Debt Consolidation Blog

A few days ago I read an article which advocated a reduction in costs to a minimum – to get away from consumerism as humanly possible, renouncing any optional spending and essentially make a clean sweep and start from scratch.

Many people react negatively to such an idea, which is not surprising. I’ve seen comments like “I do not know whether I should be possible to waive the pay-TV and go around to bars, restaurants, etc.., At a time”. I needed to lean frugal living and save money.

In this modern society most of us function assumes that it is not possible to waive certain forms of non-essential spending. In other words, if you give up certain luxuries life ceases to be nice, so that ultimately resemble those essential luxuries.

Of course, I do not advocate a very frugal life to take you to renounce all the things you like. My vision is somewhat different. I think there are certain routines that we consider essential, and in reality we do not enjoy as much as we think.

For example, eating out. Many people do it because they think it is faster and more convenient to eat at home. They simply drive to the restaurant, sit, beg, chat with the people accompanying them, eat, pay and then go home. Easy and uncomplicated.

But when you start to add up the time you can invest in it, the thing does not seem so funny. Let’s say you took fifteen minutes driving (and parking) to a restaurant you like. Another five or ten minutes to ask. Ten or fifteen minutes to bring you food and half an hour or more to eat. Another five or ten minutes waiting until you bring the account, pay and leave. And another fifteen minutes until you get home. That is roughly one and a half just to eat.

If I’m home, you can improvise a meal in fifteen minutes. After about twenty minutes late and eat five or ten pick. The total is about three quarters of an hour – and of course, you can take longer if you want to prepare something delicious. Even so, do not spend so much time as you have to spend to eat out.

Considering that the cost of eating out is much higher and that the level of food quality that is comparable to prepare at home, you’re paying extra for eating out.

So this is an expense that can be reduced or eliminated. Personally, instead of going out to eat out several times a week, eat out four or five times a month – and just what we do when we plan to return home late.

Did you miss? Not really. I have not given up the part that I really liked, who was eating with my family. Once I gave him a chance to the idea of not eating out constantly, I started cooking more at home – and do better. Today, I prepare a tasty meal pretty quickly, and the quality of the food is excellent. Furthermore, we finished eating at least an hour earlier than when we eat out, so we have more time to do other things.

Where rio_bifurcacion to you? Our lives are like a river. They take a course shaped by priorities and assumptions that we set ourselves. If we begin to change these assumptions, if only slightly, sometimes the water will try to return to its old course, but most often simply be adapted to the new address and you may discover that everything flows serenely in this different manner .

Here’s another example: bookstores. I loved to buy books. I was going to a bookstore at least once a week to take a look, and it was not unusual to come out of it with one or two books under his arm.

At that time it seemed the most normal thing in the world, and I liked it. I could not imagine my life without having at hand a new book to read. When my finances hit rock bottom, even he could imagine eliminating this “habit”.

I had read on many lists of financial tricks that the ideal was to replace the library by the library, but still I do not see it. I imagined the library as a boring place full of dust, and thought he would hate. So I forced myself to try just because I was willing to try anything.

Surprisingly, I left the library with two books I really wanted to read … for free!

And that’s how the river changed for me. I started to use the library all the time and gradually my visits to the library declined. Today only buy one or two books a month at most.

What was the outcome? Do not quit what I liked, which was read books. I still have on hand a bunch of new books to read. What I have given up is to spend on them a lot of money, which was a big relief.

For me, the benefits of frugal living do not go through renouncing the things I love, but to understand what is really not like to do and find ways to continue enjoying these passions spending less money. When people say things like “could not waive the pay-TV, why do you say? Are you concerned about not seeing any particular program? Or they do not want is to give up an evening with your partner huddled on the couch watching something they both enjoy?

If what you really would miss the latter, why not waive the pay-TV and try out the options offered by the Internet, or the rent? Thus, keep the experience that they really like – watch TV comfortably in your home – without the inconvenience of having to pay the bill every month.

In addition, you may find that spending money on these things that you think you should worry about (mainly because others do), but inside you would not really bother you. Eliminate those behaviors in your life. Making things that really do not like to get the approval of others only leads to unhappiness and, incidentally, an empty bank account.

Articles on this site have been acquired from a variety of sources.  No content on this site should be considered financial or legal advice.

Be Sociable, Share!

• 

Related posts:

1. Saving Money through Frugal Living
2. Top 7 Simple Ways to Start Frugal Living
3. Frugal Living
4. The art of frugal living doesn’t have to be so tough
5. How to save money on your auto loan purchase

One Response to “Frugal living and how to save money”