Frugality. Sometimes this word seems so unfamiliar to us. We live in a world where we can get anything we want when we want. If we don’t have the money we can use credit, all for the luxury of having an item,”now.”

Because of this, we have such a high amount of credit card debit in the US.  For just one person, the average amount of debt is  $15,675, which is a high amount for one person.  The olden day adages of “waste not, want not” and “reduce, reuse, and recycle” seem foreign in this age of consumerism.

However, all is not lost. Recent efforts have been made to get out of debt and manage money better, such as Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University. Also, another movement is on the rise is the rediscovery of the art of frugality. With this art, people are saying no to paying more than they need for recreation and basic living. They find pleasure in doing things the old-fashioned way, such as making meals at home, mending, and growing their own food.

Many people have the mistaken belief that people who are fugal do so because they have no choice, and live in extreme poverty. While may be the case with some,  the majority of people who live frugality see the value in not putting their happiness and contentment in things. To others, they may see sacrifice, but fugal people  see opportunity.

While many people unconsciously spend money on coffee every morning, the fugal persons sees a way to save. They see that $3 dollars saved everyday from not buying coffee gives them $90 a month of free money and $1,080 a year that could be saved. That is just by not buying coffee alone. They even have fun trying to see how much they can save by forgoing other areas that other people unconscionably spend money on.

Thus, learning this art, people can truly spend their time with the ones they love and the things that they love doing.  They don’t live paycheck to paycheck, and have to work long hours just to get by. Because of this aspect, more and more people are converting to frugality.

I have lived frugally every since I started working, and it has helped me appreciate this art and allowed me to be financially independent.

So, how do you learn the art of frugality?

Stay tuned, I will post my tips in the next post!

Have a happy Tuesday,

Alyssa

Statistical numbers found on this website