What is Frugal Living

You’ve probably heard the phrase frugal living over and over again.

Frugal living is when you choose to spend less – when you choose a thriftier lifestyle – regardless of how much money you have in your bank account.

In other words, some frugal people are multi-millionaires while others are living paycheck to paycheck. They have just made the choice to spend less in life.

Related: Here’s a list of the best books on frugality. They’re written by experts in frugal living. They’re jam packed with real experiences and frugal best practices. With the help of these frugal living books, you can start practicing the concepts with your own family.

But what does it mean to live a frugal lifestyle? While living frugally may mean different things to different people, the concept of frugality is rooted in a few common characteristics:

• Living within your means. The overarching definition of frugal living is simply living within your means. That means avoiding debt and being smart with your spending on a regular basis.
• Spend less. One of the best ways to live within your means is to spend less money. That’s where frugal living comes in. Most thrifty households do what they can to cut back on spending to help them avoid debt and increase their family’s savings.
• Saving more. Living a frugal lifestyle isn’t just about cutting spending and trimming your budget. It’s also about saving. Whether you’re saving for retirement or setting money aside for a big purchase, a large part of being thrifty is saving your money for the future.
• Creative thinking. With all saving and scrimping that comes along with frugality, you have to be able to think on your toes! That means living a frugal lifestyle must incorporate some creative thinking. From figuring out how to reuse items you might have otherwise thrown away to coming up with creative ways to save money on groceries, using your creative thinking skills is essential to thrifty life.
• Making your money work for you. In addition to watching your spending, living a frugal life also means making the most of the money you have. Whether that includes using the money for things you enjoy, like traveling, or making sure you get the most out of your investments depends on your own family’s frugal plan.
• Setting financial goals. Living a frugal life is all about being smart with your money. And if you don’t have goals in mind, how will you know if you’re making the right money moves? That’s why it’s important to incorporate financial goals into our frugal living plan.

This short list isn’t all-encompassing, but it does give you a good idea of the key pieces to a frugal life.

How do you get started on living a frugal life?

It starts with knowing what’s meaningful and important to you. Living a frugal life doesn’t mean deprivation. It means you know which items to prioritize your spending on and which things in life you can do without.

For example, if you value the weekly sushi takeout, just get it. You can save money in another aspect of your budget that’s not as important in your life.

Hi! I'm Jacqueline. I write about making and saving more money, frugal living, and parenting money tips at www.mommoneymap.com.