I’m Not Broke, I’m Just Being Frugal

I am thinking about Christmas season and why my Christmas this year will be different from the ones I had the previous years. This year, I decided to celebrate it frugally and so before I post about how to celebrate it simple, here is my thought about the concept of  frugality.

The first thing that I feared when I resigned from my 8-hour desk job to take on a freelance job is that I might find myself broke within a few months because I hadn't really prepared for my emergency funds yet. This is the reason why I find myself  spending less and less these days. Although being broke is often mistaken as  similar to being frugal, there is a big difference between the two.

Being broke means that you are beyond your capacity to spend money. People who do not care about their finances and live one day at a time often go broke before they even retire. People who go broke usually live lavish lifestyles before they consume everything that they have.  On the other hand, living a frugal life means that you have to spend below your means not because that is the only lifestyle that you can only afford but because you have enough discipline to live it accordingly. Thus, being  frugal is a choice while being broke is not. The best thing about the former is that you can always revert back to your usual spending habits if you really want to.

Although for now, I still have a few bills left in my pocket, I am very extra careful about my spending habits. Living a frugal life, at first, is very hard because I have to give up on things that I consider as luxuries and these include dining out every week and buying  new stuffs  every time I get my paycheck. Of course, what I I will be saving will be put into my retirement and my daughter’s education. So when people ask me why I am wearing the same clothes all the time, there is only one thing that I can say to them and that I am not broke, just frugal.

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P.S. 

I take this as a personal experiment and I am now on my 6th month living this way. Although I may not have reached my goals (financial) yet, I am a bit optimistic about the results after the twelfth month.