November 29, 2012

Defining the Frugal Lifestyle


Frugality is more than just buying cheap stuff or being a penny-pincher. Sure, I may always pick up a penny off the ground if it happens to catch my eye because I can still hear my Grandmother, Mimi, saying “A penny saved is a penny earned” but that doesn’t mean I’m constantly scouring the parking lot for loose change. Like everything, frugality is a way of life that extends far beyond that of just physical money.
Frugality and leading a frugal lifestyle can be found in every aspect of your life from diet, exercise, work, family, future, time management, and even your hobbies. Behavioral studies show that people who are Frugal have the tendency to acquire economic goods or services in a patient manner in order to achieve a long term goal. While I wholeheartedly agree this is true, we love to save money for that nice new shiny trinket we’ve wanted since we were 7 years old, be it a laptop, car, house, massage, cruise vacation, or whatever your amazing mind can dream up, I believe that frugality is a mindset that transcends mere economic and spending tendencies.
We can extend our frugal tendencies into our diets, for example. Being frugal is what defines us. We can forego the McDonald’s $5 Big Mac and settle with two $1 McChickens instead. But why even stop there? Why not skip the drive-through entirely and benefit from a fast?
 We have the ability to wait a week or a month, maybe even years and go without a T.V. in order to buy the biggest and best. But we don’t stop there, no, we research our big purchase, we wait… Until just the right time and we pounce. We chase what we want with such fervor that nothing can get in our way. If I were an animal, I’d be a Cheetah, waiting, watching, enjoying the sun, then at just the exact right moment a chance to get nice big juicy antelope would present itself.
We feast.
We love getting the biggest bang for our buck. We are disciplined. Frugal folks and families like us don’t follow the crowd. We don’t mind hanging on to that old suit we had when we were fat or stopping to look at the dining room chair on the side of the road, so what if it has a tear in the fabric? I don’t care that someone shot me a funny look or grimaced.
It’s the end of the month and it’s your uncle’s birthday at the Ritzy Restaurant where you can only choose between Filet Mignon and Pan Seared-Salmon none of the main courses are under $25. It’s ok, I’ll settle for the house salad, soup, or split a plate with my brother, we’ve got bigger plans in the works.
We are contemplating and calculating but not devious or mischievous, that would not make us frugal. We do not need to lie to get a better deal. We will happily tip the waiter more because he gave us outstanding service. We don’t complain or argue because this would be a senseless waste of energy.
Whether or not we believe in a higher power, one entity or many, we find happiness in our way of life and we feel more virtuous for it.
Frugal philosophy extends into our work life. We make great managers and leaders. We are patient and forward-looking. We help cut costs and save the company money, but we aren’t brutal or cold. For us, just like any corporation, maximizing shareholder wealth is important. We are the shareholder’s in the happiness of our lives and the lives of those around us.
We are frugal and we are happy. We are free. We care about money and it is important, yes, but it is not main focus of every second of our lives. Because hey, we are Frugal, and we’ve already researched this and know that spending too much time on any one thing will ultimately lead us to failure.
For us, frugality comes naturally, even though we sometimes have to work at it. Check out [url=http://thepathtofrugality.blogspot.com.es/] The Path to Frugality [/url] if you are interested in more ways on making the lifestyle change to that of a more frugal one.
What do you think? I want to hear your comments about what being frugal means to you. 

6 comments:

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

There is something far mangoes that everybody loves to pack away them. They are juicier than most fruits and they can allay your taste buds like no other. They are also tiptop sources of Vitamin C and fiber. Eating a every day serving of mangoes can transmute to many benefits. It strengthens the invulnerable system and provides you with more than enough vitamins and minerals that your fullness desire by any chance need. Other than these, pleasant mangoes can be concocted to build compensate preserves, jams and jellies. No matter how, there is another side to mangoes that not multifarious people are aware of. Unbeknownst to them, mango extracts are also used as potent ingredients in making authority sacrifice supplements. Such is the [url=http://africanmangoplus.co]african mango side effects[/url]. Considered as harmonious of the most effective and ordinary pressure set-back supplements, results are experienced in so short a time.

Anonymous said...

[url=http://hairtyson.com]african mango plus[/url]Amazing site. Possess you ever been told that your milieu helpen an orphan. Yes it categorically helped. Thanks Alot Buddy.

Anonymous said...

[url=http://federaldebtreliefs.com]debt settlement program[/url] Love you for this site. I Loved it alot and you are the best, Keep up the good work and I will recommend your site to others.