save money for two to three months rather than work overtime, as she was already working enough and earning more than enough for one person.
It is okay to work overtime and earn more to maintain your wants and needs according to your wishes. But this will not help you stay on track; you will eventually earn money you are not saving! Then you will spend more, too. If you save a small amount every time you shop or want to shop, that will become a significant number after a year.
Rather than doing overtime and spoiling your health and peace, it is a far, far better option to save. I do not think if people earn more, they can not save even a little. Yeah! People like me, the strugglers, can be on the list of frugal. By the way, I love myself for being frugal; this accounts for me in a decent life and bounds me to stay mature and straightforward.
Sometimes, I think of the old times when I spent like crazy and felt embarrassed to save, especially with my friends, and that makes me feel proud that I have overcome those spending habits of mine.
Of course, you can abandon the frugal habit after thinking you are shrinking yourself to a small budget, but giving it a try is not something to lose.
So here are some of the ways to become frugal.
- The first is to accept frugality.
- Figure out your car expenses before thinking about buying it.
- Stop making excuses
- Yodon’t’t deserve materialistic things anymore.
- Always be happy with what you have.
- Finally, stop spending on doubles.
- The less you spend, the more you save the formula.
- Downsize your expenses and living style.
- Stop spending money on smoking or entertainment.
- Stop wasting your money to impress others.
- Do not consider your wants as your needs.
1- First is to accept the frugality
the first step is to accept frugality, although people will object to your goals and suggest their actions. Frugality is different for every person. How you see it matters; if you want to become frugal, you need to understand that being confident about it will give you other suitable ways in your life.
What can they be? Being frugal can save you a lot of money, which you can use for special occasions like giving your family a full week of vacation in some country.
Being frugal will shape your habits and help you to lead a simple life.
2- Figure out your car expenses before thinking about buying it.
If you have a car, you can quickly figure out how much money you can save if you do not use the vehicle—the maintenance fee, the fuel cost, tax registration, etc. Before buying the car, think about all these things and then decide whether your budget allows you to have a vehicle or it is better to travel by public transport, which is way more frugal and saves you money with the safety that you can reach home without thinking about taking dark roads because of your car safety.
People on the internet always talk about buying a new car on lease or taking loans from banks and paying them in installments to buy a new and updated car. Some of them consider it a one-time investment but do not count the average budget of their whole year going to fuel and taxes. So, how could this be a one-time investment??
Although having a car is safe in an emergency, using it to save money is another thing. You can definitely have a car, but after a few months, you can put it on Turo or Uber. Your vehicle will be safe and make money, so you do not need to worry about paying taxes and registration.
3-Stop making excuses
Frugality is a concept you need to work on consistently. If you make excuses today to save money the next day, this thing will take you nowhere. Taking responsibility and loving what you do consistently is what frugality demands.
If you have to save money today, it will be saved today. No excuses will work on this. To become more frugal, commit to specific habits and realize what is essential.
Today, breaking it tomorrow is not how frugality works for your budget. Frugality and all other goals of your life need consistency. Be confident about your decision once you make it.
4- You don’t deserve materialistic things anymore.
We get involved with worldly things, and our values and feelings start fading gradually. You own a car but do not feel happy without your family sitting in it. You own a house, but this house will remain empty if your family and loved ones are not in it. Having all the facilities and luxuries in life does not guarantee your happiness. If you are sad, your car will not come to give you a shoulder. Try to prioritize your things; in every matter of life, I believe your relations always come first. Though we have needs and wants, the facilities serve us, but having them or not having them will not be that difficult for you.. not having anyone to talk to or celebrate your life with is the worst feeling ever.
Being super-rich makes you realize that money cannot fill you with soul and happiness, but somehow, somewhere, we fail to explain to each other that money is not everything.
For those who want to become frugal and do not need to think again to spend a healthy, decent, and even simplified life, frugality is the right option.
5- Always be happy with what you have
If you think that being frugal means compromising your happiness, then you are totally wrong. An exceptional formula will make you realize that you do not need money to be happy and that being frugal does not make you unhappy.
That formula is to appreciate whatever you have. Just think how many people have nothing to eat and nowhere to sleep. Compared to them, you are a thousand times better and blessed. You have meals to eat, a bed to sleep in, clothes to wear, a home to live in, a healthy body, and a family to love.
