frugality

We also thought it was important to address the first steps to take to reach financial independence… and also acknowledge that not everyone is currently in a position to get to financial freedom. The truth is, ‘just save more’ or ‘be frugal’ are not adequate pieces of advice if you’re in a tough situation. Sometimes, you need to do more than just cut back on consumerism.

Because like I said, adulting is hard and expensive enough in and of itself. So it’s only right to find some ways to treat yourself without emptying your wallet.

We’ll have to completely overhaul our budget to accommodate the realities of my new paycheck

Taking action will make you feel like you have at least a little control, which is a great remedy for anxiety.

Not all people who follow a frugal path are doing it for the same reasons. Some simply have to do it and find themselves making choices based solely on the sticker price. Others want to do it because they want to preserve value for other things or they have other values that align well with frugal choices.

Because in my naivete, I thought, Hey, saving $50 on this party would help out her family and make us all better friends.

The math works out, but what I said couldn’t have been more wrong.

Right now, millennials are in our prime years for earning, saving and investing. For most of us, the next ten years or so of financial management are going to set the tone for the rest of our lives, and that’s a pretty big deal.

It takes an incredible amount of care to make decisions that affect you — decisions only you can make. Whether big or small, when you’re reaching for big financial goals, every decision matters.

It takes conscious effort to look seriously at things beyond the immediate future. You have to train yourself to start considering the long-term consequences of your daily choices and use them as a pro-and-con with those immediate choices.

It’s about money but it’s also about time. How quickly can you see a return from either cutting back or increasing your income?

Not too many people are talking about this or thinking about this—we just kind of bank on the fact that we’ll be healthy after we stop working at our job. And what happens if you’re not?

Those were the kind of decisions that I then started to make as I realized that this debt is gonna be gone: what now, where do I go with my life after debt, what does that look like for me? And for me, it was really figuring out what success looks like for me, what things that I value, and why am I doing all of this? Now that the debt is paid off, what now?

But, while frugal living is often a difficult way to achieve goals, there are plenty of painless money-saving tips for everyday life to get started. Once you’ve started with these smaller actions, you might start to feel a shift in the way that you think.

A lay off, contract gap or sabbatical all have you paying expenses with no income coming in. I’ve been faced with all of these situations and the main difference, assuming you have emergency funds set aside, is more psychological and what you do next.

Practicing self-reflection and self-awareness are key ways we grow as people, how we acknowledge our strengths and weaknesses, how we change our habits, and it’s essential for anyone who is trying to live intentionally.