People who embrace a frugal lifestyle believe that “money does not grow on trees.” To become wealthy, one has to work hard to get there, except you win a lottery or falsely acquire wealth.
Most wealthy people work hard but smartly.
Some others may work very hard and eventually see the light at the end of the tunnel even without applying many smart moves.
While some others, may work less and get lots of luck in a short period of time.
But whichever way you intend to approach acquiring Personal Finance, one has to implement a strategy and lots of hard work.
The first step to financial freedom is mastering the rules of money.
Anyone with a minimal, monthly income can become a millionaire by carefully planning and implementing ways to build and manage finances.
Some years back, I had $0 in savings and I lived through the month mostly broke because I was unable to prioritize and take proper charge of my personal finances.
And to top all my failures, I roll with friends who have dept addictions and poor work zeal.
An unexpected, sequence of events made drastic changes in my life which eventually led me to make a U-turn with my personal finance.
And guess what, the fortunate incident is? “birth of my first child”
Motherhood taught me money resilience- how to earn tirelessly, save passionately and invest like a money witch.
Every Extra Dollar
The birth of my child immediately made me realize that I have someone I am financially responsible for.
I realized that despite having a husband who earns a stable income, I constantly lacked money and craved financial security for my child.
All these events led to a turnover in my finances.
During my transformation, I grew closer to two frugal families in my neighborhood.
Taking a look at this family from afar, one will never guess they were strikingly rich and living without lacking anything!
These families looked like the “perfect middle-classed families” but unknown to most of us in that estate, they were far wealthier than the families we thought were the richest in that city.
It was a hard lesson learned.
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In other words, here are the 7 secrets( Frugal Lifestyle) I finally learnt from these frugal people who not just have money but are millionaires.
1) They master their needs
No one masters their needs better than frugal people.
They have a clear distinction of what they need from what they want.
Frugal people will never immerse themselves in debt.
More and more wants are exactly what gets people into debt– impulsive buying, lack of discipline, and a stagnant income are the exact recipe for debt disaster.
But frugal people have a grasping knowledge of their income, they are able to master how to create passive income sources, save and invest to generate extra money.
You might want to learn whether you should save money or invest money
Frugal people are better known to live below their income and not otherwise.
2) They are budget-freaks
Frugal people will never live without a budget. Real-time budgeting is a daily part of a frugal lifestyle.
I can’t recall how many times in a week I walked into my neighbor creating a budget and to top up my surprise, my frugal neighbor reveals that she doesn’t just make one first thing in the morning, but she goes through them at various times in a day.
Budgeting is the first lesson I learned from frugal people, it’s the first step to a purposeful Frugal Lifestyle.
When you live by budgets, you don’t just become thrifty with money but you master how to create goals and achieve them at various stages in your life.
Budgeting will make you disciplined with money.
It will teach you to appreciate funds and differentiate clearly your wants from your needs.
A weekly budget is your ultimate goal if you ever want to get out of debt and become financially free.
Every Extra Dollar
3) They create streams of passive income
You know, most people wonder how regular people become millionaires and stay millionaires even after several years when they are gone!
But hey… where else will the credit go to, if not “passive income?”
Not just one passive income source but several streams of them.
The one thing people who retire poor all have in common is that they never thought of having a passive income source or sources in their working years.
They were comfortable living paycheck-to-paycheck, buying houses for immediate use, cars, and other liabilities.
Passive income will not only create wealth for you in your inactive years but will do so for several lines in your generations.
Actionable tip- after getting back from work today, try searching out a passive income type you will want to start and make sure to save some of your next earning to start it.
4) They keep different bank accounts
I personally keep three accounts that have drastically improved my personal income and money discipline.
On one account, I don’t touch! I have some passive cash getting into it every month and bank rewards too.
And then on another, I save emergency funds, and the last, I put cash for regular expenses.
Surely, I have been able to strictly adhere to their purposes without the need to ever compromise.
Actionable tips- try to keep at least three accounts and make sure you’re not relying on just one income and always stay strictly to the plan.
Should I Save Money Or Invest Money, Here’s How To Decide5) They don’t joke with their health
They eat healthy, exercise, go for regular checkups,s and do not ignore warning signs in their body.
One of the reasons why most people do not grow past their income is health issues.
Some people spend $10 daily on cigarettes and $25 on alcohol or high-energy drinks and then they go down with one illness or another in that same month which will require more than their emergency funds.
Sometimes, very huge, in cases where they finally get down with an organ failure.
Taking time to improve your health status will save you tons of money.
Staying healthy will help you build your finances, stay out of debt and keep you happier.
Actionable tip- stay out of Junk sh**ts and indulgence that will only take away your health.
Don’t wait to develop limp organs before you go for your next check-up.
Trust me, there’s immense, unfathomable joy in being sick-free and debt-free.
6) They are mindful of liabilities
In 6 years from now, that very big car you bought will slowly add to your liabilities.
That mighty, three-bedroom-duplex you are living in alone, will become more than a liability in the next 10 years.
When everything starts getting bad, all the sink starts clogging, paints peeling off, and your tiles start jumping out of the ground.
These are the type of soul-draining liabilities frugal people are mindful of.
They don’t keep excess baggage!
If they’re getting a car, they get one that has easy-to-get parts and is economical with fuel.
And if they’re getting a house, they choose one that won’t drain off their savings even if they decide to renovate the house yearly.
The truth is, you don’t need a big house, no one does…what you need is a small, clean and polished house.
7) They roll with like-minds
Frugal millionaires are mindful of their friends.
They have a stiff association with shopaholics and parasitic friendships.
They don’t need friends that will help them eat up all their savings, instead, they row with like-minds who will appreciate and encourage them In their Frugal journey.
A point to Note:
Frugal doesn’t mean living cheap and tattered but living every stage of your life successful, debt-free, and wealthy.
It is much more honorable to live a frugal lifestyle than to live through every day immersed in-dept while pretending to live largely.
Do you agree?
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