Family Frugal Living

Family frugal living strategies are the start to a wealthy future for this generation

Families are wonderful. They provide so much joy and happiness and love. Families can bring so many good things. However, having a family can be a source of worry too. This is especially true if you have growing children or a family member suffers from poor health.

Additional Articles You’ll Also Like:

Article: Frugal Living – 6 Essential Tips…
Article: How to Live Life on Pennies a Day by Learning the Art of Frugality
Article: Practical Ways To Save On Home Insurance

The economy is experiencing a down turn and jobs are hard to keep and even harder to find. Family frugal living is no longer a choice for many but an absolute must. Frugality certainly has benefits. These benefits do not impact just the family or individuals practicing this lifestyle value but the environment as well.

Frugal living is a challenging lifestyle. The temptation to spend is very difficult to overcome given the pervasive consumerism. While it may be very challenging, frugal living can be very rewarding in the long run.

Living frugally as a family can teach a lot of values that have been thrown on the wayside. Thrift is one of these values. The ease and availability of many resources have made thriftiness a value of the past. Kids frequently roll eyes at the way adults try to reuse items as much as possible. Why bother when said items are cheap and readily available?

No wonder that personal debts are on the rise. More and more children and teenagers are growing up with no real concept of what money is. Plastic is where it’s at, baby. Credit cards may have a good purpose but the propensity for abuse is tremendous. If children and teenagers are brought up to respect and live the value of thrift, there will be less cases of financial woes and heartbreak.

Frugal living also helps conserve the environment. With less paper used, less trees are cut down. Plastic is reused, lessening the trash the environment is cluttered with. If you walked or cycled more, you also contribute less exhaust gases, consume less fuel. You gain an added benefit when you walk or bike; you lose weight and get fit without going to the gym. That’s another item crossed off the expense list.

Another value that frugal living can help impart is responsibility. When you decide to live frugally, you have to learn to be responsible. For kids and teenagers, this means doing well in school, their primary responsibility. Adults and parents have the responsibility of managing finances well enough to provide adequately for the family.

Patience is also a disappearing value. Instant gratification has become the norm. Having to save for a specific goal teaches patience quite well. Delaying gratification gives greater pleasure in reaching the goal. When you work hard for something, you derive much more pleasure from the prize compared to instantly acquiring it.

You need discipline to be able to live a frugal life successfully. Frugal living is very challenging. You need to steel yourself against temptation after temptation that attempts to smash your will power. Not many succeed. Most will revert to their old ways because they are easier. Be strong as a family and actively seek out ways to be frugal.

David Stack runs a website offering coupon codes and online discounts from hundreds of online stores nationwide. If you want to save money, check out the list of coupons at his site. You can also find a wide selection of Snapfish coupons.

by: David Stack

Watch this video about frugal living: