Myths About Being Frugal

I have never really thought that being frugal would make me wealthy. I see it as a way to conserve what little resources I have now. Why spend a lot of money on things that you can get cheaper? I agree that in order to become wealthy you need to invest. Being frugal can help you to save up enough money to have something to invest or to buy something else that you really want.

 

To be honest - the biggest problem here is not the myths - but that a large majority of the population doesn't appear to fully understand what being frugal actually means - particularly as more often than not - most not only wrongly assume that being cheap and being frugal are one and the same thing - but more importantly that being frugal is something that only poor people on tight budgets do.

Which - although a relatively common assumption - is in actual fact totally wrong - as apart from there being a huge difference between the two - for example

Being Cheap - is thinking only in the short term - always being stingy, sacrificing quality and depriving yourself of the basic things in life in order to buy what is the cheapest - as the lowest price is more important than value for money

whereas

Being frugal - is looking at the bigger picture and thinking in the long term - meaning - never sacrificing quality or comfort - just because something is cheaper - as its the overall long term value that is of greater importance

or to put it more simply

Being frugal is in reality nothing more than managing your finances wisely - by only buying what is really needed without sacrificing comfort or quality of life and having a long term mind set in terms of spending, saving and investing.

Also bearing in mind that - as the majority of reputable and well respected financial experts do consider - frugality to be a smart move where finances are concerned - particularly as - its generally considered to be one of the best means of avoiding financial problems and also that - contrary to popular belief - most really wealthy people - including millionaires and billionaires aren't the flashy big spenders that people generally assume them to be - but are actually extremely frugal.

The biggest myth is in fact - that being frugal doesn't translate to wealth - especially considering - that living within your means and only buying what is actually needed and can be afforded does result in savings - which can - if invested wisely - result in building a secure financial future - particularly as - although somewhat extreme examples - there are many - now very, very wealthy people whose frugal mindset in terms of spending, saving and investing has contributed greatly to building their our own wealth - some of which would be billionaires like Warren Buffett, Mark Zuckerberg, Amancio Ortega, Ingvar Kamprad - and more here

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all of whom live an extremely frugal lifestyle.

 

I never thought of being frugal as a means to get wealthy. I am frugal because I don't have much of a choice. I could spend more for name brands, but then I wouldn't have any money to go on vacation or buy necessities. I do try to put some money away every check I get and I have a 401K. I just need to start investing more.

 

Being frugal without any reason will not make you rich, that's obvious. Clearly, Investing in your talents and prospective business will do. You can be frugal in order to put more of the saved money in your future business or something like that. But to being frugal for anything but to save money for retirement is just plain lame, but eventually is your choice.

 

Some people do not have the patience to do what it required to get the most out of the money they have. They also don't have the patience watch someone else doing it. It's just different strokes for different folks. I don't have a lot of patience for say, the super bowl, or super bowl enthusiasts, but that's just me...

 

I have some economic subjects during my college years and I am reminded by this thread about the term currency. Money or currency should circulate. It is not good for the economy to just keep your money in the bank or worse, piggy bank. Given that theory (or law of economics maybe), it is all about the economy and not the person. What would happen if we spend all our money everytime we get hold of our income? The economy will perk up but we turn up to have no money individually.

My conclusion is being frugal may be bad for the economy but not for the individual.

 

It's obvious to see that merely being frugal will not make a person wealthy. That sum of money that you were able to withhold by being prudent will not make you wealthy if, in turn, you don't take some sort of risk in investing it in business or monetary ventures. Your frugality will allow you to save a bit of fund sometimes a very considerable amount of money but that mostly all you will achieve. To be wealthy, you will have to make that money, that you have been able to save, work for you in a structured way.

 

I think the experts have said that because there are indeed some people that really try to save money by being stingy and buying the cheapest items or even not buying it at all to be able to save some money. So because of that, they amass a lot of cash because of depriving themselves. For me, money is made to be spent though. It shouldn't be stashed for too long unless you're saving for a rainy day.

 

Well most wealthy people are frugal, look at Zuckerberg for an example. He is not into a luxurious lifestyle at all. I just think that most people who have sustained wealth over generations are thrifty rather than frugal. They don't pay more money than they need to for items, and don't need to have the best of the best to show the world how much money they have. There is nothing wrong with living well, and if you can afford it, great..but you don't need to pay more than you have to for items.

 

In my opinion most of the people try to become frugal just because they want to hide their stingy nature or are trying too hard to become rich. By becoming frugal you can save some money, but the savings will never make you rich. In order to become rich you must invest in profit making projects.

 

That is the question the OP asked. WHY do you think that?

I tend to think of "cheap" people as the ones who are stingy, and not even all of them. Some may be like that from having grown up poor or for other reasons. Some, yes, are just tightwads. I don't think any group can be painted with the same wide brush, but being cheap just to be cheap has never appealed to me.

Frugal to me means living well for less. Why spend more if you don't have to? Getting good quality for low prices (utilizing sales, discounts, coupons, etc.), buying mid-range brands instead of paying more just for a name when the quality is comparable.. these are just smart, if you ask me.

 

I think people are stingy mostly out of necessity. Sometimes people just can't afford to waste more money than needed. Other times, I guess you become used to it if you grew up in that environment. I know women who will only buy drugstore make up for example while they could afford big brands because growing up that is all they could afford to splurge on.

 

Never heard of someone thinking being frugal will lead to wealth. They're dreaming if they think it will. But, I have heard of frugal people being considered stingy. I guess, it is in a way... being stingy with your money. There's absolutely nothing wrong with that.

 

I believe in being frugal sometimes. However, then again, certain times call for extravagance. For instance, when you're on vacation you might be tempted to just wildly spend your funds - simply cause it's fun. Also, we have to remember that people like waiters etc. prefer extravagant spenders because it's more tips for them, and they often live off the tips.

 

Generally speaking being thrifty is not to get rich but to save for the rainy days. To get rich is to risk a hard earned money to invest for money market like stock exchange, for big business. What the poor people are doing is bet for a game of chance like sweepstakes or lotto.

It is very rare indeed for a frugal people who has become rich. It is indeed a rarity. Being thifty doesn't warrant for being rich.

 

I think that one myth is that frugal people don't have the best things. I disagree a lot with this, because I do think that I have a lot of the best things, but they are not the most expensive or latest, but they are the best for me and do everything that I need them to.

 

I think part of the equation of becoming wealthy could be Frugality,but you need to make money and invest it very wisely as well-and like they say "the richest person is the one who is content with the very least". What this means to me- is a person that can live on 20,000 a year can retire earlier than the one that needs 50,000 a year.