Frugal Living Means Knowing What to Spend Money On

For many people, frugal living is thought to be living without spending money.  While I think there is some truth to that cheap living idea, that is definitely not the way it is for most of us.  Frugal living is more about knowing what to spend money on rather than what you’re not getting.   It is about having the life you want by prioritizing how your money is spent or how you save it.

A few years ago I was discussing with my mom a little about our plan for the next few years.  I told her we were thinking of selling all our baby clothes since it would be a few years before we are going to have our next baby if we have another at all.  Her response surprised me a bit.  She said, “I don’t think that is a very frugal thing to do.  You’ll just have to buy them again when you have another baby.”

Really, though, she is right.  We will have to buy them again if we have another baby.  But what is the cost of storing them? Especially with people always having hand me downs and thrift stores to shop in, the cost to have room to store our clothing would be more than if we sold them and then used the same amount of money buying them back. It is all about knowing what to spend money on and when to spend it.

Frugal living means knowing what to spend money on

I thought about what she said and how she viewed frugality and I realized that it wasn’t about who holds on to the most stuff hoping they will use it in the future. It wasn’t about how to save money and who saves the most in the long run.  It is more about how you choose to spend your money. What to spend money on and what not to spend it on.

It is about focusing on debt to pay it off and sometimes missing out on some dinners at restaurants or things like that.  It is about having a certain priority for your money so you give up other things.  Frugal living is about having a rich life with the money you have.  It is not about ways to save money by saving everything forever so you don’t have to buy it in the future.

To me, having a rich life means having a simple, clean and orderly house.  It means having a home that functions well and everyone is happy.  If you are holding on to things, frugal living is limiting those things to the storage you have so your family has room to enjoy their space.  It is utilizing all your resources and getting things at the lowest price possible.

Frugal living is about being smart

Living Frugally is all about being smart.  Smart with your money, smart with your family and smart with your life.  It is about planning and knowing what you buy, where you will buy it, and what price you want to pay for it.

Mostly, it is about self-control and not having immediate gratification.  It is about using what you have to the max and feeling ok with not having what everyone else has.  It is about taking the time to slow down and enjoy the life you have when you have it.

This is why I choose to get rid of things while still having to pay for them later, If it makes the quality of my life better, then it is what to spend money on! So don’t feel bad about spending money when you are trying to be frugal!