7 Ways Living Stingy Can Help You Achieve Financial Freedom
Living stingy in the right way can help you reach your financial goals and to have a better financial future. Having a stingy lifestyle can be the difference between living comfortably and constantly worrying about debt for the rest of your life.
Would you consider living stingy? The idea doesn’t sound very appealing at first glance. Living stingy usually has a negative connotation to it and is associated with being cheap. Some people even consider living stingy a bad thing when it’s a good thing!
What Is Living Stingy?
Living stingy means the act of spending money deliberately and finding ways to save money. It can be small things such as cutting coupons or finding rebates. It can also be more important things, such as choosing to live in a downsized home or deliberately driving a rundown car.
Living stingy can also be about simple lifestyle changes such as cutting waste and being more eco-friendly. There are various ways to live stingily, and you can do it in a manner that doesn’t make you come off as a penny-pinching Scrooge scraping every penny.
Living Stingy vs Being Cheap
Living stingy often gets associated with being “cheap.” I also have to emphasize the difference between living stingy and being “cheap.” Living stingy really means you are living a frugal lifestyle so that you can provide more for others.
When you are “cheap,” you simply spend less on others to save more for yourself. Be sure to keep this in mind when you are starting to live a stingy lifestyle.
Why Should You Start Living Stingy?
Living stingy can help people in a variety of financial situations set financial goals and meet them. Whether you are living paycheck to paycheck and looking to make ends meet or living comfortably with no worries about money, you can incorporate frugal living to save even more money.
If you’re living with credit card debt, student loans, or a mortgage, it’s even more important to start incorporating frugality to avoid lifestyle inflation. Compound interest on your debts will only add more financial burden for you in the long run.
Getting rid of these debts by living stingy, saving money, and making more significant payments will not only cut down your overall costs but give you peace of mind sooner, which is priceless.
Avoid the shiny object syndrome, don’t spend money, and protect your bank account!
If you want to retire comfortably and aren’t an heir to an enormous inheritance, you’ll have to start living stingy. Frugal living habits will help you reach that goal much quicker.
A recent study in 2019 showed that 64% of Americans aren’t financially prepared for retirement and that 48% don’t even care, which is an alarming finding. So make sure to start incorporating lifestyle habits not to be part of the statistic.
7 Ways to Start Living A Stingy Lifestyle
Now that you know what exactly living stingy is and why you should incorporate it into your lifestyle, what are some ways you can go about it? Here are seven of my favorite ways you can start living a stingy lifestyle.
1. Set A Low Entertainment Budget
Many people fail to realize that much of their daily spending habits go towards entertainment, which includes many items that they don’t necessarily need. This unnecessary spending can be through subscription plans, excessive amounts of clothing, or accumulating trinkets that don’t serve many purposes at home.
Whenever I find an item that I like, I think real hard about whether it will help a real practical sense. Those things may seem like they spark happiness in the short run, but they’ll eventually end up in storage!
It doesn’t take much to live a happy, entertaining lifestyle and try to cut costs where you can see so that you aren’t spending so much in the entertainment category. Pick up hiking, learn cooking, or learn how to garden. These are just a couple of hobbies that are entertaining and don’t require much money.
You can easily live happily with a low monthly spending budget for entertainment or fun activities. I recommend a zero-based budget as part of your financial plan to manage your personal finance.
2. Incorporate Minimalism Into Your Lifestyle
Minimalism is the act of making all purchases deliberately and with intention. To have a minimalist lifestyle, make sure to ask yourself a few questions.
- Will this item bring me happiness?
- Do I need this item?
Pondering these questions about your new purchases will allow you to live with intention. I make sure to incorporate five concrete minimalist life habits to start saving money. You can read about them here.
3. Shop Around For The Best Deals On Your Essentials
You can save tons of money on essentials such as insurance, internet, food, and clothing by simply shopping around. Maybe your significant other has a better insurance plan than you and can add you onto their plan as a spouse. Or perhaps you can get the same groceries at a lower price by breaking your habit of going to the same grocery store every time.
