Frugal Is Boring.

I hear you, but I disagree. Being frugal can be refreshing, certainly challenging, maybe even exhilarating if approached correctly. Granted, anybody can get bogged down managing their financial life — budgeting, keeping track of spending, doing what it takes to make ends meet, and saving. A person can lose their sense of “me” in those things. If you feel that way, then what you’ve really lost is focus: Why are you being frugal? From my point of view a frugal lifestyle means maximizing the return on the use your resources so that you can enjoy LIVING now and in the future. To accomplish both means we will always need to manage/control/direct and make choices about what we do with what we have so that we can continue to have—and enjoy.

Money is a major resource. So are time and talent, along with intelligence and any number of personality traits. To give you what you want, they all need to be managed. That’s the challenge. Refreshment—relief, peace of mind, even exhilaration—comes when you make them work for you.

The Real Problem

Most frugal bloggers focus on one thing—money. We’re into saving money and making more money. We talk about budgeting, spending journals, and how to be debt free. I address those topics, too. Spending journals and budgets are management tools. Making and saving money are the means to achieving goals. Being debt free is a major goal, but there are others. The problem is that many of us (and therefore our readers) get stuck there. Yes, these topics are important to being frugal if you want to be debt free—or even if you already are. But why?

If all you think about is how to save a dime, how to earn another dollar, or how you can’t have you fill in this blank because you need to be frugal, then yeah, instead of LIVING you just sort of exist. Just existing is boring and, probably, depressing. We all know that most people can’t do all of what they’d like to do all of the time. Everyone needs to plan—even/especially if they’re not frugal. With indiscriminate use, money—including credit—eventually runs out. When the money is gone so is the opportunity to do what you want. Over time a frugal lifestyle can extend and expand your range of choice.

Having money is only half of the Frugal living equation. The other half is what you want to do with it.

Something I Want To Do

One of my long-term goals is to live in Thailand. If you knew me personally, you’d know I love the place. I like the people, the food, the culture, of

Thailand. I’ve been there several times, and I’m looking forward to another visit soon. What I would really like to do is live there for a couple of years, with the possibility of staying semi-permanently. In contrast to visiting as a tourist, actually living somewhere as a resident gives you a greater perspective of LIFE in a county. Tourists get hype; residents have the nitty-gritty of daily life—hence my decision to “try it out” first.

I find the possibility of moving to Thailand quite exciting. So, how do I do this frugally? Well…within the scope of this post I can’t possibly go into all the details (but you’re likely to get more in the future). I can, however, tell you that this goal has been a central factor in my budget for years; part of every paycheck is put away to fund both the move and the possibility of coming back here to live. (This means funding my retirement account is important.) I’ve also been working on developing several streams of income that will continue throughout my life. Military retirement is one. This blog is another. I’m also looking into employment over there.

By The Way

I’ve learned there are several ways to acquire resident status Thailand. (At this point, all of them except number 2 are of interest to me.)

1. You can retire to Thailand. (If you do, you can be eligible to receive a retirement visa from the county.)

2. You can marry a Thai national.

3. You can go to work for an American based company and be transferred there.

4. You can land a job in Thailand working for a Thai company or for the public (maybe teaching English as a second language).

You probably aren’t particularly interested in these facts per se. My point here is that this is evidence that I’m working towards something, gathering useful information, investing time in my goal. By the way, I got this info for free by perusing blogs by expats who live in Thailand. Even though it will be a while before I move there, I read on a variety of Thai-related topics as I prepare to go: housing, food, habits that get Americans in trouble, etc. …things handy to have in mind. I would not know these things if all I did was sit around and dwell on how bored I am having to stay here being frugal right now, nor would I have much info if I only read on one topic. I’d say finding out about living in Thailand is a hobby for me. People usually enjoy their hobbies. Most don’t find their hobbies “boring.” Anyway, among other things, I’ve found there is more than one way to become a resident in Thailand.

How about your goals? Or should I say your passions? Is there more than one (frugal) aspect to achieving them? Probably—and the process of investigating and applying what you find out can make being frugal interesting. Let’s really face it, we make a choice about whether we’re interested, bored, invigorated, afraid…about how we are going to approach our lives. All that said, if you don’t like where you are, do something about it. Look at it from a different angle. After all, reading the same material over and over again (even if it’s by different authors) will not save you more money. After reading a few articles on how to save money shopping you know how to do it; start reading on another aspect of frugal living (or better yet, take what you’ve learned and tweak it so it works better for you).