You have no excuse not to appreciate what you have. Realize that what you have may not be what others have, so love and appreciate them.
Surely, with this formula, you can be at ease that you do not need to do anything special to treat yourself and be happy. Being frugal can not guarantee happiness or happiness; happiness does not link with any of these.
6-The less you spend, the more you save the formula.
Your concept of needs should not be of wants. Now, if you want a Louis Vuitton suit worth 10,000 dollars, you need clothes, shelter, food, etc. Then, sorry, this is not your need, but you have turned your need into an expensive want. Here, you know there is a vast difference between buying clothes from the general market for nearly 500 dollars or a 10,000-dollar0-dollar suit from Louis Vitton.
Decide for yourself.
7-Finally, stop spending on doubles.
Spending doubles indicate that you are paying for the same commodity in two different ways. For example, you pay bills for cable; on the other hand, you watch Netflix on the internet.
Paying doubles and getting less is a waste of money. Similarly, you are paying for the telephone (home landline) bills and simultaneously paying your cellphone bills.
Though you can cut off one way to a single thing, you can do it on another. Pay for cable and do not pay for Netflix; likewise, you should pay only for cellphone bills and cut off your phone connection (landline).
8-Downsize your expenses and living style
Downsizing is far better than savings and making compromises; in some dimensions, they both show the same meaning, but they do not.
For example, you buy some beverages every week because you like them, but you do not buy them for a single week. In terms of savings, Yay, you save some dollars in a weeWwweek weeknnsizing your Livingstone, you give up on junk food and adopt a healthy diet. Yes, now you have downsized your living habits.
Downsizing is a simple tactic you can apply, especially for your electricity bills and water consumption. The more you live, the more you can save.
9- Stop spending money on smoking or entertainment
If you want to become frugal, think of how your habits first. If you are a smoker, quit smoking. This can severely damage your budget and your health severely
Another thing is your way too much spending on your entertainment, including your Netflix bills, your cable billsyou’rere eating out bills, your shopping bills, etc.
When you know when things actually make you happy and comfortable, spending on entertainment will make you stop right there; well, I am not getting too obvious about totally cutting off your entertainment bills, but reducing them to a lower level frugal should do.
10- Stop wasting your money to impress others
It is genuine advice to everyone, whether you want to become frugal or not. This is for you people who never spend your money to impress others. Believe me or not, no one cares about this.
If you spend thousands of dollars to buy a branded handbag to attend your friend’s get-together, and you want to show off that bag, you are wasting your money and effort. Imagine if others do this to you, like showing off their stuff to impress you. What feelings will you get? I am sure that within a few seconds, I get annoyed if someone shows off in front of me.
Everyone has their lifestyle, and should you show off yours and impress others?
11- Do not consider your wants as your needs.
When we start spending more on our wants, we gradually begin becoming habitual of living with them. As I can share one of the simple and basic habits, we all somehow use laptops, cellphones, and tabs (iPads), though all things perform interrelated operations. But we use them separately and spend money on them; it has become our daily routine.
There was a time when these technologies were just part of people’s wants, and many could not afford them. But as time has changed, now every person uses them, and they have become one of our needs. Without them, maybe you are behind the times.
Figure out before getting habitual of those technologies that are not within your budget; like me, I cannot afford to have a MacBook Pro 2020, but since I am okay with older versions of laptops, it does not bother me to spend money on them.
Being frugal saves it.
Frugal Lifestyle Tips:
Having a frugal lifestyle makes you feel the simplicity of life. It makes you realize thalife’s’s beauty lies in simplicity, not living in luxuries (not specifically) targeting any class, but not everyone has the same life. So, to have a great time in your life, one needs to be frugal. This will help you to live an off-burden life. Decide for yourself.
Good Luck!
After leaving Wells Fargo Bank in 2014, Daniel began a career as a finance consultant, advising companies and individuals on economic policy, labor relations, and financial management.
At Promtfinance.com, Daniel writes about personal finance topics, value estimation, budgeting strategies, retirement planning, and portfolio diversification.
Read more on Daniel Smith's biography page.
Contact Daniel: daniel@promtfinance.com