Why Being Cheap Is Expensive And Will Do You More Harm Than Good
By: Mia Gradelski
Tags: Cheap, Money, Covid 19, Lessons, Habits

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Knowing the difference between being cheap and frugal will save you headaches and lines on your forehead for life. If we could, none of us would want to be cheap. We wish we could just buy whatever backpack we want, not search around at lower quality stores and try to match it up to our luxury dream bag just to feel satisfied. We are cheap becuase we have to not want to and that distorts the way we manage our money.

If you treat everything all the mundane life work as commands, then it will harm you back. The truth is, you will never feel satisfied if you always compare what you have to something that you cannot afford. Comparison is not only dangerous emotionally it is financially as well. More often than not, those who you think are thriving, could easily be in the bucket with 80% of Americans with debt. We only display what we want others to see.

Wouldn’t you feel better eliminating all debt in your account that is accumulating interest faster than your savings account than a nice bag to store your junk? I for sure wouldn’t care to impress others and not be beholden to pay back the bank any day. There are times when caring about other’s opinions are important. During a presentation to receive constructive feedback or understand why you are treating someone a certain way to be respectful. But when it comes to tangibles you own and what you look like, it has no correlation to what you are worth or how you should act. Wealth is feeling valuable inside after all. Anyone can technically be rich. It just depends on what you prioritize and value. A farmer who saves 90% of his income is richer than an investment banker who splurges it on stuff that he forgets he has. It’s all about how much you keep in the bank and what you don’t pay attention to which is other’s perceptions.

But cheap versus being frugal is something that is hard to pinpoint at first but necessary to address as it can make or break your whole life, not being dramatic.

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Definitions

Cheap isn’t caring so much about what others think or feel. It is mainly inheriting an egotistical feeling that you must find the best deal or prize in order to feel a certain way and make your bank account happy even though most of the time after countless searching, bickering, arguing, and wasted time, it leaves you with nothing besides regret.

Being reasonably frugal on the other hand comes with the understanding that regret will always happen. You can never be the perfect size, shape and in financial terms, never go across the world to find a great deal that may risk your financial health becuase you most likely will get yourself in a scam. Life is about enjoying the small moments and you don’t want your finances to get in the way of enjoying life. The more money you have, the less you have to spend becuase it is more tempting. Yes, I preach on here that your finances are everything and will give you a miserable or wonderful life if not prioritized and involve in every aspect of our lives, but if you have a plan to value experiences, building relationships, cautiously finding the best deals without going berserk, you will feel and be 100% financially better.

It’s weird how that works. Being a cheap human will provide you nothing, especially if you treat people that way.

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Behind every transaction, is a person. Rapport beats any boring resume after all.

It’s difficult to mark the fine line between being cheap and frugal. I found it through various methods that I hope can help you too.

Frugal habits include:

Not obsessing over what everyone else has

As we’ve discussed earlier, cheapskates are notoriously bad about being grateful. They always focus on the Joneses and cannot comprehend that people only show off what they want others to see. When you see someone with a luxury good, it can mean two things.

1: They obviously want to show off becuase there are millions of other products like that

or

2: They are lazy and believe this product is top quality and nothing like it.

Which one do you think is healthier for your finances? You may think that finding the best bargain and seeing what others have is better, but when it comes down to saving time, energy and prioritizing what you need, taking on approach two is better as I would rather be lazy than never appreciate what I have. There will always be something you don’t have and until you realize that you have what someone else wants, you will start enjoying life.

Enjoying experiences, people, and moments

The more time you spend buying goods, the less time you have educating and investing in yourself to provide infinite gains for the future. It is unfortunate how people value things than memories that define their lives. As a society we tend to spend excessively on material items so we can conclude that buying material goods improves our wellbeing. And we constantly believe that becuase we spend a heck of a lot on junk.

Americans spend more on shoes, jewelry and watches at an estimate $100 billion, with a b than on higher education!

