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There are a million reasons why adopting a frugal lifestyle is essential right now. Today I’m sharing 10 reasons why frugality is important and stay tuned to the end for why frugality can also make you a lot of money.
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Today I’m talking about why living a frugal lifestyle is so important.
Frugality isn’t a means to an end. It’s not meant to be extreme or deprive you of anything. It’s a powerful tool that can get you where you want to go faster but practicing frugality as a lifestyle will take you further than you ever thought possible.
Merriam Webster defines frugality as the careful management or efficient use of material resources. I liked a definition I read once that said frugality is being a good steward of your resources.
Frugality strips away the noise and the clutter and leaves only the things you truly care about. That is a lifestyle worth practicing!
So I have compiled what I believe are the reasons why frugality is important and why it’ll make you rich. Like not just like a rich life but actually rich with money.
10 Reasons Why Frugality is Important to Practice Long-Term
If you want to live your best life now do not rely on brunch and happy hour to sustain you. These are all the things that frugality will do for you and the benefits will last a lifetime.
1. Frugality allows you to live the life you want, not the life that other people want for you
Ever find it hard to say “no” to family when they want something from you? Or reluctantly agree to go out with friends to a place you’re not that into? Frugal people don’t do that. When it comes to spending our money and our time, we spend it where we want not where others want us to.
That’s because frugal people have the uncanny magical ability to say “no.”
Using the word “no” ensures that you have the ability to say “yes” to more of the things you do want. Other people are always going to try to impose what they want on your life, not even for bad reasons but frugal people know they’re not obligated to spend money just because they’re being asked or being pressured to.
2. Frugality frees you from the burden of perfectionism
Facebook and Instagram make life feel like one big episode of keeping up with the Joneses. Heck, I follow mostly people who are frugal and I still struggle with comparison. But I don’t feel pressure to keep up with anyone.
My house isn’t new construction, my car is used, and my furniture is a mish-mash of comfy and practical thrift store finds. And I’m totally ok with that. I no longer feel the burden to have a picture-perfect life because I like having money more. I love money. I feel no shame in saying that.
3. Frugality protects the environment
Being a good steward of your resources doesn’t just mean money. Frugality allows you to be a better steward of all resources. Unintentionally at first but once you realize the impact you’re making, you can significantly lessen your negative environmental impact.
By buying less and driving less I’ve naturally reduced my use of fossil fuels and plastics. Now I intentionally send less trash to landfills by purchasing compostable products and composting in my backyard. And I’m gradually switching out single-use products to reusables.
4. Frugality challenges your limiting mindset
I assumed if you needed something you had to buy it at a store. I assumed I’d never be able to afford big things like vacations or a second home so I might as well spend my money on a bunch of small things. And I used to assume I’d always be lower middle class.
Frugality challenges those limiting mindsets in me all the time. I’ve learned I can reuse, repurpose, or do without things I would’ve automatically bought. I’ve learned to embrace thrift stores and dumpster finds and the money I’m saving is allowing me to start believing I may be able to do bigger things with my money than my parents did. It’s slow but it’s so freeing.
5. Frugality alleviates day to day stress about money
Now that I know I don’t buy a lot I know I’m saving more and I don’t worry about affording my bills, paying my credit card off in full every month, or if I’m saving enough for retirement every month.
I can save the stress about money for big things like when a global pandemic happens and my husband’s pay gets cut 50%. But even then, I know I have a six-month emergency fund to fall back on.
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6. Frugality promotes self-care
Most people think self-care is all massages and spa days and while I cherish the one massage I treat myself to every year, self-care is way more than that. And the most effective self-care is free.
For me, having my home clutter-free and organized is essential for my day-to-day self-care. I get so stressed when my house is disheveled. Frugality promotes a minimalist lifestyle that helps me keep my home organized more easily.
And because I’m financially stable I can take guilt-free time for myself. I used to feel guilty for relaxing because I knew I could be making money to pay more toward my debt. It was exhausting on so many levels
7. Frugality gives your brain a break
Frugality limits your choices. When you commit to buying used or finding a deal you go with what’s available instead of stressing yourself out with analysis paralysis. That’s because fewer choices mean better choices.
Cutting down the number of decisions you make every day cuts down on decision fatigue meaning your brain has the capacity to think critically for longer periods of time.
8. Frugality allows you to be more generous
We must be the change we want to see in our communities. If we’ve learned anything this year it’s that relying on the government to take care of you during tough times will leave you a day late and a dollar short.
What’s really getting us through this is the compassion and generosity of those closest to us. And I want to be the one giving, not the one needing help. Frugality allows you to be that person.
9. Frugality cultivates community
Companies are working really hard to make shopping autonomously as easy as possible. Online grocery shopping, 2-day shipping, free returns. On the other hand, frugal people shop through Buy Nothing groups, Facebook Marketplace, Facebook groups, and neighborhood swaps. All places where community interaction is involved.
Frugality is a great way to feel less isolated and create camaraderie with like-minded people.
Ok, but how will frugality make you rich?
10. Frugality makes you a good steward of money
When you don’t have money, you’re just trying to pay bills as they come up. When you have money, you can think about ways to optimize it. You’re optimizing everything else, and optimizing your savings is a natural progression.
That’s how I got so interested in investing for retirement and in real estate. I would have never cared about these things if I hadn’t continued to be frugal after paying off our student loan debt. And because I care so much about it now, we’re on track to be mortgage-free in our forties and multi-millionaires by 60.
And we’re not trying to retire early or be uber-successful entrepreneurs, we simply spend less so we can save more. And over time that money will compound to millions. Without doing an extra minute of work.
So if you want to live a rich life and be a millionaire being frugal is an integral part of that. If you want to be more frugal you’re in luck because that’s all I talk about here. So subscribe to the channel and you’ll get more frugal goodness every week or until I retire a millionaire.
Jen Smith
Jen Smith is a personal finance expert, founder of Modern Frugality and co-host of the Frugal Friends Podcast. Her work has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Lifehacker, Money Magazine, U.S. News and World Report, Business Insider, and more. She’s passionate about helping people gain control of their spending.
