Week of June 07, 2009 to June 13, 2009

What is Frugal Living? Spend Less, Use Less, Waste Less

What does "frugal" mean? It means being economical and avoiding waste. "Practicing or marked by economy, as in the expenditure of money or the use of material resources; or "economical in the use of money or resources; thrifty". Frugality and the art of frugal living is the:

  1. acquiring goods and services in a restrained manner, and
  2. resourcefully using already owned economic goods and services, to
  3. achieve a longer term goal.

As Wikipedia puts it: "Common strategies of frugality include the reduction of waste, curbing costly habits, suppressing instant gratification by means of fiscal self-restraint, seeking efficiency, avoiding traps, defying expensive social norms, embracing free (as in gratis) options, using barter, and staying well-informed about local circumstances and both market and product/service realities."

Personally, frugal living means being smarter with money management (budgeting in advance how mu