5 Things I Refuse To Be More Frugal About

There are two versions of frugality.

The first of these is people who are looking to spend less on everything.

This might be because either because they’re on a very tight budget or just because they’re naturally uber-frugal.

I salute these people, but I must admit that I’m not one of them.

I’m a member of the other group.

I like to economize on things that don’t bring me pleasure, so I can enjoy guilt-free (but controlled) spending on the things that do bring me pleasure.

As an example, I’ll turn my lights off when I’m not in the room, clip coupons to save money on food and negotiate hard on my utility bills. But I’m happy to spend money on other stuff that brings me joy.

It’s these other things that are the focus of this article.

The reason I wanted to write this article is to show that you can live a frugal lifestyle and still have a great quality of life.

You don’t need to give up on life entirely, refusing to spend any money.

Having tested out both versions of frugality, my own belief is that this method works best for me.

It’s sustainable. It makes my life better not worse.

And that helps to explain why I’m such a strong proponent of frugality; while if it’s done wrong it can lead to misery and boredom, when it’s done right it can actually have a very positive effect on your quality of life.

So what are my “guilty pleasures” that I’m happy to spend money on (if it fits my budget)…?

Education/Business Building

If you want to achieve financial independence then it’s important that you understand both sides of the equation.

Money in, versus money out, equals savings and investments.

Basically the more you earn, and the less you spend, the better your financial situation will be.

Many other frugality bloggers focus purely on reducing expenses. I think that limiting your costs is an essential step, but almost as important is maximizing your income wherever possible.

For this reason I am more than happy to pay for courses, ebooks and tools that will help me to grow my various online businesses or further my career.

Right now I spend around $200 a month on my online ventures; launching new websites, growing existing sites and turning them into profit-producing assets that will increase my income over the long term.

As they say; you have to speculate in order to accumulate.

My Pets

I’ve always been pet mad.

From my very first guinea pig as a child right up to the present day I’ve kept virtually every pet under the sun.

These days my passion is exotic pets – lizards, tree frogs, leaf insects and so on.

[Yes, and pythons just like the one in the picture!]

Fortunately, these pets aren’t expensive to keep (in comparison to a dog or a horse, at least). Furthermore they can be bred, and selling the offspring can offset many of the costs involved.

But I’m happy to buy a new pet – or upgrade their housing to the very best on the market.

Not only do they bring me immense pleasure, but furthermore I think we have an ethical obligation in order to provide the best possible care for our pets.

Whole Foods

Long term readers will know that I have been on a major weight loss journey this year.

After 5 years working as a grocery store manager, and getting up at 3.45am every morning, I just ate whatever was easiest and quickest.

While the weight gains were slow (I was on my feet for 10-12 hours a day so burned a lot of calories) all this unhealthy eating did slowly catch up with me.

So this year I’ve been eating very healthily, and exercising at least twice a week.

So far I’ve lost 2.5 stone, and I’m aiming for one more before Christmas (wish me luck!).

But my transformation this year simply wouldn’t have been possible without plenty of lean meat and vegetables.

Losing weight frugally is tough because very rarely do you find a winning promotion on chicken breast or broccoli.

However I had to make a choice; lose weight or save money. I know that I could literally halve my grocery shopping bill if it weren’t for all these healthy foods, but my priority this year has been weight loss.

So while I’ve saved wherever possible, I’ve been willing to spend the money necessary to buy the whole foods that have led to my significant weight loss.

My Gym Membership

In a similar vein, I also joined the gym at the beginning of this year.

With the British climate as it is (and the so-called summer never really materializing this year) without having a comfortable gym to exercise in I genuinely don’t think I would have kept up with my exercise regime.

When you wake up at 5.30am to hit the gym it’s a lot easier than heading out into the dark and the rain for a run.

So while some people will roll their eyes about how much money I must be wasting each month, the reality is that my gym membership has been a vital part of my weight loss success so far.

(For those concerned, I have recently moved from my old gym to a new one I have found close to work, which costs roughly half as much. So I am saving money on my old gym fees anyway).

My DVD Rental Service

I love a good movie. But I hate commercials, or being tied to terrestrial TV and having to watch movies only when the networks decide to show them.

As a result I’ve been a long-term customer of Amazon’s DVD rental by post service. And we love it. There’s a constant supply of brand new movies arriving in our letterbox, and my girlfriend and I love nothing more than settling down with a good movie.

Our monthly subscription charge is roughly equivalent to buying one brand new DVD so I think it offers exceptional value; we’ll probably watch three of four movies a week thanks to our membership, so the price per movie really couldn’t be much lower.

That me – but what about you? What items are you unwilling to cut from your budget? Please leave your thoughts in the comments section below and let me know what your guilty spending pleasures are…