Frugality. As Peter Griffin’s ancestor, the great philosopher Thomas Griffin, would say, “Whyyy??”. Where did the concept of ‘frugality’ come from? And what compels us to follow it? Does frugality have origins in spiritual or religious belief? Are there emotional triggers that inspire us to be frugal? Are we just stingy bastards who will end up dying with a loaded bank account? Let’s discuss.

Frugality in Spirituality

A number of religious and spiritual groups, past and present, have touted frugality as a means for spending less on oneself in order to:

• live a life less reliant on material possessions.
• allow us to save more money to give to charitable causes.

Both are undoubtedly strong virtues and I can see why a spiritual or religious person, in practice, could be fulfilled through the practice of frugality.

Back to the Basics Philosophy

Not to dissimilar from religious and spiritual philosophy is the ‘back-to-the-basics’ school of thought, whereby removing debt and material clutter from your life can lead to a sense of fulfillment. There is a counter-consumer movement worldwide that is rooted in the belief that one will much more easily find a satisfied life if they can limit the amount of economical and material baggage that they are indebted to.

Environmentalism & Frugality

Environmentalists everywhere have touted a frugal lifestyle. We’ve all seen how saving on materials, water, energy, and transportation has not only led to monetary savings, but have a significant impact on the environment as well. The tiny house movement is a combination of environmentalism, de-cluttering, and frugality.

Frugality Driven by Fear & Obsession

There are certainly people who are driven to be frugal from emotions such as fear. Fear can lead people to want to pinch every single penny so that they won’t run out of money, fall into debt, or maybe they are simply afraid to give up their hard earned money. When kept in check, a little fear around spending too much is a healthy thing, but it rarely should ever be the only reason why you are frugal in every monetary situation. A focus on the fear can lead to obsession and that’s when you get stories of people who don’t spend a dime on anything and die alone with millions in the bank.

Wealth & Frugality

Frugality is a practice that can have a significant impact one of the two defining factors in building wealth: expense and income. Living below your means and spending less than you earn is key to building wealth and seeking future goals such as early retirement, purchasing a home, going back to school, etc.

Situation

There are simply times when financial situation forces us to be frugal. Earlier this year, when my wife was laid off, I was rudely reminded of this reality.

Personal Motivators for Frugality

For me personally, each of the above triggers has inspired me to be frugal at one point or another. When I was in college, I was driven by fear that I would never build enough savings to buy a home or retire. This fear drove me to the point of obsession. I probably turned a lot of people off in this phase. I can happily say that I have moved on.

After school, building wealth was a motivating factor for me to be frugal. I’ve set long-term goals to become self employed, pay off my mortgage, and retire early. None of these goals could be accomplished without a little frugality. This passion for the frugal-to-wealth approach is the primary reason why I started MicroFrugality.

Most recently, I have been driven to be frugal through spiritual, minimalist, and environmental reasons. With career, family, and material commitments at times becoming overwhelming and leading to stress, I truly believe that if I can limit the amount of financial and material baggage in my life, I will be less stressed, more focused, and happier.

Why Are YOU Frugal?

• What are the motivating reasons why you are frugal?
• Have you gone through stages that motivated you in different ways to be frugal?
• Where do you think the origins of frugality began?

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