We have heard more than once that need to be frugal . This means the ability to spend the minimum on your life that allows you to live with dignity, but at the same time not go to extremes and excesses. It is worth noting that not many people are able to save; most of us are infected with the virus of constant consumption and strive to buy as much as possible, believing that it is simply impossible to do without certain goods.
However, if you think about it, most of what we so want to have is not at all vital, but is inspired by the common standards of a happy life introduced into society. And if a person cannot understand that it is not necessary to spend a lot of money on things that can be purchased much cheaper, or does not want to do without some special attributes of luxury, this means that he cannot be thrifty.
However frugality is necessary for everyone who really wants to get rich. Studying the biographies of famous millionaires, one can come to the conclusion that the path to their wealth lay precisely through frugality. After all, what is the basis of wealth? Of course, capital accumulation. And it is impossible to accumulate anything without saving and spending money wisely.
It doesn't matter how much you earn. Your income may be significant, but you may have less money than your neighbor who earns much less. Why is this happening? Usually people who consider themselves rich spend huge sums on their daily needs. This leads to the fact that high salaries are sometimes not enough to cover their current needs. As a result, some take out various loans, etc., which further aggravates the situation. It turns out that the person seems to be rich, he drives an expensive car and lives in a luxurious house, but he has no savings. Both the car and the house require big money for its content, and so on almost everywhere. Is it possible in such conditions to talk about creating some kind of savings? Of course not.
However those who know how to be thrifty are able to make a decent fortune, even without a high income. They collect their capital bit by bit, year after year, eventually turning it into their first million. To accumulate, they do not use active earning tactics, but passive accumulation tactics. By the way, in some sense it is more profitable, since the person who saves own funds, will always have a supply of them.
characterized primarily by reasonable spending of funds. Many people who have managed to accumulate wealth qualify general attitude To certain things. Here are some rules of their behavior:
- Always stick to a pre-planned budget for your family;
- Know clearly how much you spend on clothing, food and housing;
- Never buy clothes from expensive stores. Use various discounts for this.
As you can see, in order to start saving, you must first stop spending. This, first of all, concerns unjustified spending on something that can be purchased much cheaper, because we purchase something to solve certain problems. If, instead of choosing a functional item, we begin to focus on brands, labels, fashion, and the like, then we will definitely overpay for a product that is no different from the rest in its basic characteristics.
Thrift is important both in everyday life and in business.. For example, you don’t necessarily need to have a luxurious office in order to provide quality customer service. In this case, you won’t have to spend fabulous sums on rent. huge building, and it is better to invest all the saved money in business development. Of course, you shouldn’t skimp on high-quality equipment, but it’s worth keeping in mind that equipment from less well-known brands can quite compete with well-known brands. By applying reasonable savings in your business, you can actively develop your business, avoiding unnecessary expenses.
Thus, The best way to accumulate capital is thrift. Start using this principle today, and after a while, you will notice that your salary is really enough for you and you are even able to save it. Do you agree that being frugal is necessary? We are interested to know your opinion.
- Thrift gives freedom - from the unjustified desire for luxury.
- Thrift gives the ability to conduct business wisely; including financial ones.
- Thrift provides opportunities – to help those in need; A thrifty person always has something to share.
- Frugality provides some autonomy - this can be important when extreme circumstances arise.
Manifestations of frugality in everyday life
- Housekeeping. A good home owner always shows thrift.
- Professional activity. The most thrifty people are economists; they know exactly the value of money and correctly assess the need or excess of financial investments.
- Sport competitions. Long-distance running is a sport for people who know how to use their own energy sparingly.
- State management. Establishing a deficit-free budget for the next fiscal year, statesmen show frugality.
How to achieve frugality
- Thrift is not only a character trait of a person, but also his manner of behavior and way of relating to life values. Striving for frugality is a worthy goal; achieving it requires serious work on yourself.
- Difficult financial situations. Best teacher frugality is complex economic situation. In cramped conditions, almost every person learns to be thrifty.
- Self-control. This is a powerful tool that helps you develop frugality. To achieve frugality, you need to learn to separate your needs from your desires: needs - what is necessary; desires - what you want.
