Comments on: Why do frugality tips suck so badly?

By: Yow Chuan

Yow Chuan — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 04:46:00 +0000

Yup, frugal living tips are boring, as compared to the high-flying, credit-accumulative lifestyles.

But it works!

By: Jerry

Jerry — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 20:19:21 +0000

This made me smile. Frugality tips shouldn’t be the lightning bolt that wakes you from you financial slumber. They are obvious but here’s the kicker. People can be pretty forgetful. It’s been documented. So, if a few obvious tips lead you to make some better choices with your money then great. Doing it consistently is your insurance for stability.
Cheers,
Jerry
http://www.leads4insurance.com

By: David @ PYF

David @ PYF — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 22:19:33 +0000

I think that the key to successful frugality tips is that they are sustainable.

Like a good diet, it should not mean cutting out everything fun. It has to be a balance, preferably targeting areas that aren’t a big priority for you.

As an example, I don’t really care what I eat for lunch at work, because I eat alone. However, I’d like to be able to have fun on the weekends when I have the time to enjoy meals with my family and friends.

As for the Scrooge Strategy tips, I signed up for them, and with the first tip (about targeting your two highest areas of spending), I’ve been able to save about $100 in a month. Not too shabby.

Yeah, some of the tips will be obvious and painful. But the problem with frugality isn’t that people don’t know what they should be doing. It’s that they know what they should be doing, and they still don’t do it.

If Ramit can help provide a framework and the details to help enable actually do what they should, then I think the $8 is a good deal, especially if it helps you save more than that.

I can see why some people took offense at how he marketed the thirty day challenge, but in general, I don’t think Ramit tries to say his is the only way. His message is that he wants to build weath while preserving lifestyle, and I think that is a unique angle.

By: Sean Murphy

Sean Murphy — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 02:51:02 +0000

I agree with Monkey. The populous will pay another or spend time listening to another on how to be wealthy, when in fact it is quite easy. Work hard, prudently, consistently, market well, start your own business, etc. The hard part is doing it.

By: Jim

Jim — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 02:24:12 +0000

Frugality builds momentum. It is not a sprint start. Frugality helps you avoid going into debt and having to pay interest (a financial drag). It allows you to edge ahead of the curve (pay your bills, build an emergency fund, and invest…in that order). Once you start getting ahead of the curve, its easier to stay ahead. Once you fall behind (e.g. by living an unsustainably expensive lifestyle), its hard to claw back out (i.e. frugality is necessary but less effective).

By: Monkey

Monkey — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 02:07:40 +0000

99% of advice products, digital or otherwise, suck and are obvious. I’m reserving the 1% as a rhetorical device and because I just may come across one worth reading.

Just thumb through any of the “Success” primers (at your favorite brick and mortar store for free of course) and you will find obviousness and suckage difficult to measure.

Small wonder that your answer to why frugality tips suck … is that they don’t actually suck. Thereby providing absolute proof of the true suckiness of advice columns. And to think I actually expected a good answer!

Top 10 timesaving tips:

1. Stop reading obvious useless lists of tips.

By: Ilana

Ilana — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 01:30:18 +0000

This is a great post … so true. Just like with dieting, you can’t do it until you meet a goal, or you’ll be back where you started in no time.

For Ben, I think frugality doesn’t have to be about deprivation at all. I think frugality can be made into a game, or simply made into such a habit that it’s second nature and doesn’t hurt. With something like food, the pleasure can be in the cooking itself, or in the creativity to find ways to use scraps that might otherwise end up in the trash. For some people, second-hand shopping is a rush … finding a diamond in the rough. Just some things that attitude can help, and attitude is free!

By: Roger

Roger — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 19:51:45 +0000

Good post. Being pretty new to the idea of living frugally, I’ve been trying to read up on how to cut down my spending. Many of the tips are quite similar; there are only so many ways to cut down on expenses. Being reminded of them, and seeing how much agreement there is on how to reduce your outgo, is to be expected. There’s only so many ways that most people have to save.

By: Kris

Kris — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 19:05:58 +0000

This is seriously one of the best articles on Frugality I’ve ever read, and explains why post after post on the subject start to become tiresome after awhile. Really, really well done, MBH.

By: Funny about Money

Funny about Money — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 15:58:04 +0000

Well said. One of the challenges for PF bloggers is the fact that there are only so many ways you can say “live within your means.” To keep these blogs interesting, you pretty much have to address larger economic and philosophical issues.