Let’s Talk About You

What do you want your frugal lifestyle to do for you? Let’s assume debt isn’t a major problem for you. Maybe you’d like to travel, or dress with style, or go to this year’s state fair, but your money just doesn’t seem to go far enough to make it happen. Again, do something about it: If you can’t do it today, work on making it happen “soon.”

Let’s talk briefly about travel. I’ve already told you how I’ve been working my way through a plan to move to Thailand, but that’s not the only traveling I’ve done. I have to plan ahead and also take advantage of opportunities: You don’t think the only thing I did was work when the Army or Navy sent me some place do you? I got to see and do some great things during deployments, and at a minimum, the government paid the majority of my travel expenses. Also, I know some guys who work for a company that does major roadwork. They work hard, but not all the time. When they’re out, their employer covers their hotel; it may not be luxurious, but it’s adequate. On occasion, they pool their money to rent a car and “take in the sights”—some of those sights are on everybody’s wish list.

How about going to the state fair? The problem is that it can be expensive to go, especially if you’re taking the family: the cost of travel, maybe a hotel, admission, the Mid-way, and who can resist fair food? It all adds up. Unless your budget has a slush fund (and I don’t advise that) you can’t just wakeup one morning and decide to go to the fair. So, how to afford it? You know the fair is going to come at the same time every year, so plan for it. Figure the cost, divide it into 12 or 52 equal payments and save for a year. You might not make it this year, but “There’s no stopping us next year!”

As an example, a story comes to mind: When we were much younger (maybe 35 years ago), my wife belonged to a women’s group. As part of it, almost every woman had a subscription to a particular magazine. The cost for that was $12 a year. There were a couple of members who couldn’t afford the subscription and the others shared copies after reading them. Once, one of those members told my wife she really wished she could afford to get the magazine herself. My wife said she was glad to share her copy, but why not drop quarter in a designated sock weekly? In a year she’d have the money for her own subscription. I don’t remember how that ended, but it was a frugal solution and it would have worked. (I’m sure you realize that even back then, most of us wasted more than a quarter a week. This plan would have changed waste into a resource.)

Now, About Style…

If you run across an item of clothing that calls your name, you don’t have to block your ears. There are ways to be frugal and stylish.

First, I hope your budget has a category for clothing and accessories. If it does and it’s funded, you can decide whether this particular item is of such worth that you are willing to extend the life of something you may have been planning to replace. Or, you could hope it will be on the rack long enough for you to temporarily adjust other categories and save for it. Of course, that means you’ll need to economize more in those areas. (Whatever you do, don’t take money from an essential category like a debt repayment fund or insurance.)

Here’s another alternative: Get the look. There are less expensive “copycats” for all high-end designs—sometimes put out under a different name by the same companies that produce the luxury brands. Some magazines feature “same look” concept articles fairly regularly. Also, and there are blogs on frugal fashion/style for both men and women.

Choice and creativity can make for great style: A little study, a little work, and thinking outside of the box go a long way when you’re living a frugal lifestyle. (And if you’re busy working on your lifestyle, you’re probably not going to be bored.)

If Frugal Is Boring, Here’s Why

Essentially boredom is some mix of three things—too much time, too much energy, too little interest. Time and energy are definitely resources. The lack of interest implies a low intellectual and/or emotional response to stimuli. Well, intellect and emotion are resources, too. If you’re going to be frugal, you have to manage them, make them work for you. (Yep, just like you do your money.) Find something for them to do. Find a passion, something important to your LIFE. When we have a passion, we can usually find a way to work it into our budget. While we may not be able to schedule funds for as much participation/enjoyment of this as we’d like, more than likely there are aspects we can be involved in or take advantage of. The challenge comes in finding the ways and means to increase participation while maintaining other important goals of a frugal lifestyle, especially becoming/remaining debt free and building a stable financial future. That challenge should stimulate interest. Achieving the goals you set should be exciting.

I’ll use my passion—living in Thailand—as an example. I want to be as prepared as possible. I could take classes in Thai culture, history, and language. But guess what? I’m reading about the people and country, and I’m learning to speak, read, and write the language. The classes would be expensive. Spending the money to take them could slow me down financially in other areas. I’m getting a good education for free from the internet and the public library. That’s a frugal alternative.

A Challenge

What do you want out of LIFE? Go after it…frugally. Use your tools. Your budget and your spending journal help keep you on track and honest. Use all your resources to find more—more money and more value because this passion you’re perusing isn’t the only thing of importance in your life. Be ready to get excited as you make progress. It will be interesting.