Frugality Can Equal Happiness

We often think of frugality as “doing without”, which sounds like an unhappy state of affairs. Our consumer societies paint frugality as making great sacrifices, never enjoying what we’ve earned, or feeling guilty every time we buy ourselves a non-necessity. This isn’t at all what frugality is about. It’s not an ascetic lifestyle.

Reducing stress

Frugality is simply the awareness that some choices of what to own or pay for will make you happier than others. Let’s say you’re stressed to the max with credit card debt. Why not get rid of the debt? Why not focus on the pleasure being out of that debt would bring you, rather than the pleasure all the toys you’re buying bring? And are the toys really making you that happy? Imagine the feeling of being out of debt, of never having to worry about what next month’s credit card bills will be and whether they’ll up your interest rates or whether you’ll be able to pay it. It’s a confident, powerful feeling, and it’s definitely a happy experience.

You don’t have to stop buying everything. Just consider your options. If you have a daily habit of buying expensive coffee drinks, could you make similar drinks at home in a thermos for a fraction of the price and be happy? Or is going and getting that coffee the only thing that’s bringing you any pleasure in a miserable workday at a job you hate (but are lucky to have in this economy)? If you decide the coffee is worth what you’re paying for it, what about brown-bagging your lunch? What about cutting out a gym membership and buying some inexpensive home equipment for your workouts? What about trading in your expensive cell phone subscription for a cheaper one?

You’ll find there are some tradeoffs that don’t sound all that wretched. Give them a try – if you really miss them, you can always get them back. But if not, you’ll be saving money you can put toward something you really enjoy: getting out of debt, saving for early retirement, or buying some expensive toy that’s far more enjoyable than whatever you gave up.

The Creativity of Frugality

Frugality also requires creativity, and creative people enjoy this aspect of it. Finding ways to save feels like a triumph – you’ve gotten a great deal, you’re not missing out, and/or you’re going to be rewarded with early retirement or having your house paid off early (do you realize what you could live on if you had no housing payment?).

Frugality is actually about living richly on less. You can have the pleasure of being out of debt, of knowing you can afford a lengthy hospital stay if you have to, of retiring early, of surviving a layoff with no worries, of traveling more, of quitting a job you hate so you can take up a pursuit that everyone warned you wouldn’t pay. These are the ways to be both happy and frugal.

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