With the economy being what it is, the big thing nowadays seems to be “living frugal.” Save money here, cut corners there, put your dollar through the extra mile! The whole act of being frugal has turned into an entire marketing campaign itself, and businesses know that in order to succeed they’re going to have to play up on this mindset. The mindset of letting your money accumulate a lot of cheaper, lower quality goods in comparison to fewer, high quality goods.

And it makes sense, right?

If you’re being frugal, that means you’re getting more for your money, aren’t you? You’re not needlessly throwing it down the drain on overpriced items when you could be stretching that dollar to meet multiple demands instead of just one. Instead of that $100 pair of jeans, you could find a cheaper $30 pair and use that additional $70 towards the week’s groceries. Doesn’t that seem like a winning combination? Instead of one item, that $100 just got you two different things. It seems like most other people in these times are living in such a way, and businesses are certainly promoting a lot of lower-end products to meet the demands for such a market, and so a lifestyle such as this only seems normal, doesn’t it?

Except we have one small problem…

That $30 pair of jeans you just bought, albeit being nice, aren’t what you really wanted now, are they?. You saved money to use towards groceries, but now you’re stuck with a product that you really aren’t completely satisfied with. They also may not last as long. Granted you won’t see this next week, but in a year or so from now, that $100 pair may still be shining through while your $30 pair needs replacement, adding one more expense to your list in a year’s time. Which leads us to the question of: Is it worth saving the money despite having products that are inferior and you’re not 100% happy with?

These days it can certainly seem like it, and if you tell people you're not you’ll often get strange looks or responses. I went years trying to cut corners on my spending until I realized that in the long run I was probably spending just as much money and yet I still wasn't 100% satisfied with myself.

To clarify though, don’t confuse being frugal with being a smart shopper. If you want a $100 pair of jeans and you can find them on sale or you have a coupon that allows you to get them for $75, then that’s not being frugal, that’s just being smart. You got a $100 product at $75, and there’s no reason to pass up an opportunity like that.

That being said, being tall, it’s sometimes hard for me to find jeans, and I’ve had many, many similar experiences to the one described above. I didn’t want to pay a ton of money for the more expensive brand, so I settled with the lower-end brand and had to deal with it never fitting quite right or not being in the style I liked. Sometimes it didn’t really matter, and I was able to find a cheaper jean that worked out perfectly, never alluding to the fact that it cost me next to nothing. Other times, however, it became glaringly obvious that I was wearing something cheap, as it ended up looking funny after just a few washes. I’d end up not really wearing it since I didn’t think it looked well, and in the end I lost more money than if I’d just bought the nicer jeans in the first place. I paid $$$ for a product I wasn’t even using…. So why bother in the first place?

That's the biggest issue when it comes to being frugal: that you’re simply not satisfied with the product you’ve received. Sure, it works and it gets the job done, but are you really happy with what you got in exchange for parting with your money? Is it something you can feel comfortable with and enjoy, or it something that’s just there to fill a void and nothing more?

Of course, if we all had tons of money this wouldn’t be an issue in the first place. We could all get whatever we wanted, whenever we wanted. Because of this, anyone who discards the idea of being frugal is looked upon as a sort of snob or an elitist; someone who is “too good” to worry about saving money. In reality, this couldn’t be farther from the truth.

When I need something, I get what I really need, not just something to barely cover the bases. That doesn’t mean I think I’m too good for lower-end products, nor does it necessarily mean I’m wealthier. In fact, if you were to look at me, you may even think quite the contrary. I don’t squander money on useless things just for the sake of buying them. When I need something, I get something nice and I leave it at that. The reason the need for being frugal even enters the equation for so many people is because they WANT so many things. It doesn’t just become what they NEED, but rather they have a desire to spend money on items that really have no use to them.

It’s not just certain individuals however, as we’ve become a society comprised of this type of behavior; buying a bunch of junk we don’t have a use for and just having it for the sake of having it.

Of course, what’s “frugal” to one person may be a luxury to another. Price and value are all in the eye of the beholder. Going back to the jean example; if you really like the pair of $30 jeans, then spending $100 just for the sake of spending $100 is going to be wasteful. People have this natural tendency to think that being frugal means buying dirt cheap, but it's really subjective to whoever's buying the product.

