Have you heard of the term living stingy? I know I have. It rings that negative connotation in your head. You hear the word stingy and automatically think this person is cheap, skimpy, penny-pinching, and any other words that relate to being stingy. What does living stingy really imply?
As I think about it, living a stingy life is more closely related to living a frugal life. You pay for things you want and value, and you save on everything else.
My wife and I do this all the time. We try all sorts of different frugal hacks to save money and spend it on things we value and enjoy like traveling.
Stingy does come across as a negative word. You are thought of as cheap instead of being thought of as thrifty. Let’s take that negative connotation away and really see why it is good to be living a stingy life.
What does Living Stingy Mean?
Stingy means: unwilling to spend money. It has many synonyms like cheapskate, meager, tight-fisted, and any others you may think of.
Wow! I am blown away by how negative the dictionary can really make one word feel. If you have ever been called stingy in your life it makes you feel down, depressed, not keeping up with the Joneses, and feeling with less self-worth because you just want to save money.
Living stingy is about:
- Living on less
- Finding ways to not spend money
- Not wasting time on worthless endeavors.
The stingy life involves saving money or living below your means. Frugality is part of this philosophy. We live a frugal stingy life to save for big items like financial freedom, travel, a future home, or any other big life expenses.
To some, living stingy is not always a choice. We are not all blessed with the ability to have lots of money coming in from our jobs. Some have to have a tight budget in order to get out of debt or even stay afloat until financial situations get better.
Why Should You Consider Living Stingy?
Here are some Pros and Cons of Living Stingy.
Pros:
1. Financial Freedom:
Living Stingy can really help you achieve financial goals like attaining financial freedom. This is one of the best things about saving money. Being able to be financially free, is one of the greatest goals to achieve.
You will be able to have the freedom of time, money, and do whatever you may choose. This is a great thing that living stingy can help you to achieve. Money is a tool that provides freedom to us all, let’s save it and use it to achieve freedom.
As we live stingy lives we are able to take that money to reach financial independence. This is what personal finance is about. Just making better decisions on how we are spending money.
2. Saving Money:
Being on a living stingy mindset, you will need to learn how to budget your money. This means you need to know where your money is going. This could be from setting up a budget or even just tracking every expense. Being able to track your money helps you to plan out better for your future. Then you can cut out waste that is happening when you spend money.
Tracking this spending can help you in spending less money. If you know where the waste is then you cut that out.
These savings that come from cutting out waste can really make a difference in your life. You will now be in more control of your money. Your money will not control you, but you have made steps to take control of your spendings and resulting in you saving more to accomplish those goals.
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3. Accomplishing Goals:
We all have financial goals in life. Even if you are not living stingy, maybe your goal will be to live a lavish life. If you do not have goals in life then you may wake up 30 years from now in a panic mode that you may have to work until you are dead.
Creating financial goals is one thing that living stingy creates in you. You start to save money through a budget, then you are wondering what to do with this money so you look up information and discover some financial blogs that teach about investing.
Through these realizations, you put in plans for your money to work for you. This is no longer an aimless journey through life, but a calculated approach to living a more fulfilled life. As we live stingy lives we are able to take that money to reach financial independence. Just making better decisions on how we are spending money.
Live your life accomplishing goals through living stingy.
Cons:
With everything, there must be some cons that come. Living stingy has a negative connotation due to some of the extreme factors that happen.
1. Stigma:
There is a stigma attached to living stingy. People are labeled with this cheap label. They are looked down upon and sometimes are not invited to places because people think they are cheap.
This is a horrible stigma to be labeled with. Oftentimes, living stingy is not what people think. We do not have to live a life keeping up with the Joneses. We can live a stealth-wealthy life. Everyone’s goals are different, and if you want to hit some financial goals by living stingy then that is great.
2. Sacrifices:
Oftentimes, we need to sacrifice things in order to be living stingy. This a huge con. People need to change their mindsets. If you are used to having cable and subscriptions to every single tv network then that needs to change.
You will need to sacrifice many things that takes tons of money out of your pocket. That may be cutting down on going out to eat or even cutting the cable to save some money. Living stingy is not as easy as 1+2=3. It takes sacrifices.
3. Going Too Far:
One of the greatest cons to living stingy is going too far. Sometimes people go to the extreme. They want to cut on everything and anything. It gets too much.
You are then going to be labeled as the person that is incredibly cheap because you refuse to budge on anything. It is all about the money.
With frugality, you are not a cheapskate. So you need to realize that things that bring value to your life may come at a higher expense. Items like cell phones, computers, and even vehicles should not be bought at the cheapest made item to save a few bucks. You can find deals and find those items that have great value and last a long time.
