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| Source: swaay |
Financial management is a very vital and sensitive procedure or habit every individual should imbibe to stay financially stable and attain some life goals.
Obviously one of the easiest ways of managing your finances is adapting to a frugal living that will help you save tons of money.
Being financially free and stable is a big dream for every career oriented individual who wants to live a standard lifestyle. However , it is not easy anyway due to our daily needs and the cost of living, especially in regions with staggering economies.
Notwithstanding, the most important thing is , despite the economy or standard of living in your region, your lifestyle plays a very important role in determining if you are going to save more or you will just remain on the expense wing.
You do not need to smile at the bank monthly with a 7 figure pay to save more money or boost your saving power. Here is where frugal living comes into Play.
The aim of frugal living is to save more money and avoid unnecessary expenses and purchases.
Many mistake frugal living as a low or poor standard of living, but the truth is you are trying to be more disciplined with your finances.
It is okay to go to clubs, travel to the best tourist places in the world, own the best cars and also step out in the best outfits, but we must make sure we balance our luxury with our income.
If your expenses surpasses how much you are earning at a very high rate, therefore you really need some serious adjustments to how you spend your finances and what you spend them on.
Frugal living remains one of the best ways of saving more money. In this article, we will break down in detail what frugal living is, how to switch to a frugal lifestyle and easy frugal living tips to save money.
What we will discuss in this article;
- The meaning of frugal living
- How to switch to frugal lifestyle
- 20 Easy Frugal living tips to save more Money in 2023
- Is frugal living Low standard of living?
- Difference between frugal living and poor standard of living
- Benefits of frugal living
- Is there any Bad effect in frugal living?
- Mistakes To Avoid with your income
What is the meaning of Frugal Living?
Frugal living can be defined as a type of lifestyle whereby people are mindful of how they spend their money. It is a lifestyle of avoiding unnecessary spending or wasting of resources with the intention of having more savings.
People who live a frugal kind of lifestyle, spend less and also go for what is really needful in their daily endeavours. They try to avoid expenses that aren't really worth the pay.
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| Source: insider |
Moreover, frugal living can also be known as being a bit economical in our standard of living and also minimizing the cash outflow.
Since the main goal of frugal living is to save more money and reduce unnecessary expenses to boost our financial strength, it can also be adopted by an entrepreneur, business firms or even by companies.
Though sometimes people could mix up frugal living with a state of penury or low standard of living.This is not actually the case of being frugal in your finances.
No one wants to be involved in a waste, therefore it is very thoughtful to manage our finances.
Concluding on frugal living, it is a life of financial management, carefulness in expenses, discipline and contentment.
It also involves economizing the available resources for the sake of having better savings.
How to Switch to A Frugal lifestyle
Living a frugal lifestyle is not easy especially when there is a better inflow of income and availability of resources. One might be tempted to spend too much and mismanage resources.
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Another difficult circumstance that might arise in trying to switch to a frugal lifestyle is critics.
Some individuals believe those who live a frugal lifestyle are financially poor so therefore they might be scared of being tagged poor for living a frugal lifestyle.
However,financial management is not a sign of being poor, rather it is a road map to financial stability and bigger achievement.
Below are five (4) tips that can help you adjust your life to a frugal lifestyle and save more money.
Self Determination: Everything and anything we want or wish to do in life requires determination. You must be determined:
This is how I want my life to go henceforth.
Be determined to take a new turn, abstain from unnecessary expenses, irrelevant travels and then manage your finances properly.
Discipline: frugal living is not easy though. After a strong determination, what will sustain you is discipline. You need to be disciplined enough to deny yourself some fantasies that might require too much of an expense.
When you are disciplined financially, you will not give much attention to irrelevant spending or purchasing products that you may not really be in need of.
Planning: Another important tip that will help you in frugal living is planning. You need to have a good structure on how your money is going to be spent. Create your list of preferences and remove stuff you wouldn't need in the nearest time.
Consistency: Before it becomes a lifestyle, you must be consistent. Try all possible means to ensure that you are used to the newly adjusted lifestyle.
20 Easy Frugal Living Tips To Save More Money in 2023
- Stay within the shopping list
- Buy Quality products
- Rent affordable apartments
- Book a taxi when necessary
- By fairly used products
- Buy in bulk
- Limit eating in a restaurant
- Focus more on your Needs
- Do not rush into bigger projects
- Use Easybuy on some expensive gadgets
- Minimize Partying
- Do not be over philanthropic
- Purchase affordable products but quality
- Use Generic stores
- Quit irrelevant travels
- Have a good savings plan
- Draft out your expenditure
- Get alternative means of income
- Avoid debt
- Learn to produce some home made stuff.
