Living stingy is hard to practice in our current modern life
I really find very few families live frugally the right way
While all the rest believe they live the best time of their lives
Why? everybody nowadays carry multiple credit cards in their wallet
This means it is very easy to fall in temptation when it comes to killer vacation or buying luxury bags, clothes or whatever
All you do is swipe your credit card and you’re done
You think you will take care of paying your accrued pending amount later on
Even if you are able to make it and pay off your debt quickly
Is that the life you want to live?
Squander your money then worry about what will happen next later
Or learn few financial tips to help you live a balanced life a mix of spend, enjoy and save for the future
That’s why below, I ‘ll show you that living stingy is not what you thought of
What does stingy mean?
Stingy or another synonym parsimonious is the act of having money
But unwillingly spend it on himself or on others
Also he is not willing to spend it on essential things as well
It is a very hard feeling to imagine
Because if you deprive yourself from essential things how can you do that to your kids
Don’t worry I am not teaching you to be stingy that’s totally not what I meant by living stingy
I meant to live frugally and spend your money wisely to enjoy your moment and also plan to save for future
Is living stingy a bad habit?
Living stingy is not a bad habit
I know it draws a bad image of someone who collects coupons like crazy or whatever
This is not true at all because
- Being mindful of your money doesn’t mean you are stingy or generous person, you just practice spending money towards your needs than your wants
- Living stingy means sticking to budgeting where you develop a sense of where your money is going and making thoughtful decisions on your purchases
Difference between being stingy and living stingy?
Being stingy is the fact of having the money but you deprive yourself from spending it on anything including even essential things for your living
Unfortunately most of those who are being stingy don’t have a financial goals on how to invest their money
If they had a plan on how to grow their kept money, they would be in a better situation
But of course, this is not the rule for every stingy person
Anyway on the other hand side, living stingy is a matter of buying all what you need wisely or frugally
While deferring your wants till you are convinced it will add value to your life
Here is an example, it is kind of relevant to what I discussed above
My watch is Michael Kors brand, my wife bought it on discount
Its price after the discount is the same to any regular watch
I’ve been thinking to buy an Apple watch but I am kind of waited sometime till my watch started to break down
Pros and cons of living stingily
Yes there are cons too when it comes to living frugally
Let us start first with the Pros of living stingy
Appreciate the value of money
Once you start to live stingily you will start building a sense of the true value of money
I cannot describe it but what I can tell you is
You will experience it as you practice saving first before you spend your income
Financial knowledge and wellness
Financial knowledge is really a common sense knowledge
Unfortunately not everybody knows all basic tips like difference between assets and liabilities
But if you are keen to live stingily you will be open to read more on financial area
Anyway I will leave you to read my personal financial tips
Staying within your income due to budgeting
Those who are living stingily know they wouldn’t be able to achieve that without relying on what they call it a budget
Budget is a simple word but it requires what I call a budget planning
It is an amazing feeling to realize that you have full control of your income
Force it to where it should be spent and save money towards to your financial goals
Being content with what you have
The good thing about living stingy is you start to enjoy life with whatever your current income as long as you are budgeting it
It is indescribable feeling to be content with what you own
And not compare yourself with others
Being satisfied with your used car and not look for friends who own luxurious cars
This feeling will not be fading as long as you’re working hard towards your financial goals
Staying debt free
Those who became debt free know how it feels to overcome debt
They surely recall the before and after feeling of living in debt
Where before they were experiencing insomnia, stress and anxiety
And after paying their debts in full, a new feeling come to the horizon
A feeling of lifting a heavy hard rock from their shoulders
A lot of those who paid their debts prefer to be living stingy life
You would be crazy after fighting your debt to go back and put yourself in a new one
Second the Cons of living stingy
Most around you will misunderstood you
If you are living stingy I will ask you to keep it for yourself
I am afraid once someone starts mixing what you do with ignorance to being stingy
Rumor starts to spread and people will start thinking of you as being stingy
It is hard to explain that you’re not stingy but you’re living stingy
At the end who cares if you care then keep it for yourself
Remember it is your live and you have full control of it
Going to the extreme
There is a chance that you end up going to the extreme
I don’t want you to do that to yourself
Nowadays those who are living stingy in our modern life can still enjoy so many things without wasting time and effort
Like old days those who were obsessed about couponing can use lot of apps to show all offers and discounts in your area
You can also get cashback using many apps too
I will leave it for you to read quick cash websites or app under desperate for money
12 smart ways to live stingy
Actually this list can go longer than that
But I want it to make it concise so you can remember it
And so you can start implementing them one after the other
Trust me, these tips below will impact your life dramatically
Set your financial goals
Some financial goals are short terms in nature while others are long terms
Short terms like saving for the deposit for new home or replace your existing car
While long terms are saving for the retirement
Unfortunately we as humans cannot have strong will kept in memory
Almost all of those who managed to achieve their financial goals had written them on paper and hanged on a nearby place
If you are serious about achieving your financial goals you have to write them
I highly recommend to print and hang them on a place you see it often
Read it from time to time and think about it
Create a budget and stick to it
I will ask you a question, why I ask you to create a budget ?
