the big money isn’t spent in the mega-marts and grocery stores. It’s mandatory “services”, such as health care, housing, auto transportation, and for those that divorce, the legal system / family courts. I bet the sum of these expenses go exponential for most people during their lifetime, with the grand finale burning half million or more in hospital or nursing home.

Smart people might be able to do a spend down before the day of reckoning, but they will then become a ward of the state, which is its own risk, and they may also have a spouse that is statistically likely to outlive them, perhaps as much as 10-20 years and that spouse may not be very excited by either a spend down, or the nursing home black hole.

Great Post.

For me it captures the very essence of frugality. Sometimes I think that “frugal” is just a name for excelling at finding alternative non-monetary solutions for short/medium/long range issues.

After a while I think it becomes a game in which one is trying to find the smartest/innovative way to solve a problem with the minimum use of resources. In a way it is similar to solving a complex math problem while trying to come up with the most elegant solution. Reminds me of the time when computer RAM was costly and folks had to think hard to write code in such a way so as to use minimum system resources.

I think people like Warren Buffet also operate similarly..in that.. being able to identify undervalued stocks and then backing it with conviction (investing)and then eventually being proven right provides more of a satisfaction that just making more dough for what it could buy. In fact I think many broke folks probably have a higher “quality of lifestyle” that the man from Omaha.

I have never been to a mechanic with my 10 year old VW Golf which has just 195 thousand miles. I think my neighbors think I must be poor when they see me toiling under it every few months. The fact is repairing it myself gives me such big satisfaction that spending any amount of money does not. The money I save fixing stuff myself is invested and I feel double good about that thinking about the non-extreme retirement in a few years hopefully (6-8).

@Jayadeep – I started a container garden this year. So far I’ve grown about 45 radishes and one full head of lettuce. I got some beets, cucumbers, zucchini, and tomato plants growing. I’m still working on installing 80W worth of solar panels (this is pending making a shoulder plane to clean up the frame I made).

I loved this post, I have had frugal traits forever that I never thought were extreme at all until I started reading what extreme frugalists do and found I would be considered extreme by many peoples standards. I really like how you mention that there are frugal alternatives to the Bureau of Labor Statics percentages. We live in a small place that is about 300 below the average monthly rent in our area and spend over 50% less a month than national averages on groceries. I still have spending leaks I would like to plug up and sometimes still make costly financial mistakes but I am always working on improving it!
Keep up the great posts!

Jacob, this was a great post. For me, it really helped to dispel the negative connotations that are attached to the word ‘frugal’. Frugal often implies cheap, haughty, and unwilling to change, but this article clearly shows it is a way of life, a path to a greater sense of satisfaction.

Best post I’ve read in some time. The ‘why’ and effect of the choice called frugality was summarized very succinctly.

Best wishes for the new year Jacob – thanks so much for sharing your thoughts and ideas.

I love being frugal, but It has to be a lifestyle choice or else it can’t work- and I think thats the difference between us who are choosing to live a frugal life, treading carefully on the earth and investing as much as we can versus those who are actually poor but maybe have a comparable amount of disposable income. My husband laughed at me the other night when I was snipping buttons off an old shirt to save before it became a rag, I sort of think of our lifestyle as a challenge- but it also feels good that in a couple of years our lifestyle block will be providing enough food to sustain us and be mortgage free. To me being frugal is about resilience really.

I would say I’m frugal because as time goes on I don’t seem to need a lot of the junk made today. I buy better made stuff and it last longer.

As far as having money left to save after paying bills. In the past this didn’t work for me as there was always something that needed the money.

About ten-years ago I decided to pay myself first, after all I’m the one doing the work, why should I not be the first one to be paid. Before any bills or anything else I take my cut and put it in the safe.

What happened is that I started to really build a nest egg and the strange thing all the bills still got paid.

Another thing is that I fight very hard (really hard) to not dip into the growing pile of money. I do convert a lot of PM’s as time goes on I trust the US dollar less and less…

And there is something nice and warm about seeing all that silver sitting there.

Hi, Jacob – I have been reading and following your website for a while. Thanks for all the input. It has been serving me an extraordinary source of inspiration and discipline. I guess for different people the scale of frugality various; but I do embrace the fundamental principle of being as frugal as possible – thanks for your inspiration of course. A few month ago, after I read your website, I substantially cut down my spending, started cooking (what a wonderful way of eating), and streamlined my subscription for internet and magazines. I also cancelled my gym membership, which I rarely used. As a result, I started exercising by walking everyday.

Of course, following these changes my savings jumped substantially. I started learning higher skills of investment – mostly by reading books from library and free pdf on the internet.

I am contemplating growing some vegetables on my yard. It probably won’t save much but I like the idea. I feel cutting hair is expensive and for now I don’t have a good solution to cut down that cost.