Sushi Money

We’ve heard a lot about frugality in recent years.  No wonder of course that people are looking for more efficient ways to live and save money in challenging economic times.  And there’s all kinds of blogs and categories devoted to the topic of being frugal.  But what is frugality exactly?  Is it a virtue?  A character trait?  A lifestyle choice?  Frugality and being frugal means many things to many people.   

But I’m starting to wonder if frugality is all it’s cracked up to be. In some ways it’s like approaching the building of a house with cutting back on a few bricks here and there.  You may build the house, but will it stand the test of time?  Of course some might say it’s more about finding less costly bricks or other more efficient material, and building a house for less so you can do more with what you’ve saved.  But if one’s focus is always about saving or not using up resources, or using less of something or even of finding ways to get more from less, then what does that say about seeing value or abundance in the world around us?  How can we direct our energies more towards growth and creativity instead of focusing on not wanting certain things?  What if we just knew that there was enough to go around, or that we could have what we needed?  Would that free up our creative focus or energy in new ways so we could better our lives or the lives of others around us?

In some ways frugality has evolved almost as a discipline for some, even a spiritual journey incorporated within a lifestyle of simple living.  In South Korea there are Frugality Masters who help teach others how to live a more frugal lifestyle.   Of course with the economic challenges we face today many people are being forced toward a more frugal lifestyle by sheer necessity.  How many of us have cut back our driving and spending at the grocery store?  We find ourselves looking for more efficient use of our money and how to cut corners to get an alternative benefit for the same amount.

Some bloggers have even explored what might happen if everyone chose a more frugal lifestyle.   I may differ with many of the assumptions, but it’s interesting to consider. Certainly our ancestors may have lived more frugally but I have no desire to return to the life of my ancestors!  Realistically, most of us do prefer more choice and opportunity in life.  And I think that economic diversity is, on the whole, beneficial to society.   There will always be degrees of economic advantage and those who leverage human capital versus those who do not.

I do agree that society won’t make a “frugal leap” anytime soon barring a complete economic breakdown, and then it would only be in response to crisis for a time.  Although watching energy and food price inflation get out of hand feels like enormous challenge to many of us, those living in the U.S. in fact live in the most prosperous nation on the planet with the highest quality of economic life and opportunity for the greatest number of citizens.  It’s so good in fact that most of us take it for granted.

Of course that could depend upon your view of economic quality!  But opportunity abounds, and we are creative and enterprising individuals.  Although I wouldn’t describe it as frugality, I do think most developed societies will continue to evolve towards conservation and efficiency with resource use. 

For some people however, the thought of being frugal does not represent a positive value or benefit in their lives, but rather something that means being cheap or miserly, and not having enough money to make choices in life.  I don’t agree with that viewpoint, but I understand it. Yet whether one is rich or poor, the act or choice of being frugal is still available.  In fact, some of the most frugal people I’ve known were quite wealthy. 

Frugality then can be independent of wealth or economic status.

I also think that a lifestyle choice of simple living is different than frugality, or maybe a separate but related approach to how one chooses to live.  Many of us are on a journey to live a more simple, economical life but we’re not always frugal.  So for me, being frugal has specific meaning at times, but is not an approach or central theme I see with all of my life.   

And as I mentioned above, something about being frugal bothers me.  Too often I see frugality wrapped up in a focus of lack, absence, need, wastefulness, etc.   It seems like many people are focusing on frugality from a perspective of losing something instead of appreciating what they do have, or making positive choices and finding opportunity for growth, financial or otherwise. 

And there’s something else that I’m not quite sure that I’ve reconciled personally in terms of being frugal.  That has to do with an abundance mindset. 

I view an abundance mindset as one in which we see that everything we need is available to us in life in one form or another. It also says that we can positively, intentionally, choose a path for ourselves that brings joy and abundance to our life.  People who embrace an abundance mindset do not focus on the lack of things, or the worry that money or something will run out.  An abundance mindset knows that there will be enough money or food or whatever to supply our needs if we live intentionally to create the life we desire.

Steve Pavlina has written of the abundance mindset and shows how it’s often our perceptions that limit our ability to have whatever we want in our lives.  The opposite of the abundance mindset is the scarcity mindset, in which we limit ourselves because of our thoughts, actions or beliefs.

“At an average level of income in the USA, there™s not much difference between a dime and a penny, right?  It™s a small amount either way and not particularly significant.  Would you fret over a price difference of 9 cents?  Hopefully not.  But for some people on this planet, 9 cents is a fair amount, and to pay a dime instead of a penny for something would be regarded as extravagant and wasteful.”

“Similarly, at higher levels of income (and value creation), $10K is nothing.  It™s just a penny.  It™s insignificant.  It™s pocket change.  There™s virtually no difference between a $10K hotel room and a $100 hotel room ” the price difference is meaningless, so why not pay that extra œ9 cents for a nicer setup?”

