For most people, buying less and cutting costs does not sound like a very thrilling way of life.
But I’m here to show you some of the surprising benefits that frugal living can have.
Some of these benefits take some time, and effort, but I believe are worth it.
Once you know how you can benefit from a frugal lifestyle, you may be more likely to make some changes, and save your hard earned cash!
First off, what does Frugal Living mean?
Being frugal is the choice to live more simply.
Making intentional money-savvy swaps and cuts to help you on your journey to financial freedom (that includes paying off your debt, and living debt- free).
Frugal People are always looking for ways to stretch their money and make it work for them, by living below their means.
Now that you know what frugal living is, let’s get into some of the surprising benefits you will experience.
11 Surprising Benefits of Frugal Living
Get More For Your Dollar
A familiar phrase I heard growing up was “Every penny counts”. And I think that sums up being frugal pretty well.
Frugal living is all about seeing how far you can stretch your money. After all you worked so hard to earn it.
By living frugally you learn to wait for purchases, avoid paying full price, and investing in quality products. All these things help you get the best bang for your buck.
Now this does not mean buying the cheapest price out there. It means saving money where you can to afford to buy those higher ticket items of quality.
This can look like buying the store brand when you go grocery shopping, so you can afford that nice Dyson vacuum you’ve been dreaming of.
Spend Money on What You Really Want
This goes hand in hand with getting more for your dollar. Since you are now stretching your dollar you can afford what you really want.
You may come to realize you don’t need all the latest and greatest stuff, which in turn will save you money.
An example of this is the latest release of a phone. If you still have a working phone, that does everything you need it to, there is no need to upgrade to the latest release. By waiting until you need to replace your phone, the price will have come down, it also gives you time to shop around for a better deal.
Frugal living also benefits you by having the extra money to splurge when you need to. Such as by an item you have had your eye on for awhile.
Spend money on experiences, such as going to a concert with friends, or a family vacation, living a more frugal lifestyle will have you setting goals and putting money aside for what’s really important.
Helps You Reach Your Goals
By reducing your spending on purchases you don’t need, you can put that saved money towards paying off debt or towards your financial goals.
Financial goals can include:
- Living debt-free
- An emergency fund (for those unexpected costs)
- Saving for college
- Saving for a house
- Car
- Wedding
- Baby
- Retirement
- Travel
Helps With Inflation
As you continue on your frugal living journey, and living below your means, it will help you in the battle against the ever rising inflation.
Since the Covid-19 Pandemic inflation over the last couple years has been on a rapid rise of between 5 %- 7% (normal inflation rates is 2%).
This has made it near impossible for the everyday person to keep up with their normal spending habits.
By incorporating frugal habits and lifestyle changes, you can reduce your spending costs, and increase your savings to help the strain from inflation.
Prepare for Emergencies
An important benefit of frugal living is that you can make room to save for emergencies. You can build an emergency fund, so when an unexpected cost arises you can cover it, without having to put it on crest, and be charged interest.
Common uses for Emergency Funds:
- Car repair
- Medical expenses
- Home repair
- Vet bills
- Loss of employment
Want to learn more about Emergency Funds? Check out Beginner’s Guide to Building an Emergency Fund
Room to Invest
Similar to preparing for emergencies, investing is preparing for your future.
Many of us have heard the importance of investing, but do not have the means to do so, when we are living pay-check to pay-check.
That’s one of the many benefits of frugal living, having some extra cash that you can throw in a high-interest savings account, retirement account or stock market.
Your money will grow over time (thanks to interest working in your favour).
Help Reduce Stress
Who doesn’t want to reduce stress?
Money is a common stressor for many of us.
By adopting some frugal habits into your daily life you can help reduce your spending costs, in turn reducing your stress.
Cutbacks to help reduce your financial stress:
- Utility costs
- Cut back on groceries (Learn how here)
- Use, and repurpose what you have
- Shop around / wait for desired items to go on sale
All this preparation will help reduce your financial stress on the day to day, and help you be more prepared for expenses later on.
More Time
When you get the hang of frugal living you will notice one of the benefits of having more time.
That means less overtime, or working holidays. This will take time (pun intended), it does not happen over night.
Once you build your savings, by reducing costs and taking on some frugal habits, you will notice your spending decreasing and your savings increasing.
How this works:
- By wishing to not spend so much, you cut back on time in stores.
- Reducing time browsing in store and online, you are less likely to see something you MUST buy.
- Keep a grocery list
- Keep a gift list
- Clothes to replace list
This allows you to wait for a good price, and be able to get in, grab what you need and get out, reducing impulse buys and overspending.
All this time saved can be put towards more important things in your life, spending time with family, getting that one project done that you have been putting off, or unwinding with some much needed ‘me’ time.
Good For The Environment
One of the many reasons I started living more frugally was for the environmental impacts. I made the choice to use more reusable products, repurpose items I had around the house and try to bring less items into my home.
This in turns creates less waste heading to the landfills, less gas being burnt on the way to the stores and helps to keep the oceans clean.
Ways to help:
- Think before you buy
- Do I really need the item?
- Do I have something similar?
- Could I rent/ borrow the item?
- Is it worth the price?
- Reduce utility costs
- Use less water/ turn off taps
- Lower heat/ac
- Turn of lights
- Unplug when not in use
- Reuse
- Fix before buying
- Repurpose
- High gas prices?
- Walk
- Bike
- Take transit
- Carpool
You Get Creative
Instead of replacing a broken item, learn to fix it yourself, or an alternative way to do the task.
Examples of this are:
Ran out of your favourite multipurpose cleaner?
Before running to the store, try making a DIY cleaning spray yourself.
Out of bread?
Follow a recipe for nice freshly baked bread.
Chain came off your bike?
Watch a quick video on YouTube and repair your bike yourself.
Living frugally allows you to get creative, learn new skills and find a more cost effective way to get things done.
Retire Early
That’s the dream isn’t it?
But it can become a reality, and it all starts with adopting a frugal lifestyle.
Making small lifestyle changes in your everyday to help set you up for the future.
Put your money into a high-yield savings account, a tax free account or into your retirement account and make compound interest work for you, by investing your extra money and watching it grow.
⭐️ Prioritize putting as much as you can away each month/pay, and you will build your nest egg faster. The faster your retirement savings grow, the sooner you can retire.
There are many benefits to frugal living, from reducing stress to retiring early. Choose some frugal habits that you can incorporate into your life, and reap the benefits.
What benefits do you enjoy from frugal living?
Let me know down below 🙂
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