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Living stingy is easy!
Now, don’t get me wrong – this isn’t for everyone.
It takes a certain type of person to be able to go without and not feel deprived. But if you can handle it, living stingy is the way I recommend going because it has allowed me much more freedom and saved me a lot of money.
Saving money is a skill.
I’m not talking about saving for your retirement, buying a house, or funding the honeymoon of your dreams. I’m talking about making small changes in our day-to-day routine that can add up to big savings each month and over time.
Whether you’re just starting out with these money habits or already living them, read this post and begin to change your daily habits.
Many times we look at living stingy as being a frugal jerk.
However, by living stingy, you are looking at the overall picture – financial, resourceful, and creative with your money.
You will learn all you need to know in order for you to start living stingy today!
In this post, we will explore why living stingy can be better than you could ever imagine and how simple habit change leads to enduring happiness.
What is Living Stingy?
Living stingy is a lifestyle that encourages spending less than you earn.
The meaning of living stingy can help people to save more money, achieve financial independence, and have more time to spend with loved ones.
Now, that is something everyone needs in their lives!
In order to live stingily, it is important to focus on delaying instant gratification and staying on a tight budget. This means that you need to set goals in terms of what you want your money spent for in the future.
Understandably, how to live stingily is different for each person. For some, it may mean penny-pinching and for others cutting out non-essential items such as takeaway or eating out too frequently.
In order to live a life of financial freedom and satisfaction, you must find your personal meaning behind sacrifice that works with your lifestyle choices.
The term “living stingy” is a bit of an oxymoron. It’s not about being poor or depriving yourself, but instead, it means cutting out non-essentials such as takeaway and eating out in order to save money for the future.
Why A Life of Living Stingy?
Living stingy is a lifestyle that promotes frugal living. It is not about denying yourself anything that you want or need, but rather it is about changing your mindset. Speficially, learning that the small things in life are all that counts.
Living stingy is not about being miserly, but rather about living within your means and making financial goals for yourself.
Most people live beyond their means and are in debt which leads to stress, unhappiness, and other problems. Living stingy can help you avoid these issues by bringing balance into your life.
Pros of Living Stingy
Typically, these are the benefits of living stingy.
- Being happy with what you have
- Avoiding spending more than needed
- Managing money well
- Spending time wisely on what’s important
- Lower cost of living
- Less stress
- Lack of materialism
- Reduce waste in the environment
- Save money
Cons of Living Stingy
For many, living stingy sounds unappealing for these reasons.
- Feel like you are unable to afford anything
- Friends who do not agree with your lifestyle
- Lose motivation to earn more money
- Self-sabotage by not earning enough money
- Assume you can keep this level of expenses forever
The majority of the time, living a stingy life is actually not as bad as it seems.
Although the list of benefits of a stingy life seems like a good idea to live a stingy life, you have to ways the many pros and cons that come along with this type of lifestyle.
How to Live Stingy
By living stingy, it is amazing what living this way will do for your financial success.
That is reason enough to go ahead and explore this type of lifestyle.
Step #1 – Find your Financial Goals
It is important to have goals in order for you to know what you are working towards.
Also, it is important that your goals are realistic so that the process of reaching them will be easier.
Goals should be specific and measurable, such as saving $1,000 in a month or getting your house paid off within 10 years.
Possible Financial Goals:
- Get out of Student Loan Debt
- Start the Path to Financial Freedom
- Pay off Credit Card
- Feed Savings Account Goals
- Buy a House
- Build an Emergency Fund
- Save 10K in a year challenge
You must identify your financial goals and the time frame to accomplish them. Learn more smart financial goals to accomplish.
Step #2 – Budget for your Lifestyle
When you are starting out, it’s important to have a budget for your lifestyle in order to live comfortably. This can be anything from how much money you need for food and clothes every month to how much you can afford to contribute to your retirement fund.
Making a budget is an important part of achieving your goals.
It keeps you from wasting money on unnecessary items!
It is important to budget for what you need and want in life, as you should spend money on things that align with your values.
To help you achieve this, you can use one of the best budgeting apps to track every dollar of income and expenses. This will help you know how much cash flow you have left at the end of each month.
Step #3 – Cut Expenses
Cutting unnecessary expenses can help you save money and live your life the way you want to.
You must reevaluate your daily routine by identifying what needs are necessary for each day, then making a budget that accommodates them all. Then, cut out the excess.
There are a lot of ways that you can reduce your bills. You can find what is costing you the most and cut it out, or automate some tasks so that they happen automatically every month.
Below, we will have many living stingy tips to help you out.
