Living Frugally: The Life You Were Destined For?

When you make the decision to change your life in any way, including financially, you need to be prepared for judgment from other people. Sometimes this judgment is a real tangible thing, other times it is just your own perception. Most everyone I have ever talked to who has chosen an alternative path in his or her life has felt judged in some way or another.

I strongly believe it is this fear of judgment that keeps many people stuck going with the flow in life and not staking out on their own to lead the lives that would make them happiest. Many people do not live the authentic life that they were destined to live but rather find that it is just easier not to buck the system.

Growing up you are learn and are trained that people are for some arbitrary reason are supposed to want to be like everyone else. We are supposed to assimilate into the American way and like it whether we really do or not. We are all supposed to be thin, dress well, drive nice cars, go to college, get a good job, live in nice houses, etc… Society dictates that we should all want this American way and want the "good" things in life. The problem, as I see it, is that these "good" things, as defined by common American culture, are mostly material in nature. So, if you want this good life you have to have a lot of cash to support it. More often than not these days you would likely have a lot of credit to support it.

American culture is also based on the idea that you can have it all. It is very common for people these days to carry large debt loads to be able to acquire the things they feel they should have. Keeping up with the Jones' in the US is still very alive and well. The problem with this is that you generally do not have any idea how much debt is behind all those things that the Jones' have. What are the payments on that McMansion, what is the payment on that Hummer in the driveway and how much credit card debt is behind those weekly trips to the mall?

For some we choose to live a more frugal life. We are not cheap; we are frugal. Is there a difference? You bet! Cheap people are misers. They do not share their wealth with those less fortunate than themselves, and they do not spend money on anything that is not an absolute necessity. Frugal, on the other hand, is about spending money on the things that matter to you. It's about saving money in the areas that you care less about and spending your available cash in the areas that you do care about. It's about getting the best bang for your dollar and then being able to donate some of that extra to causes you want to support. It's about doing the best you can with the least amount of money.

Frugal people feel judged by mainstream America as well as even our own families and circle of friends. We feel like people think we are misers. We are not. We are not cheap and not against supporting causes we agree with nor paying a decent price for a good or service. However, we choose not to waste our money on things and rather to use it where it will do the most good in both our lives and the lives of others. Because we are able to do this, and choose to, we tolerate the judgment of others and attempt to educate people to help lessen it. A nice aside to that education is that we often recruit more people over to our frugal way of life. This is good for our country and good for our environment as well.