Simple answer, budget is a tool you build to know where you money go
And how much it goes in each category
I will prove it to you now
If I ask you what is the percentage of your rent/mortgage to your income?
It is impossible to know it if you don’t maintain a budget
I recommend to read my post about how to create a budget ?
Ask yourself if this is a need or want?
Your need or want is not a new term
It is a well known term for those who practice living stingy life
It is just a face that you never thought about it
In simple words, your need is all the essential things you buy to keep you alive
Like your shelter, food and transportation
What about your wants?
Well wants are all the things you can skip or postpone and it won’t make a difference
If you buy a new brown shoe while you have a black shoe
You would think, well I want a brown shoe to go with my brown pants
I cannot wear black shoes with brown pants, they won’t match
This is an example, please don’t take it literally
I am just emphasizing the fact that not anything you pay money for is necessary
Save before you spend your income
Of course it would be feasible to save first as I call it pay yourself first
Why? OK whatever income you have, it will be spent at all if you don’t control it
Wait a second, how can you control it?
Well, by budgeting your money you will be able to control how you spend your money
But, what if you get some deficit in your budget
That’s why I ask you to save money first before you spend your income
Be productive with your time
If you want to live frugally find a way to increase your income by pursuing any side hustle
Number one reason for not pursuing that is your excuse about lack of time
In reality, it is not the lack of time but it is the proper allocation of that time
If you check your daily routine, how much you spend watching TV?
Or how much time you spend on social media like Facebook
If you have poor time management, I suggest to read Steven Covey‘s book called First Things First
This book will teach you how to manage your time as time is money
Get rid of unnecessary subscription bills
I don’t want to say that the only way to catch those sneaky bills is to have a budget
But if you are not planning to start your budget yet
I recommend to get all your credit and debit cards and check all of your recurring bills
Definitely there is a chance that you may find one or more bills to get rid off
Declutter your home and sell what you don’t need
I was wondering one day what I could sell and get rid of from home
Then I read someone saying to start from your home door and look around
Move slowly and think about any item your eyes sees and go through all your rooms
Try it and count how many items you can get rid of
When it comes to listing and selling your items Facebook Marketplace is my best
It is free to use and there are thousands of hungry buyers in your local area
Also Craiglist and eBay can be an option too
Join cash back websites
If you prefer living stingy then join cash back websites and download apps
I have compiled a list of all the apps and websites
Starting with Swagbucks that gives you 5$ bonus for signing up
You can earn cash back from any purchases you make online from their website
Rakuten is an app that gives you $10 bonus when you sign up plus cash back percentages that vary from one store to another
MyPoints is similar to Swagbucks as both are sites rewarding points redeemable to cash
You will get a bonus of $10 bonus just for signing up
TopCashBack is another site rewarding with points similar to MyPoints
Honey is also similar to Rakuten, Paribus and TopCashBack
Qmee and Shopkick are cash rewards sites that make you money for shopping online
Paribus is an app that gives cashback when you shop for online purchases another competitive app similar to Rakuten
ShopAtHome is a cashback app available in US with more than 2,000 retailers
Ibotta is an app available in US which gives you a sign up bonus of $20 and cash back on groceries
Storewards and Receipt Hog are competitor to Ibotta where the latter is available in US and Canada
Cashout 51 is similar to Storewards and Receipt Hog but it rewards you for only products shown on their app only
Fetch Rewards gives you $2 for signing up and rewards you with cash back when you scan and upload your receipts
Dosh is a cash back that links your debit or credit within the app to track your purchases and rewards you with cash back also it gives you $5 bonus for signing up
GetUpside is a cash back gas app rewarding you 25 cents on every gas receipt
Eat left over dinner in lunch
Actually before living stingy I was buying lunch at work
I used to spend a lot of money buying lunches
That was because I wasn’t into cooking and used to be a junk guy
Anyway, I saved a lot when I got married as my wife is good cook
Buy grocery in bulk
Keep in mind there are so many grocery items that don’t expire
For example, dry seeds, rice, sugar, flour and spices they can stay longer
Buy the above items in bulk if they go on sale
Also I found paying for Costco membership especially with the executive plan will save me money but How?
Well, there are 2 types of membership, first one you pay $60 and the second type you pay $120
With the $120, I collect 2% cashback that collects me $80 pay year so I paid less than the first $60 membership type
One more thing buying from membership club stores will let you save money with bulky items as they are way cheaper than buying them from grocery stores
Buy some items from dollar stores
There are so many items you can buy from dollar stores to save a lot of money
Like greeting cards, party supplies, notebooks, gift boxes and wrapping papers, storage containers, Christmas ornaments, mugs and glasses, picture frames, bagged and boxed candies, plastic food containers and some toys
Actually there are many more but that was on top of my head
Buy gifts from your own gift cards
Before I even started living stingy, I used to keep all gift cards
Sometimes I give the gift card as is and other times I buy gifts with gift receipt
Does It Work to Live frugally?
Yes, it really works well living stingy
I have written so many articles about how to save money with multiple ways
Read all my money saving articles and you will see I am not talking about few dollars
But you can see I am showing you significant savings