Frugality is big right now. Last year, a friend called frugal “the new black.” People everywhere are standing tall and proud and claiming themselves as frugal, and each person has their own measurement of what frugal means to them. Some call cutting back on dining out from four times a week to once a week frugal. Getting a good deal is how some subscribe to being frugal. Others version of frugal living is riding a bike to work. Many people on a quest to be frugal have looked closer at discretionary spending to see where they might be able to trim the fat – or trim more fat. Chances are that anyone in this country, who has the luxury of talking about frugality, still lives better than most people elsewhere in the word. So frugal here in the U.S. is all relative – but it’s a smart movement and I for one appreciate the effort.
I’m glad to hear the word frugal repeated over in the media and in the blogosphere. I saw some TV ads a few weeks back – I think it was Target, using ‘frugal’ in their ads. This is a good thing – getting people to think about spending before they spend. But getting a good deal and buying something on sale is only one way to frugality. Another way is not spending unless you need something – another smart move.
Which brings me to another word, maybe more important than frugal, that we could be looking at a little more closely. Need. Just having the word need drift into your thoughts allows important questions to bubble up to your consciousness. Do I need something or just want it? If I want it then why do I want it? Do I want it for me or for others? If it is for me, than is that thing filling a hole in some part of me? What is that hole about? Can it ever be filled with ‘stuff’? If I want the stuff for others, then why? Am I trying to impress others by having more ‘things’? Do I care more about what others think than what I think?
Who knows where this train of thought can lead you – maybe it’ll make you crazy, maybe it’ll make you more aware. Chances are that challenging yourself about your needs vs. wants will get you some answers. Whether you like the answers or not is another story.
Which brings me to ‘smart’. People of a certain age may recall their grandparents using common sense which was their version of frugal. Common sense is smart. You don’t throw away a perfectly good paper bag that’s only been used once. Why not let the sun dry your clothes? It would be wasteful to buy more than you need. Why have more clothes than you can wear? Can you just sew a button on that shirt rather than buy a new one? (when was the last time you wore out an item of clothing?)
Our resourceful grandparents were the founders of reuse and recycle, and everything in moderation. For them it was a way of life – and it was smart. Personally, I can’t differentiate between being frugal and being smart. Can you?
