Being a Frugal Dougal and a Wiser Miser

One of my aims is to be totally frugal in all aspects of my life; it certainly helps being a miser as well.

There is a distinct difference though, so I feel I will never truly be one or the other to the exception of anything else. So if I can strike a balance between the two I’ll be happy.

To be frugal means looking at what you are spending your money on; do you need the product or service? And if so, is the asking price the cheapest you can find? Can you do it yourself, better and cheaper? It’s all about getting the most from every pound, making it work the hardest it possibly can do. Living a frugal life doesn’t mean living in poverty either, it may mean actually living better than you did before, because you are conscious of ‘How’ you are spending your cash, so may have more of it for the more important things in life that you ‘want’ to do.

To be a miser on the other hand means trying not to spend anything – period! I do begrudge spending money on ‘stuff’ that doesn’t really add any value to my life. I find that if something takes my fancy and tell myself that I simply must have it; I walk away and tell myself to think about it, what would my life be with and without this product? Can I justify spending £x on this product? Generally, I come to the conclusion that I don’t really need it after all, it was just a ‘want’ rather than a true need, and ‘wants’ easily pass, thus saving me money.

By the way, no one should become solely obsessed with becoming a miser ‘a hoarder of money, a stingy person’ as this could lead to becoming ‘Miser-able’ and being unhappy is not my aim. So I’m aiming for somewhere in the middle between

Frugal – Miser

A happy, quality life whilst spending the least amount of money possible.