You Can Train Yourself to Be Frugal – and It’s Pretty Painless.
Being frugal is like agreeing to pick someone up from the airport. It sounds simple enough when you go along with it, but when it comes time to actually do it, ugh, what a pain . If you find it difficult to stick to a humble habit, design your lifestyle so that frugality becomes the default.
Personal finance site Go Curry Cracker talks about the concept of “Lifestyle” as explained by Tim Ferris in The 4 Hour Work Week. The idea is to plan your life so that some tasks are easier than others. The simplest example of this is keeping healthy food on hand if you want to eat healthier. So if you’re hungry for a row of Oreos instead, that means you have to get in your car, go to the grocery store, and wait in line. As tasty and tempting as the Oreos are, you’ll probably prefer a healthy snack because it’s easier.
Basically, you are using your laziness to your advantage, limiting your options, and directing yourself to choose the best habit. Here’s one example of how Jeremy at Go Curry Cracker implemented this strategy to keep up with his usual goals:
Some people are naturally humble. I am naturally lazy. (Just ask my wife.)
After a long day at work, who wants to get on the bike or wait for the bus at the corner? Not me, I’ll go, thanks. Oh, is it raining? I’ll go, thanks. Is this meeting taking place 100 meters away in another building? I’ll go, thanks.
It’s funny … it’s impossible to drive without a car.
I sold my sweet ride and 3 things happened right away:
1) I stopped driving 2) I started cycling 3) I saved a lot of money
And then I discovered … driving sucks and cycling is a real pleasure .
If you think the advice is to get rid of your car and bike everywhere, you are missing the point.
The point is to design your own lifestyle in such a way that it supports certain humble habits that you want to adopt (or any habits, in fact). Look at your own budget, make a list of the areas you want to cut back, and then brainstorm to design your lifestyle accordingly.
For example, the biggest problem I spend my money with is restaurants. Therefore, I came up with several ways to design my lifestyle in order to reduce my expenses in this category:
- Invite friends to lunch on Sundays instead of ordering takeout.
- Stop being so cheap when I go grocery shopping. Buy enough food so I can dine at home instead of ordering takeout.
- Instead of meeting my friend in a cafe, where I am tempted to spend money on snacks, ask me to meet where snacks are cheaper and healthier.
Again, you must do what works for you based on your own lifestyle and savings goals. Regardless of your situation and goals, however, the idea is the same: Design your lifestyle to be in the mood for success.