Here are some Tips for Living Stingy
1. Shop Deals and Sales:
If you are going to go and spend some money, make sure you are getting a good deal on it. Do not just go to spend. Save and make sure you are buying something on some of the best deal days of the year.
Usually, before school starts there are some great sales on electronics. Black Friday is another great day to find some good deals. You can even take a look at deals a few days after Christmas.
These days are great days to find the best sales on items you have been saving upon. It is a way to save money.
2. Cut Out Subscriptions and Cable:
Cutting down on TV is a great way to save money. First of all, you will no longer have to pay for cable. The cable can cost a lot of money throughout the year. Now, if you cut out cable don’t just replace that with 5-10 different subscriptions. This too will be the same as cable in cost.
If you want to watch TV then try to pick up an antenna to get some of the free TV programs that are offered to your area. I did this myself to save money.
You can also get one subscription for your family and try to find friends or relatives to share other subscriptions with. This can help you to save money and share with others.
One of the biggest ways to cut out tv is to read more books. I love reading books, and just being able to have a library card can really make a difference to you just learning and saving.
3. DIY:
Oftentimes, we feel we do not have time or the skills to fix problems. This is when you need to take a look, log on to youtube and find a video. You can save so much money by doing it yourself. If things are broken in your house, you could quickly learn how to fix things.
You can even DIY decorate your place. The ability to learn is at our fingertips. So let’s take some action and do things ourselves first and save money through DIY.
4. Travel Hacking:
One of my favorite things in the world is to travel. Travel hacking is using deals, rewards, and points to travel for free or cheaply. This is one of the greatest things I have discovered trying to do things more frugally.
I use reward points that I have through credit cards to gain access to free flights or much cheaper ones. Having memberships with hotels can also give you some benefits as well. So when you are looking at trying to save through travel always take a look at some travel hacking tips to get you the best deal at the best experience possible.
5. Enjoy Free Activities:
There are so many free fun activities out there. These activities can help you to spend less while still having fun. There are many places that offer free activities. Oftentimes in big city centers, there will be movies in the park, maybe some local festivals, parks to play in, and maybe so places to go hiking or camping.
Take advantage of free activities. That is how my wife and I like to lives. We are all about frugal living, and finding things to do that are free are on the top of our list. Research and find great free activities to take part in, and enjoy some life without spending money.
6. Save Money on Food:
One thing to help out is to do more grocery shopping and stop eating out. Eating out can really make a huge dent in your budget. Let’s start eating better and cook at home. Then you save money on groceries.
Being able to save money on groceries is a huge thing. One thing you can do is find off-brand items at the grocery store. There is not much of a difference between a brand and off-brand on certain food.
You can even shop at the more discount grocery stores like Aldis. This will help you to eliminate some of your food costs.
Being able to find discount stores and cook at home really does make a difference on your money situation. Take some time to plan out your meals, and you will be on the road to saving more money.
Live Your Best Stingy Life
Living stingy is not for everyone. If you want to use this to help you achieve great financial goals then I believe it is a great way to live.
Personally, I live a frugal life. My wife and I spend money on what we find important in life like traveling, experiences, and family and friends. These are the items we like to spend money on.
Through life, you have to make choices. Living stingy may not be always a choice for all people, but if you have a choice between a more lavish life and living stingy then make the one that fits your personal circumstance.
I like living stingy. Are you living stingy? What tips are tricks would you use to save more?
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” Spend less than you make, stay out of debt, and invest the rest”
I’m Steve. I’m an English Teacher, traveler, and an avid outdoorsman. If you’d like to comment, ask a question, or simply say hi, leave me a message here, on Twitter (@thefrugalexpat1). Many of my posts have been written to help those in their journey to financial independence. I am on my journey, and as I learn more I hope to share more. And as always, thanks for reading The Frugal Expat.
So true about the difference between frugality and cheapness. One odd thing about Canada is there are now Aldi type stores, I feel like I’m the crazy one….
Aldi Stores are great. Great prices and good deals. My wife and I did some shopping down in Australia at Aldis. I use to shop at them in the U.S.A. It was always much cheaper, but same value.
It is amazing how people look down on others that are simply being mindful of how they spend their money. I can’t imagine living another way!
It really is amazing. Sometimes, you don’t have the money or you just don’t want to spend the money. I have had friends that would go out all the time. I couldn’t do that because I just didn’t want to spend the money on those things.
We definitely live stingy, and I’m happy that we do! It’s played a huge part in getting us to where we are today. Stinginess builds a strong foundation for a bright financial future—so I’m more than happy to encourage others to live stingy!
We live quite stingy as well. It is amazing what stinginess can do to help you reach financial success. Once you set a goal, you just need to figure out how to reach it. I think living a stingy life can really help you reach some great financial goals as well. I am glad to see it has helped your family out.