1.Stay Within the shopping List
This requires discipline, but it is a very helpful tip to frugal living that will make you save money. Before you leave for shopping, you should create a list of all the things you intend to buy and focus only on stuffs that are found on the List.
You might get to see things that are enticing and appealing to the eyes, but being disciplined enough to focus on your shopping list will guide and save you from unexpected or unnecessary expenses.
What is in your shopping list should be your utmost priority while going to the store. This habit will help you to save more money.
2. Buy Quality Products
Remember the goal is to maximize our savings and avoid irrelevant expenses. Financial management requires wisdom and strategies if we sincerely long for success.
Let's look at it from this point of view, if you purchase a low quality product, there is a higher chance that it will eventually be worn out or spoiled. And you will definitely get to buy another within a short period of time.
The above scenario clearly portrays unnecessary spending , because you need to buy the same product frequently.
So the right thing to do here to avoid the unnecessary spending is to purchase products with better quality that will also last for a longer time to avoid buying new ones over again.
3. Rent affordable apartments
It is unfortunate to see people spend almost 50-60% of Their annual income on paying rent. This is not a good idea and it is very bad financial planning.
Go for affordable apartments that still look nice and okay. If possible relocation to a new environment would not be a bad idea if and only if it doesn't affect your business or work.
Do not spend too much on rent if you want to save money.
4. Book a Taxi where Necessary
I understand both the conveniences that follow using our private cars and the inconveniences of using a public taxi.
In some situations where the cost of fueling your car is really high , you can book a cap. You need to run and estimate and compare which option is more preferable, affordable and economical.
If it requires less amount of money to reach where you intend to go using a taxi compared to fuelling your car, then it is preferable to just book a taxi that will take you to your destination
instead of spending more on fuel and some other car maintenance on your journey sometimes opt for a taxi.
5.Buy Fairly used products
This is very common among those who live a frugal lifestyle. Buying fairly used items can save you a lot of money since purchasing new ones could be quite expensive.
This does not warrant going for totally bad products or over-used items that might not last. When getting a fairly used product, run a proper check to ensure it is still in a good state of functionalities.
You can browse here to get fairly used products.
6. Buy in bulk
If you want to minimize unnecessary expenses daily, then always get your stuff in bulk. You can get all the items you need in good quantities that will last for at least a month or more.
Getting all your stuff ranging from toiletries, kitchen materials and other necessary items in bulk will save you the stress and the expenses of buying them over and over again.
7. Limit how you eat at the Restaurant
Eating outside frequently consumes a lot of money. I know some food vendors and restaurant owners will not like this point, but before you throw a hater, I am not trying to advise total abstinence from eating in a restaurant.
Meals at restaurants are expensive and if you form the habit of eating frequently at the restaurant without cooking at home , you will discover that you are spending more. So to minimize your expenses, you need to limit how you eat outside.
8. Focus on your Needs
Limiting your expenses to only your needs is another great way of saving more money. You should be able to identify your needs instead of spending on what you won't eventually use.
As a young entrepreneur or an individual who is trying to rise, you do not need luxuries or really expensive things.
Before you purchase any item or add any item to your shopping list, you need to ask yourself , do I really need this thing? How often will I be making use of this thing?.
9. Do not rush into big projects
Before you start big projects like building an apartment or any kind of big projects you wish to embark on, there should be good plans on how you will achieve that.
There should be enough finance that will cover the completion of the projects. Rushing into big projects without enough cash can be very frustrating. You might end in penury and your project will stop half way.
Bigger projects demand a lot of money. If your savings is not enough, it is advisable not to rush into these big projects, because you might end up spending more without achieving your desired goal.
Take things easy and step by step until you have enough savings to begin that project. This is why you should consider frugal living to save more money to your account this year.
10. Use Easybuy on your purchase
Easybuy means getting a new item in a store and paying in installment instead of paying the actual amount at once.
For example , let's assume you are to get an electronic gadget that costs $300 , instead of withdrawing a whooping $300 from your savings to pay, you can choose to pay bit by bit Maybe $60 per month.
Using Easy Buy to purchase most of your expensive items will help you save money since you ain't paying everything at once. Go to shops that supports easy buy for your shopping
Especially those expensive items.
11. Minimize How often you Party
Well this might not sound too nice to the party guys, but seriously you want to minimize how much you spend your money and save more. Achieving this requires sacrifice and most importantly self discipline.
If you party every week , you can reduce it to once or twice a month. Going to a club requires spending because you get to buy drinks at a much higher price than normal.