“If you think any amount of money is œa lot or œtoo much or œextravagant, you™re resonating with scarcity, not abundance, and you™re preventing yourself from becoming the kind of person who can generate that level of value.  Why do this to yourself?  Why hold back if you™re capable of contributing so much more?”

Those are great questions.  Admittedly, sometimes it’s hard to see the abundance mindset in action, especially when you see so many poor families and children living in poverty.  It’s quite amazing too how society throws money at so many problems and yet those problems endure through the ages.  On one side of the street you may see abundance, and on the other you only find need.  Some argue that it is because of poor lifestyle choices, lack of education or unplanned challenges that need or poverty exists. And yet we find that in nearly every country and society throughout the world there are those always living at the bottom rung of the economic ladder. 

I think there will always be a need for people to help other people, no matter what you call it.  And maybe there is so much disparity simply because we are human.  We are all on a growing path, and many have simply not learned to embrace the opportunities available.

And with that we find many views of financial abundance.  Steve Pavlina also examines how achieving financial abundance can even complicate our lives.  But more importantly he shows how it’s related to the value within and around our lives:

“The pursuit of financial abundance is the means to shine a light on your need for growth in these areas.  To attract more abundance, you must create more value for others, which requires that you recognize, accept, and embrace your own value.”

Instead of frugality, I think a mindset of abundance offers greater benefits to the context of our lives.  Frugality may create short-term value, and it does perhaps show what we value in certain areas of life.  But does frugality help create long-term growth and the life that we want?  Maybe it does.  Maybe we save enough money in our IRA or retirement fund because we were frugal in other areas.  But maybe we just don’t know any better.

Maybe with an abundance mindset we would create more. Personally, I strive to live intentionally and set a postive, constructive course of growth as the years go on.  I believe we can create the life we desire through small steps of growth, big leaps of faith and embracing the opportunities that challenge us. 

Certainly I find myself balancing the realities of economic choice with being frugal.  But I’m working towards not seeing things in life from the perspective of lack, or to live in fear that gas or money or whatever will run out.   No question that as we spend more money at the gas pump we are faced with the reality and choice of driving a car that uses gas.  Or not.  We are presented with the opportunity to make decisions that change the status quo: keep putting that gas in the car, don’t drive it, get a smaller car, etc.  Most of us just drive on, and gripe about gas prices while filling the car.  But we don’t have to!

Our nation is challanged by that very problem as many grapple with wasting so much money on a daily commute.  We are now looking for frugal alternatives whether that be with higher mileage vehicles, or abandoning the car altogether and riding a bicycle.  But many people are angry because of the sheer economic weight of spending so much money on something that doesn’t return any excess value for the money.  At that point it doesn’t really matter what you call it, even though some people have become so frugal that it’s affecting how they drive- they’re running out of gas!

But what does frugality mean to you?  I ask the question because there are so many perceptions of the word frugal based on the context of our life and experience.  I browsed several dictionaries and the words frugal or frugality have many meanings:

Frugality:

• Avoiding wastefulness
• Resourceful use of money or economic goods
• Careful management of anything valuable
• Practicing, or marked by economy
• Applies what is used to a profitable purpose
• Opposed to extravagance
• Careful use of material resources
• Sparing use of things
• Reduction of waste
• Seeking efficiencies
• Economy, thrift, parsimony

Does that cover most themes for being frugal ?   In some ways, I think frugality is a lifestyle choice.  But I have to wonder that if someone’s lifestyle gets to the point where frugality reigns over everything, then isn’t it taken to the extreme?  Doesn’t it then border on obsessive behavior in the same manner as compulsive shopping or spending money all the time?

Perhaps most people who value frugality seek a happy medium.  I like the idea of being frugal, saving money and using our resources wisely.  It’s quite rewarding to use the materials or goods we have at hand to satisfy needs in our lives, and not having to spend money constantly.  Growing a garden in some ways represents a wonderful balance between maximizing resources at hand in order to live more economically, and being frugal by saving money we would spend otherwise. 

More importantly however, the garden creates value in our lives!  We create something with our own hands, and it provides a healthful benefit in return.  Few things taste as good as fresh vegetables you have grown and cooked from your own garden.

But frugality can become a negative influence.  I’ve seen people call themselves frugal that to me are simply cheap and miserly with the money they do have.  It’s their choice and their money obviously, but I don’t see that it provides added value to their lives.  Instead it appears to create obsessive behavior and more stress in their lives. 

So can we find an ideal balance for managing the money and resources we have and still be frugal?   And how do we live abundantly while appreciating the life and choices that we have?  How do we let go of the scarcity mindset?  Frugality and abundance are surely not mutually exclusive, and may even complement each other.

Yet while balancing frugality and abundance, I still believe in working slowly towards living a simpler and more efficient life.  And while we make that journey I don’t want frugality to be such a focus that it involves lack or a mindset based on fear.  Rather I hope to redirect our focus at times, and find new or more creative approaches to living happily in a practical and efficient manner; to see the value that our lives represent and to leverage that value in new directions.   And I have to wonder,  isn’t life too short to make frugality a defining theme?  

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