Why Adopting A Frugal Mindset Will Hurt You

Several years ago I was knee deep in credit card debt while working a normal 9-5 job. To pay off that debt I spent a lot of time learning frugal habits. I cooked my meals, cut out Starbucks, saved spare change, refrained from all types of expensive purchases, and generally just stopped spending money altogether. And it worked! Within a little over a year I had paid off all my credit card debt. Since frugality helped me get out of debt, why would I call it hurtful? Two reasons:

1. It absorbed a surprising amount of time and energy. I stayed on top of frugality web sites and had to mentally put a lot of effort into being frugal.

2. It didn’t increase my income.

No matter what type of frugal champion you become, it won’t increase your earnings. It teaches you how to be a miser, not a mogul. Unless being a miser is your natural disposition, frugality will not make you any happier. I hated being frugal because counting every dollar I spent made me feel like a loser in poverty, not a success. I couldn’t even buy a round of shots for friends at the club without getting depressed at the expenditure.

What is easier: spending less money or making money? Is it easier to pinch pennies and skip on laundry soap or is it easier provide a service or product that people want? Frugality is the path of least resistance. Take a look at these two subreddits and their numbers:

/r/Frugal – 197,000 subscribers
/r/Entrepreneur – 26,000 subscribers

The sheep chooses to be frugal. The lion chooses to make more money, to the point where the efforts to save money on a $50 oil change is totally irrelevant and something that doesn’t even warrant thought. Instead of going down the rabbit hole of frugality, choose instead to give value.

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