“Frugal lifestyle”, “living frugally”, “frugality” – all are variations of the word “frugal”. According to Wikipedia, the definition for “frugality” is: “The practice of acquiring goods and services in a restrained manner, and resourcefully using already owned economic goods and services to achieve a longer term goal.”
So that’s the definition. Now what? To understand “being frugal”, “frugal living”, or “frugality” (we’re going to stick with the term “frugality” from now on in this article), we have to understand the definition. So let’s break the definition down into two parts. We’ll talk about the first part in this post.
“The practice of acquiring goods and services in a restrained manner…”
What does this mean? It simply means that before you buy something you are going to look at the purchase and decide whether or not you really need it and can afford it. This may mean taking several days to think about it. It may mean going back for a second look at the item.
Frugality should not be confused with being a miser.
There is a definite difference in being a miser and being frugal. A miser is someone who does not want to spend money. Misers often do this to the point of not even having the basic comforts. They do not want to spend one penny.
People who are frugal will spend money but they look at all the options first. They weigh the urgent desire for something against how is the best way to acquire it. They will save for something before incurring more debt.
People who live frugal lifestyles will value their purchases.
What do I mean by that? If a person saves and saves for an item and restrains from purchasing it on impulse, they will tend to take better care of it. They will value it more. Oftentimes in impulse buying, the items are used a lot until the “new” wears off. Then the items are set aside and put up when the newest impulse purchase is bought.
Is there a new resurgence of living “frugally correct”?
With the economy in the shape that it is today, the answer is definitely YES!!! For several years, people have been able to throw caution to the wind and not really pay attention to what it meant to “acquire goods and services in a restrained manner.” Credit was used without thinking about the end payoff. The “I NEED IT NOW, I’M GOING TO GET IT NOW” attitude was very popular.
This is seen in the housing market. So many people bought houses that they could not really afford without weighing the cost. Restraint was not used. Did people need houses as big as they purchased? Did they really have the income to make the payments or were they house-poor?
We are finding out now that lending companies would gladly lend and “dupe” people into feeling secure about their purchases. Time after time stories are being told of lenders that would tell people not to worry about it…we’ll just refi in a couple of years.
Frugal lessons learned.
- Take your time. Ask yourself do you really need it and if you think you really need it, do you really need it now? Do you really want it because you don’t want to practice restraint in getting it?
- If you determine that you think you really need it, take some more time. A couple of days to think some more about the purchase is not unreasonable. Distance yourself from the purchase and then go back to look at it again.
- Do you really want to use credit to purchase something? Is it a possibility to save for the item? If it is a possibility, will you value the purchase more? How long will it take to save for it? Will you still want it if you wait and save for it?
Next time we’ll be discussing the second part of the definition — “resourcefully using already owned economic goods and services to achieve a longer term goal.”
Till then,
JT Locke
Frugallycorrect.com