The average American throws away 65 pounds on clothing per year.

What will convince you that spending on time-saving endeavors will increase your overall fulfillment and happiness? Just do it yourself! Trust me, you don’t need that bag after all. Find a less expensive one that is at your nearest store and move on with life. Trust me, in a few years, you won’t remember the bag or the time wasted becuase it’s gone.

Making sure things will last

There is only a certain amount of time you can spend to search for the right deal until you are going overboard. As a frugal minimalist, I’ve become very aware and conscious of my budget and what I need, the 2 key pillars of having a healthy spending relationship. Memories and experiences will last as you will tell stories and share more experiences based off of them later in your life. Forget that Nintendo or $700 shirt. I guarantee you you will get over it in a few months time and spend more time trying to sell it for a discount. To make your money work for you, prioritize your time and people becuase those will reap endless rewards. Investments in education and people will always come back to you. Stop being patient for the long term and impatient in the short term. Building connections never hurts especially when looking for a job down the road and learning Python or Java doesn’t take as much time as you thought. The activities that don’t bring immediate results are usually the most highly regarded qualities to have compared to shopping and food which are impulse decisions that only bring happiness for a hot sec.

Taking time for purchases

Opportunity cost should be a part of every decision in your life and something frugalists measure. Save more money by saving time. I will pay you a lot for you to save my time and learning to say no faster, will save your money as well. No you don’t need to buy 2 and get the extra 1 free or spend $100 and get 50% off the next shirt. Taking time, prioritizing your life and needs through the 72-hour spending rule will put you on the best track to banishing the bad spending habits of impulsivity. To get the best deals, you must put in teh time and effort through research but make sure you know your time is worth it. We tend to have a mixed-up allusion about our time and prefer to do mundane easy chores that life requires during our peak performance hours. Researching the best trends and shopping is 10x easier than working on yourself, but what is more beneficial in the long run? Don’t get working hard and hardly working mixed up.

Every day little purchases not the big ones, once in a while are those that add up

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As with a diet, a piece of chocolate cake once a month will not sabotage your weight loss journey. It’s the little daily portion sizes, ingredients, additives, and junk that you secretly disregard that have the biggest impact on your health. With your finances, it can be argued the same. Obviously going on a $7k round trip vacation to Aruba is a bigger expense than mini trips around the country but that doesn’t’ mean you aren’t still spending. Money is money and compounding can work in your favor if you let it. Don’t become nose blind to the deals that you find on a day to day basis becuase they could easily be the ones sabotaging your bank account.

Health and financial stability = happiness in this world

Frugalists believe in experiences and not overly obsessing about something they didn’t get their hands on. You determine how you spend your time and most things aren’t needed. You really don’t need much to be happy and in fact, the less you have, the more you will be due to gratitude and minimalism, a lifestyle I embody that my friends haven’t found out is the secret sauce to my calmness. I don’t care what you study in school or like. Every single human on the planet needs to have their financial and mental/physical health in check to actually live. Money is a part of our daily lives whether or not we spend. By living under a roof, we are stacking bills to be paid at the end of the month and every once in a while alcoholic drink you have for a night out on the town will soon add up to a Aruba vacation. In 2021, I hope you can prioritize the little things in life and put your finances in order. You don’t have to go overboard with graphs and Excel just prove to yourself that everything charged to your acount is worth it.

Beware of trends

The older you get, you start to realize that not only impressing people is a waste of time but trends come and go fast! Can you imagine if you keep tabs on all the trends of the year! You will need a 6 bedroom mansion to fit all those clothes! I always invest in classic minimalistic pieces. I wear the same white shirt in 7 pairs every day and since my shoe size hasn’t changed since puberty, I love my sneakers. One pair and if I need more, I go get it. There is never a shortage of clothes and buying investment-grade pieces that will last for a little more will save you a ton than buying cheap bargains every once in a while.