- Personal finance accounting. Convenient tools have been created for keeping track of personal finances. computer programs, for example, “Home Accounting”. Visual demonstration spending is a good incentive for the development of frugality.
- Workout. With regular physical activity a person learns to listen and hear his own body and use its resources carefully.
Golden mean
Extravagance | complete absence frugality
Thrift
Hoarding, hoarding
Catchphrases about frugality
After order and freedom, frugality is one of the most integral parts free government. - Calvin Coolidge - Money is not wealth, but frugality and intelligence. - Russian proverb - He who does not bend over for a pin does not deserve gold. - English proverb- A thrifty person is not like a stingy person. - Horace - Stinginess is further from frugality than even extravagance. - La Rochefoucauld - Thrift is commendable if it is not akin to stinginess, but, on the contrary, is associated with generosity. Thrift without generosity leads to greed, and generosity without frugality leads to extravagance. - Penn William - Thrift is an important source of wealth. - Cicero - Marcus Porcius Cato / Agriculture Of all the Roman thinkers, it was Cato who put frugality at the core of his philosophy. The treatise “Agriculture” is valuable not so much for its description of the techniques of ancient Roman agriculture, but for its detailed coverage of issues of managing an estate, increasing its profitability, rational use slave labor. Samuel Smiles / Collected works in six volumes You will find the work “Thrift” in volume three. The author supports his discussions about this virtue with examples from life. famous businessmen of the past.Many of us are familiar firsthand with the situation when there is a catastrophic lack of money, and salary is still far away. What remains to be done in this case? Of course, seek help among acquaintances and friends! Based own experience, every person understands perfectly well who can be approached with a request for a financial plan, and who will obviously refuse. Usually, last people They are usually called greedy, misers and stingy people. But is it worth rushing to conclusions? Perhaps they are simply taking a rational approach to budget planning? In this article we will tell you how frugality differs from greed.
Definitions
Thrift – moral quality, which manifests itself in a person’s caring attitude towards property and material benefits. Antonym of wastefulness, mismanagement, unjustified luxury. The most accurate synonyms for the word are thrift and prudence. IN ancient times Aristotle did not classify frugality as a virtue, considering it an extreme. The Romans defined this quality as external simplicity, economy, lack of stinginess and valued it very highly. In modern times, frugality was included in the list of bourgeois virtues, but in a slightly distorted meaning. It was presented as the source of capital and the basis of national prosperity. In fact, in bourgeois morality, frugality had a class meaning and served as an ideological means of justifying exploitation. The concept acquired a completely different interpretation in socialist society. It expressed reasonable attitude to the results of human labor, concern for the well-being of people, etc.
Thrift
Greed- an insatiable desire for possession and consumption. It is synonymous with greed, stinginess and greed. A greedy person wants to individually own all the goods; he does not know how to share and give. This quality often found in an individual early age. Children demonstrate it by taking away toys from each other, refusing to share sweets with peers, etc. Later, greed manifests itself in a passion for hoarding, in the pursuit of new benefits of civilization. She becomes the reason lion's share marriages of convenience. As surprising as it may be, many greedy people condemn themselves to poverty. There are many examples when, for reasons of stinginess, businessmen invested a minimum amount of money in the development of their business and, as a result, became bankrupt.
Greed Comparison
Another difference between frugality and greed is that the first quality has a certain basis. That is, a person saves money in order to implement specific plans and ideas. Whereas a stingy person gathers in order not to experience the fear of dying of hunger or not being poorer than others. The expression “save for a rainy day” refers specifically to such people.
In addition, a thrifty person tries to buy only high-quality and fairly expensive things, realizing that they will last him longer. Whenever possible, he attends sales, trying to save money. The greedy person chases immediate savings, wanting to spend as little as possible. If the price for some necessary for a person the product will be, in his opinion, too expensive, he will simply refuse to purchase. Such people buy cheap products without thinking that they can be harmful to health. They choose low-quality clothes from discount stores, which quickly become unusable. Often, such shopping results in even greater expenses in the future. It’s not for nothing that thrifty English people say: “We’re not rich enough to buy cheap things.”
