5 Ways to Cope When You're Tired of Being Frugal

Living on a budget and trying to save money isn't always fun. Sometimes you just wish for a splurge, but you know you can't afford one. Other times you're just tired of always thinking about ways to spend less. What do you do when you're tired of being frugal?

It's not always easy. There are so many temptations to break the habit, whether it's hearing from friends and family the fun things they've been doing or what they've been buying, or the commercials you can hardly avoid on television and online. Still, there are ways to deal with it when you're tired of it all.

1. Allow small splurges.

What is it you miss most? Is there a way to get it more cheaply?

You may miss going out to see movies, for example. Movie ticket prices have gone up quite a bit, and don't always fit well into a frugal budget. If you're lucky enough to have a discount movie theater near you, however, you may be able to see movies somewhat later than others for quite a bit less. There's a theater in our area, for example, that has $2 tickets, far more affordable that what we'd pay elsewhere.

You can also think about the little treats you enjoy and set a budget for it. If you miss chocolate, for example, you may be able to get chocolate chips and put them in the freezer. Nibbling just a couple rather than having an entire candy bar can save you money so long as you have the self control to not eat too many a day.

2. Tell people what you want if they're looking for a present for you.

If you miss going out to eat, suggest gift cards to your favorite restaurant as a gift when you have a birthday or Christmas coming up. This may not feel as personal as some people would like, but if that's what you want more than whatever else someone would buy you, it's a good gift.

If there's some other splurge you want that's within the range of a gift from someone else, let them know when they want gift ideas for you. Sometimes it works out.

3. Look at free ways to get what you want.

It's amazing what you can get for free sometimes. Libraries are wonderful if you miss getting new books to read, for example. Just how wonderful depends on the libraries in your area and the selection they have in the types of books you like to read. Remember that many libraries are networked to others in your area, and you may be able to order books from other locations.

Also see if there's an active Freecycle group in your area. You can ask for things you'd like to get. I've seen people in my local group ask for things like exercise bikes and get them.

4. Review your financial goals.

You're being frugal for a reason. It can help you deal with the frustration of being frugal if you remind yourself why you're going through all that. Are you saving so that you can pay down credit cards or other debts? Think about the benefits of getting rid of those. If you're being frugal because it's the only way you can pay all your living expenses, think about how your situation would change if you weren't managing your money so carefully.

5. Take joy in meeting your financial goals.

Don't just think of being frugal as a long term goal. Think of your short term goals too. It may be to save a particular amount over a particular month or to cut a particular expense. Having goals where you can see the results is a big help in making frugality more interesting.

Make sure your goals are something you can achieve and you know how you're going to achieve them. If they aren't realistic, you'll be more frustrated than happy with the process.

The Rules Of Personal Finance

Personal finance refers to the financial decisions which an individual or a family unit is required to make in order to obtain, budget, save, and spend monetary resources over time, taking into account various financial risks and future life events.

In this article, we shall examine the basic rules of Personal Finance that will guide in making financial decisions.

Live Below Your Income

This is the most important rule of all. Any person desirous of achieving financial success must develop a culture of spending less than he earns. This can be achieved by working on either sides of income and expenditure. Either we work to increase our income or we work to reduce our expenses or both. As we work hard on either spending less or earning more, our disposable income will increase. In turn, the later will accelerate our ability to achieve our financial dreams.

Enhance Your Income

As noted above, it is important that we work hard at enhancing our income as a strategy for increasing our disposable income. As people who are working hard at achieving a financially stable life, we must have a clear strategy of improving our income in the short and the long term.

Above can be achieved through getting a better education, establishing streams of passive income, starting a side business, working hard at our current job and other related efforts. As we move from one stage in life to another, our financial obligations will increase. Therefore, it is important that we towards increasing our income in the same progression.

Live a Frugal Lifestyle

Like many other rules in Personal Finance, this rule derives from the rule of living below your income. Not that we really have much choice about living below our income but in credit driven economies, it is very easy for our personal finance to get out of control as a result of borrowings.

Living a frugal life does not mean living a miserable life. Instead, it means living within your means thereby ensuring that you are in control of your finances and not the creditors. It is a deliberate and conscious effort to live within your income with a view to creating an enabling environment for wealth accumulation. A frugal lifestyle enables us to go beyond immediate gratification to having the big picture in mind.

This habit urges us to save as much as possible without making ourselves miserable. It enables us to avoid regrettable expenditures by applying the ten seconds rule. This rule says that every time we want to make a purchase, we should spend ten seconds to ask ourselves if we really need what we are about to purchase. Very often, this simple rule will point us in the direction of spending less money.

Learning to Manage Money

Having gone through the above steps, it is very likely that you will begin to have an excess of income over expenditure. The savings so accumulated is your ticket to financial freedom. At this point, you must learn to channel the excess funds into profitable investments. Money begins to work for you and not against you. As this stage, you must also begin to know the difference between asset and liability. Invest more in assets and pay off your liabilities.

Be in Control

Personal Finance is not about being rich, it is about being free. Freedom from debt. Freedom from stress and worries. It's about being in control of your finances. And so, the final rule is be in control.

In conclusion, most people spend most of their lives earning money but rarely spend enough time planning the efficient use of same. This leads to a lot of financial regrets. The result is that at age 65, most people are flat broke.

It is therefore very important that we take the issue of Personal Finance very seriously. Our financial well-being is worth some time and effort. If we observe the above rules, it would lead to fuller and happier life.