You can have some good fun moments at home instead of going outside to buy expensive drinks.
12.Do not be over philanthropic
Being philanthropic means giving out willingly to people without asking for anything in return. This point does not emphasize on stopping to give , rather you shouldn't give out your earnings excessively.
13. Purchase affordable Products but quality
There is always a package for every budget. Since your aim is to adjust to a lifestyle that will help you have more savings, then going for extremely top quality products will require spending more.
Therefore opting for a bit affordable products with a good quality will help you save money. You can get good clothes, home appliances and other stuff at very friendly prices. Just carry a proper market survey.
14. Use Generic stores
Using generic stores to purchase your goods is a very working frugal living tip that will aid in reducing your expenses.
Use the local shops to get your stuff. if what you want to buy are food stuff then going to the market to get them would be a better option.
Going to a top branded supermarket for purchasing your products will just skyrocket your expenses and reduce your savings power.
15.Quit Irrelevant Travels
Most people spend a lot on vacations. Some traveling might be very important while some are unnecessary.
If you want to embark on any trip, ask yourself, is it really Worth it? Is it necessary? What are the alternative things to do instead of traveling?.
16. Have a good savings plan
It might be tough for you to make more savings if you do not have a good saving plan. Having a good saving plan will guide you on how you are to spend your income. Draft out a working structure that will help you in savings.
Determine how much you will be saving from your income ,and maximum amount you can spend.
17. Draft out your expenditure
You shouldn't be spending on everything that comes your way. Have a draft of what you are going to spend your income on, and try your possible best to follow the draft.
18. Get alternative means of income
This is one of the best routes to follow to become financially stable. You shouldn't depend on a single stream of income. Make good investments and try some good business ideas.
19. Avoid Debts
Too much debt can cripple your savings. Try to get what you can afford to avoid debts. When there is no money to get what you want, it is better to ignore it than to get on credit in some cases.
20. Learn some home made stuff.
This Frugal Living tip has helped a lot of households save more money instead of buying every little thing they need.
You can learn how to produce home made detergents, bathing soaps, fruit juice and even baking flours.There are thousands of YouTube videos on how to produce some of these things all by yourself.
Is Frugal Living Low Standard of Living?
No, frugal living is never a low standard of living though many mistake it to be. To be frugal means to avoid unnecessary spending or wasting of resources.
Many rich people choose to be frugal with their finances, that is enough to ascertain the fact that frugal living is not a poor or low standard of living.
Spending unnecessarily can make one go bankrupt or sends you into an early stage of penury. It is a good and recommended lifestyle to be mindful of how you spend money, and choosing to be frugal will help.
What is the Difference Between Frugal Living and Poor Standard of Living?
There is a clear difference between frugal living and low standard of living. The difference is that, in frugal living, you have the money to spend, but you are just being mindful of unnecessary expenses or irrelevant dashing out of money.
Compared to a low standard of living, someone who lives at a low standard, does not have the money to purchase or acquire what he needs and because of this , he settles for less.
Poor or low standard of living is not having purchasing power and living with some inconveniences whereas frugal living deals with carefulness in spending your income.
Both the rich and the poor, the low and the high standard people can choose to be frugal.
Benefits of Frugal Living
Well, considering the series of adjustments you need to make to your normal lifestyle, it is obvious that being frugal is not as easy as it may sound because of the discipline that is involved.
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However, being mindful of how you run your expenses and what you spend those monies on , comes with loads of benefits.
Adapting to a frugal lifestyle comes with lots of benefits , and the most important of them all is that it enhances your savings in a positive way.
Moreover, frugal living helps you build some level of discipline that will guide you on how you spend your finances. With this you will only spend on relevance.
Another important benefit of choosing a frugal lifestyle is that it increases your chances of being financially stable since you are saving more and only spending on things that are necessary.
Is There Any Negativity in Frugal Living?
Frugal Living is a matter of individual choices, and there is no negative aspect to being frugal. Though you may desire things that are not actually what you need, but focusing only on the necessary ones will be of great help to you.
Frugal lifestyle boosts your savings power so there is no bad effect to it.
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| Source:swaay |
Mistakes To Avoid with Your Income
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| Source:pexel |
Bad investment: Investing your income in a wrong idea or platform can paralyze your entire finance. Before you embark on an investment plan, make thorough research or if possible hire experts who would help you study the investment and assist you in making the right decision.
Do not lend out your income without proper savings.
Do not gamble with your income
Avoid spending in excess more than what you earn.
Do not purchase stuff that is not in your 'needs' list.
Hope this article was helpful to you?. I will love to hear from you in the comment section and do not forget to share this post.
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