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Frugal Living
By peace | July 22, 2007
To appreciate anything, you have to feel its lost. How important something is to you? Imagine it to be lost, live without that important thing for days, and you would understand its values to you.
When I was young, I am choosy about food. Sometimes my mother bought back packed food from the market. If the food did not suit my taste, I would not eat. Sometimes, I could not finish my food, or I just did not feel like eating. I often heard my mother said “Don’t waste food….. Money is hard to earn……..Don’t waste money…….” I do not care much. To me it was like feeling nothing at all. That is I do not know really know the importance of money. I do not need to worry about having no food, I do not need to worry about almost anything when I was young. I have almost everything I want and need, except for those questions which always remains on my mind.
My mother often said this at home “Next time when you become parents, you would understand….”. These words just stay in my head. It serves no purpose at all at the time when my mother told me all these. My mind was really blank and I had neutral feeling, don’t even know what is appreciation for that age. Now that I am a parent myself, those words which she had said were the truth. I had told my children about this. I believe in telling all my experience and what I know to the children.
Money is hard to earn. For some people, money is not their concern at all because they can earn much more than what the normal people could not. Some people can spend money like nobody business because they have ’sponsorship’ — spending their parents’ money, their boyfriend, girlfriend, husband or wife’s money. You will not stay rich forever. You would deplete your money one day if you do not have proper money management.
For a person who is not earning much and no CPF, I need to be frugal where money is concerned. There are days where I fall sick and I will not be paid at all. There is no medical leave and no holiday leaves or maternity leaves. I had learned how to lead a frugal life. I do not spend money unnecessarily and I have found that frugal living is good and meaningful. I am happy with what I am now, I have enough to spend and I am living everyday life to the fullest.
What It Means To Be Frugal
Frugal Living means… RAM:
1. Recycle, Reuse and Reduce
Recycle, Reduce and Reuse, this is not only saving our own money, but saving our earth as well. Many things can be recycled — babies or children’s clothings, newspaper, plastic bottles and even water — water from washing machine can be used for mopping the floor, water used for washing vegetables and fish can be used to water plants.
Many things can be reuse — plastic bags, paper bags, cooking oil, textbooks, uniforms, T-shirts etc — clothes can be sewn into rugs and even bags.
Reduce to prevent wastage — Do not cook more than is necessary, left over if any can be consumed again for the next meal;
Reduce to improve our health — salt, cooking oil, sugar, coconut milk, butter etc
Reduce power consumption — electricity usage, reduce gas when cooking where ‘big fire’ is unnecessary and when food do not require long cooking time. (For example, when cooking vegetables.)
2. Avoid
Avoid following fashion. Avoid branded clothes, accessories, bags and shoes.
Avoid luxury.
Avoid drugs and smoking.
Avoid overeating.
3. Minimise
Minimise travels plans, clubbing, entertainment and pets adoption.
Minimise drinking and don’t smoke.
Minimise driving around. Cycling not only add as an exercise for you, it does not cause any air pollution too. Bicycle has no road tax and bicycle has low maintenance cost.