Step #4 – Make More Money Than You Spend
The goal of living stingy is to make more money than what you spend. Rather than the flip side (that most people do), which is spending more money and not making any extra cash to cover the difference.
When you spend an unnecessarily large amount of money, many of your funds will be put towards things that do not allow for a wide range of choices.
By living below your means, you will be able to prioritize your money for personal events like anniversaries or birthdays instead of spending excessively on non-essential purchases.
Learn more about living below your means.
Step # 5- Increase Your Income
There are many things that you can do to increase your income.
Here are some examples:
Start to increase your income by thinking about how you can turn a side hustle into a long-term opportunity.
You can increase your income on the side while maintaining your day job. Find ways to make money now.
Step # 6 – Incorporate Minimalism into your Lifestyle
Minimalism is the pursuit of existence with the fewest amount of things necessary to achieve the desired result of living with less.
Moreover, the biggest benefit to minimalism is that it is a trendy idea that more people agree with than living stingy.
Minimalists believe that consumption, owning things, and acquiring “stuff” leads to an overabundance of things in one’s life. In addition, you are able to save money quickly.
Step # 7 – Save Money on Purchases
Saving money on purchases is a popular topic and there are many ways to do it.
One way is to only buy things that you really need and you know they will last.
Another way is to wait until they go on sale or buy them at a discount. Then, wait for things to go on sale again.
Savings on unnecessary purchases is the first step to financial freedom.
If you’re looking to save money in your day-to-day life, apps like Ibotta and Rakuten are a great way to do that. These apps allow you to find the lowest price possible for products or give you cash back just for making a purchase.
Step #8 – Sell Items you Do Not Use
Selling items you do not use is a way of getting rid of things that are taking up space in your house or collecting dust. Also, it is helpful for those who want to buy something but can’t afford it.
Plus it is a great way to make some extra money on the side without actually having to work for it.
By selling your unwanted household items rather than disposing of them, you will live a more waste-free life while saving money too!
Not sure you like the idea… Check out Flea Market Flippers making $100k a year!
Step #9 – Be Stingy with your Time
To be stingy with your time is to be up-to-date on important tasks and not spend too much time on some other, less important task.
Too many times you are always busy and never have time to do what you love. When you are in this situation, it is easy to get caught up in doing things that don’t really matter in the grand scheme of things.
It is important to be mindful of where you spend your time so you can enjoy life more and achieve your financial goals.
You can waste a lot of time by scrolling on the phone or watching Netflix and chilling rather than doing actual work.
While, it is important not to over-commit yourself, but also make sure you’re enjoying life too! Understand the true meaning of time freedom.
Step #10 – Create an Action Plan
An action plan is a list of tasks that are steps to success. It can be as long or short as you want, but it should include things to start living stingy and enjoy your life more.
If you have specific financial goals, ensure you are budgeting appropriately. Even if your goal is to save money with a certain amount of time, it is important that you take the necessary steps in order to achieve this goal.
Create an action plan with milestones so that when each milestone is reached it can be celebrated!
Unfortunately, too many people have grand ideas. But, they never put them into action. Thus, you are left with another month or year that has gone by with no changes.
Tips to Living Stingy and Save Money
Living stingy means spending less than you earn and saving your money, but it is not easy to do for some people.
It is important to understand how when living stingy it can mean to take the plunge into financial independence.
Remember, living stingy is a term that describes the act of living with frugality and saving money. There are many ways to live stingy, and these tips will help you start on your journey to achieve financial goals.
- Reduce your living expenses: This is the first thing you should do to save money because it will reduce your stress as well as give you more time to figure out what you want your next move to be.
- Stop buying processed food: I am not saying that all fast food and microwavable meals are terrible, but it’s not the best thing to be eating on a regular basis. Plus they are more expensive!
- Turn off your cable: You can go online and watch most of what you want for free, so why would you pay for it. Start by cutting out one nonessential expense from your budget every month.
- There is a reason for shopping: Don’t go shopping just because you’re bored or hungry.
- Buy discounted gift cards: Discounted gift cards are a way to buy gift cards at a discounted price. The discounts on these discount gift cards can range from 5% to 50%.
- Learn some DIY projects: A DIY project might be anything from making your own signature cocktail, to building a deck on your house, to creating new recipes in the kitchen. It can also include things like building a garden or crafting your own furniture. Think of things you need to learn to do yourself to save money.
- Find a deal: In order to find deals, you should have a mental list of the stores that offer them and their normal discounts. You can also search for coupons using sites like Rakuten or Groupon.
