Living Frugal

Living frugal does not mean being miserable, or necessarily giving up some of your wants? In my own case (as is the case with many people who live a frugal life) it meant getting things I really wanted. Spend less money on each thing or activity, and I can have more of them, right? The key is spending less and getting what I need.

Housing

The first house I owned was small. I had payments of $485 per month. (Ok, this was some years ago, but it can still be true today.) With taxes, insurance and repairs, it still cost less than rent. With two bedrooms, an expanded living room, and a nice fenced-in yard, it was comfortable. It needed some work and sometimes I could trade handy-work for something, paying only for materials.

Two things that I did made it cheaper. First, I paid down the mortgage as much as I could when I was working as quickly as possible. Within a few years I owed virtually nothing, and from that point on it cost an average of $350 per month to pay for the utilities, phone, garbage collection, taxes, insurance, and repairs. Now this is living cheap.

It became even cheaper when I rented out the other bedroom. I got $195 per month and I included all utilities. I found a decent young guy to rent to, making this more than cheap living, for him and myself. That meant I paid less than half, $155 a month.

Planning

With lower expenses I could work less, so I could get by without a car and use public transportation – the bus. This saved me even more money. An occasional bus fare, and the bicycle I bought didn't add up to a fourth of what it cost to have a car. I needed to plan my trips around town better, but it was well worth it.

I never paid more than $40 for a piece of furniture. I knew what was important and not go extravagant. Since no one could tell the difference between a nice, clean used couch for $40 and one that cost $600, I bought the former. Thrift stores are great for this sort of buy.

When I worked less, I had time to carefully consider my options. I paid half of what others paid for groceries buying from ethnic stores. Everything was possible because I had time to search for deals.

I never cared much for jobs, so I worked mostly part-time for a number of years. I played chess, wrote poetry, and read good books. This was all possible not because I made a lot of money, but because I spent less than I made, and used the difference for the things that mattered to me. Of course any extra money that came my way went right into my savings account where it earned interest and in case I needed it when I didn't have a job or I needed to repair or replace something.

This article isn't meant as a how-to guide. I only wanted to explain how I was able to buy the things so cheaply and still enjoy life. This was in tented to get you thinking about possibilities. What are the principles? Find ways to pay less without getting less. Don't buy things you don't need. Spend less time working and more time doing the things that bring you joy. Stay out of debt. Finally, know what is truly important to you, because this is what you can have more of by living frugal.