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In these tough economic times, the days
of easy spending are over for many of us. With the continuous rise in
living costs, being thrifty is necessary and even crucial, if we want
to safeguard our financial well-being.
Frugality is not a concept everyone is
comfortable with. It has been negatively associated with being
mean-spirited and no one likes to be considered miserly or stingy.
Making purchasing decisions takes on a new light, as we now have to
think a lot longer and harder before forking out our dollar. Being
frugal can be challenging and even depressing, especially when holiday
season approaches.
Given that frugality is here to stay, at least for now, we have to find
a way to live with it positively. In theory, it is about making the
most of limited resources and spending meaningfully. In practice, I
have found that it also imparts some very valuable, and positive,
lessons:
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Frugal Living Benefit 1:
When our resources become limited, we learn to allocate them according
to what's most important to us. By doing so, we are less likely to feel
deprived. For instance, a friend of mine allocates a major portion of
her tight household budget to organic groceries. She cuts back on other
areas to do so because she puts her family's health first.
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Frugal Living Benefit 2:
In prioritizing, we learn that we can get by with a lot less. Much of
our spending is based on emotional impulses rather than meeting our
basic needs. We may spend to maintain a certain lifestyle that befits
our "status" in life (or one we are striving to achieve). And there's
the classic "I work hard and I deserve it" reason. There are also those
who would spend beyond their means to avoid being labelled "tight" or
"stingy". But why put what others think of you ahead of your own
financial security?
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Frugal Living Benefit 3:
We learn to be more resourceful and less wasteful as we put more
thought into our spending decisions. Careful and conscious spending
habits can help us use our resources more meaningfully. Such habits can
help us avoid taking frugality too far and becoming penny wise and
pound foolish. Sometimes, it is worthwhile to pay a bit more for a
better-quality product or service as it can provide better savings in
the long run.
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Frugal Living Benefit 4:
We live in a disposable world, constantly replacing older models
(particularly electrical, IT and telco goods) with new ones, even
though they still work fine. Being frugal teaches us to appreciate and
take better care of what we already have.
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Frugal Living Benefit 5:
Being frugal is also being green. Thrifty habits that encourage us to
"reuse, reduce and recycle" are environmentally friendly. When we use
less electricity to cut down on our utility bills, we also reduce
energy consumption. Reusing and recycling old items - passing on
unwanted but usable items to friends or to charity instead of throwing
them away - can help reduce consumption and spending. This, in turn,
cuts down the use of resources needed to produce more of such consumer
goods.
In short, frugality is not only good for the pocket; it's also good for
the soul!
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