This is a contributor’s blogpost …
Living a frugal life tends to be associated with depriving yourself of anything nice and comfortable. For most people, the idea of frugality is something that you do when you can’t afford anything decent. But, frugal is not and has never been synonymous with poverty. Frugal is the opposite of exuberant luxury. Being frugal is about appreciating the value of what you have in your life and respecting it. If you thought that you couldn’t enjoy a life of frugality, then now is the time to understand what it means to fulfil your needs – and maybe the needs of other people – without falling into the trap of a materialistic lifestyle.
The problem of extremely cheap services
Being frugal is about making a little go a long way. However, in the world of commercial trade, you need to understand that excessively cheap products might have a dark side to them. As discussed in a previous article of urbanponder.com, in the world of fashion, the dark side refers to the condition of life and work of those who make the cheap clothes that you buy in a shop. A shirt that costs $30 is paid less than $0.50 to the employee. And that goes without mentioning the working conditions, with long hours, no holiday and no sick pay. So when you decide to pay less for something, you need to be very careful about the impact that your purchase might have on someone else.
What’s the true cost of fashion?
Is there such a thing as cheap studies?
Going to university comes at a cost that is often non-negotiable: Tuition fees, study equipment and everyday needs can’t be cut down. However, here’s the importance of a frugal life. Most students tend to get overwhelmed by their new freedom and embrace a life of parties, new experiences and going out. As a result, it’s not uncommon to struggle with important debts during this period. Tools such as consolidatestudent.loan can help students to consolidate their debts into one payment, which makes it more manageable. They also provide a few tips to manage a frugal budget!
Everyday life and low-cost
As a professional adult, you’ve probably come across the price difference between local and imported products. More often than not, local products appear more expensive. However, you need to remember the way low purchase prices can impact on the living conditions of workers abroad. Additionally, buying locally can promote the local community and gradually improve the region you live in, as your money can be directly invested. In other words, yes those tomatoes might be more expensive than imported ones. But buying them will support the local agriculture and help to create new jobs.
How much stuff do you need?
At the core of keeping it frugal, you need to avoid the need to buy new stuff constantly. In fact, our society is overwhelmed by the desire to own more and more things, so that your home can appear cluttered by unnecessary possessions. Learn to focus on the minimum and to get rid of things that you don’t use. Maybe the lesson to learn for a frugal life is to embrace a minimalist lifestyle.
In the end, a frugal life is a life that knows the true costs of things, from everyday products to education and that pays the full price for it. But at the same time, spending less is not about cheaper options, it’s about picking one option and ignoring the commercial trends.
