Learning the Frugal Life

Learning the frugal life approach to help us save and live simply might not come natural for many of us. After all, we live in a society where we are bombarded with advertisements to spend our hard earned income with psychological ploys that tell us directly or indirectly that we have a low sense of self worth if we do not recognize that we deserve it. With many around us striving for instant gratification and the push to do as our peers do, the frugal mindset is something that we need to cultivate. How do people who live frugally manage their finances and what do they do differently?

A case in point that comes to mind due to being in the news recently is the example of 98 year old Verna Oller, a resident of Long Beach, who on May 10, 2010, passed away and left a legacy of $4.5 million - to the amazement of most people who knew her. How did she do it?

Clearly, she avoided spending money and worked hard. Not only did she work at earning money, she worked at hanging onto it and investing it too. To save the expense of getting her hair cut, she cut her own. She did not shrink from acquiring stuff secondhand, whether it was clothing, the Wall Street Journal or getting free meals. Flaunting her wealth or spending money frivolously to impress her friends was not part of her lifestyle. She kept a careful record of her investments and learned about investing. How does her life give us principles about learning the frugal lifestyle?

1. She lived debt free, a simple life devoid of accumulating interest charges. How many of us can say the same?

2.Like her, we should not be too proud to accept hand me downs or used items we have a use for. They can help us build up a bank account quicker in our current climate of rising prices.

3. Honest labor has its rewards, and it pays to hang on to our earnings and find legitimate substitutes for spending money. We could trade services with a friend, to avoid out of pocket expenses, such as babysitting, hair care, housecleaning, baking, the list goes on.

4. Educating ourselves about financial matters pays off. It is essential that we know how much of our earnings we are spending, so we can budget and plan our savings strategy.

5. True friends will value us for who we are and what we mean to them, not for the money we spend to impress them. Leaving a legacy of value to our fellowman is far more impressive than flaunting money to win their approval.

Verna's life provides us with many clues how she accomplished surprising her community with a wonderful gift.
Learning the frugal life from Verna Oller and her amazing legacy is a genuine inspiration to save and live a simpler life.