What does it mean to be frugal? [View all]

[NeoGreen]

https://www.treehugger.com/culture/what-does-it-mean-be-frugal.html

What does it mean to be frugal?
Katherine Martinko, June 4, 2018


There is more to frugality than penny-pinching.

The dictionary defines frugality as "the quality of being economical with money or food," but as Trent Hamm explains in The Simple Dollar, there's far more to it than that. It is a word worth examining closely, not only because it is used frequently on this website, but also because it embodies values and principles through which we can improve our overall quality of life.

Most basically, frugality is about getting maximum bang for your buck. It reflects a conscious effort to allocate your resources (a.k.a. money) in ways that offer the most value. For Hamm, a major part of getting value out of an investment is how well something does its job, and the cheapest item does not necessarily offer value if it generates more work.

Hamm uses the example of garbage bags. There was a time when he purchased the cheapest bags, at 5 cents apiece ($5 for 100 bags), but they could only be filled halfway and occasionally split open, creating a huge mess on the kitchen floor. Upon further assessment, he realized there was greater value in the 20-cent bags ($20 for 100).

I think there are two essential forms of Frugality.

The one form of frugality is optional, as the one discussed above, and primarily works within fully functioning economies (both personal and societal).

The other form of frugality is not optional and is primarily imposed due to a failing economy (either personal or societal).

If your personal economy is failing while the societal economy is either succeeding or failing, you will have trouble surviving, and only mitigated by the level of your frugality.

If your personal economy is fine/stable (think small-scale organic farmer) while the general societal economy is failing, you will likely experience both optional and imposed frugality, but you could survive in the long term.

Just thinking out loud...
NG