5 Simple Reasons To Be Frugal
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For some, the idea of being frugal can be challenging. People often associate being frugal with spending very little money and not being able to have fun.
5 Simple Reasons To Be Frugal
However, this couldn’t be further from the truth. Being frugal can mean being intentional with your money, cutting down on unnecessary spending and making sure each purchase you make is carefully considered.
Here are five simple reasons to be frugal.
1. It can clarify your spending habits
While you may not want to practice extreme frugal living all the time, even going frugal for a month or two can really help you see where your money is going and where it might be getting wasted on unnecessary things.
If you love buying new clothes, for example, and are easily temped there are few things you could try, especially if you feel you might be buying for the sake of it rather than things you actually need.
- If you tend to buy from places such as Asos and Boohoo delete their apps, social media likes and unsubscribe from their mailing lists. If you’re not being bombarded with new things you might find it easier not to spend money on them.
- If you do see something you simply must buy, try looking for it second hand first. It’s amazing what you can find on places like eBay and Vinted – this saves money and gives you time to really think about the purchase and whether or not it was an impulse buy.
- Small challenges can be liberating – if you have a daily coffee habit, you might be amazed at how much you save by stopping it for a month. It can then be easier to go back to having it as an occasional treat rather than a daily occurrence. Or you can invest in a coffee machine rather than having takeaways from coffee shops. The budget coffee machine will pay off in 12-25 weeks, depending on how many cups of coffee you usually drink per day.
2. It’s environmentally friendly
Living more frugally is also a great way to be more environmentally friendly. Living a more eco-friendly lifestyle can seem like a big challenge. While there are plenty of ways to reduce plastic usage and make other more sustainable choices when you’re first getting started it can seem a little bit overwhelming.
I find that living a frugal life, means I’m naturally making that are better for the environment too. For me, this includes things like keeping food waste to an absolute minimum and buying second-hand clothing and furniture as often as I can.
After years of frugal living, I find doing these things come naturally to me and they happen without me needing to really think about them. This means I can then slowly add in more sustainable choice such as choosing reusable face wipes and a bamboo toothbrush.
3. It can help clear debts
One thing living more frugally can do for you, is help to clear any debts that you might. While I know debt occurs when we literally have no other choice, there are also plenty of people that get into debt living beyond their means or trying to keep up with friends and neighbours.
One of the best reasons to be frugal is by using it as an aide to clear debt. An extreme frugal lifestyle doesn’t have to be forever, but it can really help you build cash to put towards paying off debts. Debt can put a huge strain on relationships and family life in general. Taking those small steps to start getting on top of things can really help you reduce stress and push forward to be a better life.
4. Reasons To Be Frugal: It can help you build savings
Are you one of the 11.5 million people in the U.K that have less than £100 in savings? Not having savings can lead to debt and other money problems.
Cutting right back and spending some time cultivating a more frugal lifestyle could help you budget better which could then be added to your savings pot.
5. It can help you build a better future
There are lots of things frugal living can help with and one of them is building a better future. Frugal living for the long term can have a huge impact on your overall finances meaning there is extra money to put towards things like paying off your mortgage early. This in turn could save you thousands in interest.
Here are few things extra money that comes from living frugally could towards:
- Investments – long term investments, especially those that pay dividends are a great way to build an income. Nicola over at The Frugal Cottage shares her journey building a £1000 a month dividend stream.
- Pension – Extra money saved by being frugal could help top up your pension pot.
- House Deposit – It could also help you build up the funds needed for a house deposit.
- Travel – Read about how Charlotte used frugal living to fund an around the world trip with her husband and children.
- Emergency Fund – Having an emergency fund is a huge part of being savvy with your money. It can stop you from getting into debt when unexpected expenses crop up.
While long-term frugal living might not b for everyone, there are lots of times it can be a useful tool for getting our finances on track. Living on less can seem hugely challenging at first, but once you take those first few steps it can really make a difference to your future.
