The term ‘Cheapskate’ is not always thought of in a good light. However, in light of the economy and the need to consider your future financial situation, becoming a cheapskate is not an unreasonable goal to set. Whether you call yourself a stingy person, cheap, thrifty, frugal, budget-conscious, money-wise, financially smart, or if you’re just known as that person “that avoids spending money”, it doesn’t really matter. What does matter is that you are pro-actively saving cash you will need down the road.
I tell ya what, I for one, am proud to be a Cheapskate. (Errr… remember that one time?)
There are plenty of reasons to become a Cheapskate today but here are 5 for you to consider upfront in case you have doubts about the benefits of living frugally.
5 Very Good Reasons To Become An Extreme Cheapskate This Very Moment…
1. You’ll Save Money
Clearly, this is the main reason many people strive to live frugally. Many people complain they don’t have enough money to make ends meet let alone put cash away for the future. Think again! By finding the cheaper route to want you need (and sometimes what you want), you will have more accessible cash to dump into your savings. A few dollars saved can add up to a huge sum over a few years’ time. Don’t discount a dollar saved whenever possible. It can have a lot of power throughout your lifetime.
2. You’ll Eliminate Debts for Good
The more cash you save buying things or not buying things, the more cash you’ll have to allocate towards your debts. The more efficient you are at eliminating debts for good and incorporating frugality into your life, the less you’ll have to worry about new debts arising in the future.
3. You’ll Learn Financial Lessons Daily
There are a plethora of tips and tricks available these days to help you become a Cheapskate. The subject of frugality has really gone mainstream in the last few years as more and more people are looking for ways to save. You’ll learn that you are not alone and that living a frugal, cheap lifestyle can be a fun adventure and not a journey of torture.
4. You’re Stress Will Decrease Exponentially
By saving more, eliminating your debts, and having cash in the bank to fall back on, you can decrease your levels of stress on a day-to-day basis. No more collection calls. No more fear of overdrawing your bank account. No worries about having your stuff repossessed. You can live more relaxed now and likely suffer fewer health problems as a result of extended stress. Living without the stress of debt opens you up to a whole new life of freedom. Seriously, autonomy is where it’s at.
5. You’ll Learn to Love Your New Life
Change is not always easy but adapting to a cheapskate lifestyle can be enjoyable. You’ll learn so much more about yourself, your abilities, and the benefits of financial stability than you would continuing on as you have been. You can connect with other Mr./Mrs. Krabs in the world and continue to improve your frugal skills. Best of all, you can enjoy a life free of financial burdens and suffocating debts.
Have your thoughts on being a Cheapskate changed? Or are you already a self-proclaimed Cheapskate like me?
Hey Anna! I haven’t seen a post from one of your contributors for awhile (besides your husband). Did you decide it wasn’t working out? Just curious!
She’s back! Hopefully you saw her post yesterday:)
I like “we live like no one else so we can live like no one else” (Dave Ramsey, I think). So it’s not “oh, I’m being stingy by not treating myself to this or that” but rather “come vacation time, I’ll be able to enjoy it a lot more because I’ll have the funds.”
That’s a great quote. Changing your mindset around money and especially getting used to the idea of not spending is all about changing the way you view it. Like you mentioned, rather than thinking about not spending as a deprivation I think of all the new freedoms and options that are made available because of choosing to not spend. Focusing on what you CAN spend on rather than what you CAN’T also seemed to help me when things got hard or discouraging.
Great article. I was wondering too about your contributor that was taking the spending fast challenge, I haven’t seen any updates.
Hi Holly, Chelsea is back. Hopefully you saw her post from yesterday.
The less you learn to live with it, the closer you get to retirement!
Of course, if you love your job, that’s a different story.
Also, I hate you if that’s true.
Lol…
I’ve also found that by being out of debt I need a whole lot less money to live on. It’s quite cool!
Totally agree! I am trying to stay disciplined. That’s always the hardest part.