It is worth adding that thrifty representatives of this world in most cases achieve success in all areas of life, be it career, family, interpersonal relationships etc. They surround themselves worthy people and quality things, achieve their goals, develop as individuals. Greed is based on fears. It inhibits human development, leads to his depersonalization, and becomes the cause of early old age and loneliness.
To summarize, what is the difference between frugality and greed.
Table
| Thrift | Greed |
| A person's caring attitude towards material goods | An insatiable thirst for possession and consumption |
| Always based on reason | Cannot be explained logically |
| Implies a willingness to share benefits with others | A person does not want to part with his goods under any circumstances |
| Accumulation is committed with the aim of implementing specific plans and ideas | Money is put aside so as not to be afraid of dying of hunger and not being poorer than others |
| Involves the purchase of high-quality and fairly expensive things | Often involves the purchase of the cheapest goods, the pursuit of short-term gain |
| Promotes personal development and achievement of goals | Leads to depersonalization of a person, becomes the cause of early old age and loneliness |
What qualities should you have? modern man? Should he be frugal? What is frugality, how does it differ from other qualities, how to manage it? You can find out more about this below in the article.
The word “save” appeared during the times ancient Rus', has the same root as in the word “shore”. It means to cover with the shore. Protect, hide, take care.
The importance of frugality cannot be overestimated, because in ancient times people believed in a goddess named Bereginya. It was believed that she protects the family and the earth from evil spirits and brings happiness to the house.
Hence: the word “thrift” means the quality of a person, which lies in his ability to take care of what he has. Thrift is also the wise use of what you have. This is the preservation of material and spiritual wealth.
You need to understand that this quality applies not only to money, but also to other resources. For example: if you turn off the light behind you when leaving a room, you save electricity. If you wash in the shower rather than in the bath, you save water.
How not to confuse frugality with greed?
If you are saving up and saving your pocket money for something special, giving up going to the cinema and buying unnecessary things, then you are doing the right thing. But if your friend asked to lend him money for travel, and you refused because then you would have nothing to put in your piggy bank, then you are doing something bad, because this is already greed. There is no need to refuse help from friends and family if their requests are truly serious.
Also, excessive frugality can turn into greed towards oneself. This can happen if you suddenly start saving on things that you absolutely cannot do without. For example: if you skimp on food and go hungry all day, you can develop health problems that will cost you much more than on lunch.
Thrift and prudence
These words are synonyms, but there is a slight difference between them. If frugality is simply small savings and avoidance of various unnecessary expenses, then prudence is also taking into account circumstances and having a plan. A prudent person, as a rule, thinks about how he can save and for what.
Good quality
Thrift used to be considered the lot of poor people, while the rich, on the contrary, did not spare money for anything. Now things have changed and there are many benefits to be found in this capacity.
Such as:
- proper handling of money;
- ability to save;
- the ability to appreciate what you have (especially if it was purchased with accumulated funds);
- the ability to determine what is more important to you in this moment;
- ability to manage your time;
- possibility of choice.
How to manage lean?
How can you learn to save without becoming greedy? Let's look at some tips that will teach you to monitor your expenses, but at the same time not go too far with saving.
- Calculate your income (this could be pocket money, gift money, etc.).
- Calculate your basic expenses (what you will definitely need to spend money on, travel and lunch).
- Determine how much you have left.
- Decide how much you are willing to put into your piggy bank.
- Try to save the planned amount of money each time.
- Thrifting is not about giving up everything, sometimes you can buy what you want.
- Don't skimp if you're hungry or cold (it's better to buy food and take public transport home than to get sick).
- Tell your loved ones what you are saving for (most likely they will want to help you, and your piggy bank will fill up faster).
Thrift is not just a quality of a person, but a way of life. Thanks to him you will be ready for any life circumstances, you will be able to manage your savings yourself and choose what to spend them on. Being frugal is not difficult, but useful, and not only for the people themselves, but also for the planet as a whole.