Car and rental insurance are two expenses that you almost certainly need to have depending on your lifestyle and living area. There are a variety of companies that are revolutionizing the way you pay your bills and insurance.
To continue stingy living, I always make sure to cross-check my insurance costs with various platforms. Two of my personal favorites are Jerry for car insurance and Lemonade for renter’s insurance. Jerry is a great way to compare car insurance across various providers every year and, Lemonade is by far the cheapest renter’s insurance I have seen across the board.
4. Negotiate Your Pay
Did you know that only 19% of people in the United States workplace believe their employers pay them fairly? Employers don’t expect you to negotiate and take that to their advantage.
Whenever you have a new employment offer, make sure you negotiate so that you can earn as much money as possible while living stingy to save and invest that money. Your full-time job is the single most significant income source, and it’s important to maximize it as much as possible.
You can also make extra money by starting a side hustle. A couple of side hustle ideas to make money are investing in real estate, creating a blog, or being a driver for Uber or Lyft.
5. Scan Your Receipts and Get Extra Savings On Your Purchases
Did you know that you can scan your receipts and get extra cashback on your purchases? I usually collect all my receipts and set aside five minutes each week to scan them and earn cash back!
When you’re living stingy, everything counts, and scanning receipts is one thing I do to get more money back. I use a couple of apps to scan receipts, and some of the favorites that I use are here. Check them out and start browsing receipts today to save more money.
6. Sell Items That You Don’t Use.
I love selling unwanted household items on OfferUp and eBay. Making an account and listing items to sell on OfferUp and eBay is free, and fees are around 10% for each item you sell.
I document everything from used clothing, handbags, furniture, candles, technology, and more! You’d be surprised at the types of items that you can sell on these platforms. Your listings never expire, and sometimes I’ll get someone contacting me to purchase my item years after I’ve listed the item.
By selling your items rather than disposing of them, you live a more waste-free lifestyle while living stingy and saving more money. Listing on these platforms is easy, and I encourage you to try it.
7. Go Thrifting
Finding items at thrift stores is a great way to be more sustainable and save tons of money. By thrifting, you’ll create less waste and consume fewer resources.
You’ll be surprised at what you can find at your local Goodwill or Plato’s Closet. Check it out the next time you want to go shopping!
Values of Living Stingy
There’s a variety of values of living stingy. Whether you realize it or not, living stingy will improve your quality of life and what you do for others and the environment.
Creating Less Waste
By consuming less and making your purchases with intention, you are creating less waste. Whether this is through thrifting your clothing or acquiring fewer decorations, you live a sustainable lifestyle by reducing your carbon footprint.
Less Financial Burdens
By living stingy, you’ll automatically save more money and pay more towards chipping away your debt. Stingy people will also have more money to invest in your future and things that you love.
Debt is one of the most significant factors that make people stress and worry about their future. By living stingy, you’ll be able to get rid of it faster and feel relief from a significant financial burden.
More Ability to Give
If you start living stingy, you’ll automatically have more capability to give to the ones that you love. By saving on unnecessary purchases and cutting down on your necessities, you will feel the financial freedom to be a more generous person.
If you can’t make ends meet for yourself, how can you be expected to provide for others? When you live stingily and have your finances in order, you’ll be able to provide more for others.
Earlier Retirement
With a stingy lifestyle, you’ll be able to hit the net worth and join the FIRE movement (financial independence retire early) by investing the money you saved. Having no financial burdens will enable you to have the freedom to pursue your passions and spend time with the ones you love.
Conclusion
Living stingy in the right ways is a great way to lift a financial burden off your shoulders. It also helps you provide more for the ones that you love and be more sustainable for the environment.
With the various benefits of living stingy, why not try incorporating a few habits today? Embrace living stingy. You’ll find that it’s easier to do than you had imagined!