Instead of buying lower quality items than you’d prefer, buy what you like, but don’t buy more than you need. Don’t go out and decide to buy 10 different pairs of jeans just because you can, rather buy the one(s) you like and leave it at that. That’s the whole reason I can afford to not be frugal. Not because I have this vastly higher income than others or because I’m some kind of elitist, but because I don’t squander my money on pointless things. When I need something, I buy something nice that I’ll be able to have for a while, not something cheap just to save a few bucks. At the end of the day I’d rather have a small selection of high-quality products that I’m 100% happy with than an abundance of cheap items that I really don’t need. Spending money, regardless of what it’s on, is an investment. Buying something today that will last through tomorrow is much wiser than buying something today that won’t even make it ‘til tomorrow.

Being frugal just isn’t an enjoyable way to live. It’s much more rewarding to treat yourself to something nice than to constantly knock everything down a few notches just so you can fit it into your budget. The biggest part is really learning to curb your excess spending, as that’s what will allow you to get the things you really need instead of all the useless junk. Like I said, I’m no wealthier than anybody else, yet I don’t spend money on junk I’ll never use.

Really think about just how much you could save if you stopped making all those small, petty junk purchases. All that money could go towards something much more rewarding, and you’d actually feel happy with yourself too. Instead of being frugal, you’ll notice you have a great deal more happiness when you treat yourself to the things that really have value attached to them. Knowing that you worked hard and in the end were able to accumulate something nice because of it feels good. (as it should)

For example, I actually built this computer from the ground up that I’m using to type this article. When I put it together, I wanted something nice that would run well, last for at least a few years down the road, (a long time for computers) and be able to do everything I needed it to do. I could have cut corners and bought cheaper parts, or even bought a pre-made model that might’ve saved me a bit of money, but didn’t pack the entire punch that I was looking for. Of course, I opted to spend the extra dollar and get everything that I wanted and the results for doing so have more than paid for themselves. Had I bought a cheaper model at the time, I’d have to start shelling out money for minor upgrades here or there, or I’d have to decide if I needed to build an entirely new system. Instead of being frugal initially, I spent the extra dollar and now because of it I not only have a product that works extremely well, but I have a product that will continue to work extremely well into the future too.

That’s really the biggest lesson to learn when it comes to being frugal. You’re obviously not going to be fully satisfied with the product you receive, but you’re probably going to end up spending just as much, if not more, in the long run.

Going back to my computer example up above; years ago when I built the computer before my current one, I decided to “save money” by buying low-end parts. One of those parts, the power supply unit, the piece that powers the entire computer, was a cheap model I found online. It ran me about $40, as opposed to a higher-end piece which ran about $85. Four months later (conveniently after the 90 day warranty had expired) it burnt out on me. I replaced it with the same piece, and within about 6 months THAT one burnt out on me too. Being frugal, I decided to opt for another brand that was equally cheap, with that one lasting me about a year before it too had issues. That’s $120 I spent on parts that didn’t even work! Lo and behold, I decided to buy something nice this time running me an additional $85, leaving me with the grand total of $205. Had I just dropped that $85 up front instead of being frugal I would have saved myself a decent amount of money.

Now, instead of price being my focus, I keep my eyes on the value and quality of a product. If it’s within my price range and I can afford it, then I get it, and if I can’t, then I move along. I don’t try and stretch $100 to cover the cost of two cheap $50 products that I won’t be happy with. Finding one $100 product that will retain its value is much better than two $50 products that won’t.

If you’re still intent on being frugal, start keeping track of just how much money you spend on repeat products. Things that break or fall apart, or things that don’t work as well as they used to and you now have to replace. Would you have gotten a better deal had you just spent the additional dollar up front? Chances are you would have.

Also, don’t fall prey to the mass marketing about frugal living that you constantly read and hear about today. Most people that are frugal probably spend more money than I do; they just try and cover so many pointless bases with it that they end up with a pile of junk that they have no use for instead of something nice that they DO need.

And if you still think being frugal is a good lifestyle, just take a look around your home and see how much junk is laying about. Could the money spent on that have gone towards something better?

Probably.

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