- Shop weekly sales ads: Shopping deals and sales is the practice of offering discounts on specific items for a limited period of time. These offers can be found in newspaper flyers, store ads, store websites, or product flyers.
- Limit streaming subscriptions: Cable TV and streaming subscriptions are expensive when you add them up. The savings may not be worth it. So, look at cutting unused streaming services like Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu Plus, or HBO Now.
- Set low entertainment budget: This can be done by setting up a “fun money” for this type of spending. Only using cash is another great way to not spend more than you planned on.
- Buy secondhand items: You should also buy secondhand goods when you can like clothes, cars or other household goods. The price of goods and services is always going to be higher when they are brand new.
- Shop around for the best deals on essentials: Shopping around for the best deals on essentials can be a time-consuming process. Depending on your tastes and preferences, there are lots of different places to shop for these items. Online retailers are a good place to look, but you can also find discounts at local stores.
- Do your research: Do not just go out and buy an item. Do your research beforehand that you are getting what you want and the quality matches up to what you desire.
- Know your budget ahead of time: Being aware of how much it costs to live, spend money, and pay off debts is important to figure out beforehand. You must live within a budget.
- Be realistic: Another tip is to ensure your financial goals are realistic. By being able to achieve easier low-hanging fruit goals, you are more likely to keep your motivation running high.
- Live a healthy lifestyle: This is key to staying healthy and can present challenges because unhealthy choices affect the rest of somebody’s life. Going for a healthier alternative can be achieved by eating more fruits and vegetables, exercising, getting quality sleep on a regular basis, learning how to cook at home with fresh ingredients.
- Don’t buy anything new: Another good tip is to not spend any money on things you don’t need. You can find the same items used instead of buying them brand-new, which will save you both money and time.
- Go thrifting: This is time spent salvaging used or unwanted clothing, household items, furniture, and other miscellaneous items to sell or give away. Thrifting can be done on a large scale or on a small scale. You could find the next diamond in the rough!
- Tighten your belt while spending less: These are specific strategies to save money on your weekly budget. Think before spending money and going shopping.
- Be organized with your finances: By being organized with their finances, people are able to save money. Find out how to organize finances in a day.
- Invest in yourself: To achieve financial success, it’s essential to invest in yourself. Investing in your education or professional development will bring you to the top of your field, where there is increased opportunity for future success.
- Think hard about your career: Trust your intuition to make monetary decisions and diversify your career to make it easier to live extravagant lifestyles without sacrificing any freedom. Just be mindful that rewarding entertaining careers are true work because they require time, resources, effort, or resources that are hard to come by.
- Move closer to work: The time spent commuting and the cost to maintain your vehicle may not be worth it. Analyze whether moving closer to work is worth it.
- Save more than last month: Become okay with saving more than you earn so there is always something saved up in the bank.
- Can’t afford it?: When you can’t afford something, don’t buy it!
- Make a plan for your money: To really achieve your financial goals and save money, don’t make any rash decisions about how your money is spent. Preparing a financial plan will help avoid embarrassing events.
- Spend money like it’s yours – not the banks: I hope many people can relate to this concept of living stingy. If you go into debt and are not careful, then this will lead to financial destruction.
- Start small and build up savings: Save small amounts but diversify how you put that money to work.
- Ask yourself: “What am I saving for?” – Think deeply and understand your true desire to save money.
- Invest money today: Do not wait for the perfect time to start investing. Start to learn how to invest today. That is the way to passive income.
The tips in this post are meant to help you live a life of stingy-ness.
Are you Ready to Start Living Stingy?
If you want to spend less money today to be able to save more later, then living stingy may be your thing. However, if you want to make big changes and achieve a completely different lifestyle, then you may need to be more open-minded.
All in all… it depends on what your goals are and where you’re starting from.
What is it that you want to accomplish in the next 6 months, a year, 5 years, or a lifetime?
Everyone has their own idea of what they’re looking for. Some might be saving up money while others may be trying to make large purchases like cars or houses.
Whatever motivates you and keeps you on your toes, then that is what you want to focus on. Plus, you will save money along the way.
Today, you have learned the basic steps to take to start living stingy as well as specific easy tips to living stingy.
Now, all you have to do is decide that living stingy is a lifestyle you want.
True financial success is a collaborative effort.
Did the post resonate with you?
More importantly, did I answer the questions you have about this topic? Let me know in the comments if I can help in some other way!
Your comments are not just welcomed; they’re an integral part of our community. Let’s continue the conversation and explore how these ideas align with your journey towards Money Bliss.
Source: moneybliss.org