A bit back I asked on FaceBook how you defined Frugal and got quite an interesting variety of answers.
Frugal,to me, means taking the time to research the product with the best value ratio. That is not necessarily and in fact rarely is the least expensive.
If I heard it once I heard it a million times growing up that what is what worth having is (a) worth working for and (b) worth waiting for and of course the occasional “when you have job, you can waste your money that way if you want”? Tough love was often a staple in our home. My parent grew up during the depression so frugal living was embedded and I guess passed on.
There are many reasons for frugality – and at different times in my life, I have probably been motivated by any or all. For some, it is how you were raised. Others are frugal because they must be – whether by sudden change in circumstances or simply attempting to live within their means. Another common reason is to be mindful of how one spends so that one can afford other things (that worth working/waiting/saving for thing)
A frivolous frugal is my unwillingness to work with cheap yarns. If I am going to put that much of my time and energy into a project, then I want the best quality materials. so that means careful spending in other areas to afford the better yarns.
It also often means fewer projects, but frankly that is okay.
Sometimes it means eating a LOT of hamburger meals so for a special occasion that expensive roast or exotic dessert is “on the table”>
There are more, but these seem to be the often cited.
Notice I have not mentioned the words cheap or miserly because really they have nothing to do with Frugality. Besides I prefer to focus on the positive when possible. And, as a smart mentor once told (well more than once) Cheap Can Cost You Dear – so that is not frugal.
Over the last years (even back to the hey day of Compuserve and Yahoo groups) I have been reading and occassionally commenting in “lists” and groups that focus on living frugally or “sustainably” or even some survivalists = because you can learn somethings even if you do not agree with the reasoning.
Today, the due diligence is a whole lot easier because so much information (although sometimes with questionable accuracy) available on line the “job” is much easier and as often as not can also be over whelming.
One thing I do know “for sure” is that I very much value the “habits” taught by my parents and several wonderful women who taught me cooking, knit, crochet and sewing basics as neighbors and “long distance” – not too mention parents who also instilled the importance of taking care of what you have “so it lasts”… because without them, there have been times in my life where those lessons were invaluable.
I do NOT consider myself a paragon of virtue – there are far too many times in my life where I listened to my heart over my head and that usually does not end well. But I have been very fortunate in many ways and so give thanks to those who have taught and otherwise helped me over my lifetime.
The question is always where to begin.
for most I have often read it all starts with a need (whatever that might be) and a willingness to understand and determine “Need” vs “Want”
But there is no reason why one can’t learn the habits and how-tos before the emergency.
P.S. I have no idea where this line of thought is headed, but suspect there will be more – and of course I welcome your thoughts and experiences – because we can learn from each other.
updated to correct spelling etc. 1/26/2020