Money Bloggers Discuss

Living thrifty and frugal? What is the difference?

I feel the words ‘thrifty’ and ‘frugal’ are very much being used a lot more than ever before but what do they actually mean?  Maria Nedeva who blogs over at The Money Principle, recently took the time ask the UKMB community for their take on what being frugal or thrifty means to them and created this blog post with her thoughts so be sure to check it out.

Differences between frugal and thrifty

According to the dictionary frugal means being sparing or economical as regards money or food.  A frugal meal for example is being one that is simple and plain and costing little.

Thrifty however means using money and other resources carefully and not wastefully but what did 10 other bloggers feel they both meant to them…

Frugal and thrifty… our thoughts!

Hayley who blogs at Miss Many Pennies said that she feels frugality means being intentional with her money, both with how I spend it, and how I save. It’s not about being cheap and trying to spend as little as possible but more about thinking through the value and benefits first.

Frugality to Laura means means thinking very carefully about what to spend money on, and being very intentional with spending – sometimes choosing not to purchase something you want, but instead to put that money towards something that is more of a ‘need.’ Interestingly, she doesn’t identify herself with being truly frugal, because she feels it means making big sacrifices and being quite sparing with money. She identify more with thriftiness rather than frugalness due to her personal reflection on how she chooses to spend her own money ☺️

Simon Donald says frugality is essentially stretching the money you have as far as possible and not giving in to “Lifestyle Creep”. He explains he feel’s it’s not necessarily about “going without” but more about finding the most sensible and efficient ways to spend. Some examples are hunting down the best deals, resisting impulse buying and considering if you can fix things or buy used rather than always buying new for example.

Being frugal means to Nick at Helping The Little Guy means he has more money available to acquire assets, which will help generate even more money!  He achieves being frugal by asking the question “do I NEED this or WANT this” with every purchase and also commits to intermittent fasting or OMAD (one meal a day) which saves him plenty of money on groceries, an expense we obviously can’t avoid!

Being frugal to me doesn’t mean slashing your spending or depriving yourself of things you enjoy says Little Miss Frugal. It means knowing the value of money and making every effort to spend it wisely.

Frugality to Miss Penny Money means being mindful and taking care to reduce wastage with both money and food, and making a conscious effort to make things go further.

For Jennifer, frugality has more to do with mindset than with trying to stretch every penny. Frugality means to her mindful spending by being aware of what I need and more importantly, what I don’t need. I guess that also falls under setting priorities when spending.

Frugality means spending carefully but living my life with balance, so I can still enjoy it as I meet my financial goals says Ellyree. It means that I will have more freedom younger and therefore more choices about what things of value I can spend my money on.

For Emma at My Debt Diary, frugality is being conscious of the money she both spends and saves. She looks for deals, plan ahead (with things like food in particular), considers bigger purchases carefully, and always makes sure at least a small amount of any income goes towards saving. She also likes to be aware of possible spends she has in the coming months so she can prepare financially for them.

For Student Skint, frugality means spending and saving wisely to set herself up for success in the future. Whether that’s so she is able to stick to my savings plan or afford nice holidays when I fancy them etc. It’s about creating money habits for the right reasons!

So there you have it… what we in the UKMB community feel about being thrifty or frugal.

What do you think?  We’d love to hear you thoughts so drop them down in the comments below…

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