Showing posts with label frugal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label frugal. Show all posts

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. 

September 30, 2012

The new direction of Frugalson.com and what it means for you

I began my adventure when I was just a freshman in college. Not knowing where I wanted to go, but knowing there has to be a secret to getting there. Trying to find the secret is like trying to find a needle in a haystack in the dark and there's several haystacks to choose from.

Ive been spending a lot of time in this dark field and I've come up with some pretty solid explanations of why there is a good reason to keep moving and looking.

Defining the Title
What is frugal? Frugal is making economical choices in the expenditure of resources. Frugality translates to all of life in our finances, well-being, health, and social interactions. We make minor adjustments here and there depending on the situation, hoping for the best. But the best never comes.

We spend so much time letting the problems distract us. All of our problems are on a similar system akin to inflation. We put them away and they feed off each other to create more problems. We have forgotten when the original deposit was made and if it even exists anymore. We have forgotten why we deposited the problem, where it is, and how it came to us.

This lack of focus then requires us to spend more emotional energy on the problems we didn't even know we had! Therefore we must be frugal with our emotions. Quit overspending angry only to have anger returned to you, inflated.

Stop sending sadness and depression to the proverbial bank only to get a big depression filled tax return.

Send daily deposits of happiness so you can get a return of happiness tomorrow when you wake up.

Rack up on positivity points and store them away to get a positive point filled purse at bonus time.

The trick is not to chase wealth, health, and happiness.

The trick is to tell yourself I already am healthy, wealthy, and happy.

Through frugality of your emotions you can do whatever it is you want to.

I'm going to make my dream come true.