And yeah, I was wondering the same thing about the contributor! I thought that having someone post while on a Spending Fast was a great addition! Maybe there’s another reader who would love to share his or her story? There’s a big hole in the PF blogging world – not many people are doing this for the first time! Either they are pros and I just can’t identify or they seem to be spending frivolously again. I used to love following your daily fasting updates!
Hi Meghan, Hopefully you saw that Cheslea is back and posting about her Spending Fast again here on the blog. I think the Spending Fast progress reports fills a need in the PF blogging world too so I’m glad you agree:)
I like to have weeks where I´m total cheapskate, this way I don´t get tired of it, and no one else has to know.. so shhh!;-)
Your secret is safe with us;)
#2 and #4!! I love seeing my debt and my stress go down!
It’s amazing what you can do when you keep your end goal in mind.
So true!
I would like to share one quality of a cheapskate is :-
Cheapskates are masters at communicating about money. They teach themselves words and phrases that help them. Some are, “Are you having any sales soon?,” “Is this the absolute rock-bottom price?,” “Is there anything else you haven’t told me about this product?,” and “How long does the warranty on this TV run?”
Good points and great questions to ask. I think the term Cheapskate gets a bad rap but being a Cheapskate really is pretty awesome because you’re not into letting money just slip through your fingers. Sometimes, like you said, it’s as simple as asking a couple questions.
We try to live by this principle but lately the mister has been having late days at work and I’m busy and the baby hasn’t been sleeping. The area where we’re spending more money than usual – not cheapskatey at all – is takeout. *sigh*
Be gentle on yourselves and do what you can to save in other areas. When things calm down then get back on the “making food at home” wagon.
You’re right, maybe being a cheapskate isn’t such a bad thing these days. It’s good to be more conscious of what you spend than not because that takes awhile to learn.
Embrace the Cheapskate! ;)
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After all these years I am finally finding these things to be true. Thanks to a famous Christian Financial Counsel guru, I am learning to seek advise and learn to life without the clutter of stuff. I have been getting a bad wrap for being cheat however I am not as stress as I used to be when it came to tackling living expenses.
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I don’t see how becoming an extreme cheapskate lowers one’s stress. It is good to watch what you spend, but it can be an obsession and IMO, extreme cheapskates actually let money control them, when they try to express that the opposite is true.
For me, when I spend less money and have less stuff it means that my stress IS lowered because there are less objects to seek out, buy, manage, and maintain. Therefore, I have more time freed up to do the things I really enjoy like: exercising, hanging out with my baby and husband, doing crafts, reading, talking to friends, etc. All of those things help keep my stress low. Anything can become an obsession, sure, and some people do take it to that level, of course. For the most part though, I believe being frugal lowers stress.
I’M NEW TO THIS BUT, YES MY THOUGHTS HAVE CHANGED AND I SAY, STICKS AND STONES MAY BREAK MY BONES BUT THE BILL COLLECTOR NEVER CALLS? WHERE DO I SIGN UP!!
THANKYOU FOR YOUR WISE ADVICE.
I got to the point where I no longer buy toilet paper. Ask for free napkins at coffee shops and fast food outlets. This includes cutlery. You do not have to steal, you can simply ask for it over the counter and they will GIVE it to you. Free food at various foodbanks, soup kitchens, sikh temples, and you save on food. You can even get a job as a night security guard on a construction site that pays like minimum wage and sleep on the first aid bed and get paid. Not only you save on rent, you get paid a bit. If you own a place, you can rent your place and do this and just get mail. If you dont have a place, then you get a residential building at a day to do concerige job where the strata council pays for washing machine dryer, and has a pool with a shower. You can shower twice a week and wash all your clothes at work. Make sure you have two construction sites to work at with two different companies. You can do the conceriege with the company often that gives you two days on construction nights where you go days on the days you do not work there but your five day night job in the evening. You get a regular 9-5 on the other 5 days so you work your normal job and do this all extra. If you get fired, use the resume from your other job and keep going. By the way, you still have your normal 9-5 so you have nothing to lose.