Posted on by Chad F.

Frugality is, oftentimes, viewed in a negative aspect. A frugal person is usually thought to be a penny-pinching individual who is cheap. The truth is that being frugal is a good thing when you look at the positive outcomes. It is one way to save money consistently.

Being extremely frugal, on the other hand, is another matter. What’s the point of earning an income when you are depriving yourself significantly, right? So how do you improve your personal finances without being too frugal? Here are some tips that can definitely help you out.

Automate Your Finances

Automation is a process of automatically programming your finances. Instead of having to remember setting aside money for savings, you can instruct the bank to transfer a part of your income for it. You can easily allocate how much money to save and how much will be left to spend.  Most banks already have this kind of service in case you are not aware of it.

This will enable you to have savings even when you forget to do it on your own. In a way, it is also one method of saving you the trouble of being weak-willed in terms of spending beyond your budget. You simply can’t overspend because you do not have enough money for it.

Evaluate Your Recurring Expenses

A recurring expense is another form of automation wherein part of your income is already fixed to pay for it. This is actually bad since you are spending without really thinking about it.

Your phone bill, for example, may be charged on your account every month. If you will just spend some time to examine how much you actually spend for calls, SMS, and mobile internet, you might find a way to save up. If you already have internet at home but still use your phone’s data most of the time, then you can just have the other one cut off.  You see, there are many options that can significantly reduce monthly spending if you will evaluate which ones you really need at the moment.

Reduce Financial Fees

For example, when you use money transfer services to send money to anyone, you may notice that you also need to pay for such services.  Financial fees may seem irrelevant when you are used to being charged for it. If you sum up how much you spend for it, you might be surprised as it can be a huge amount over time.

To save when sending money, you can try to explore stellar platforms like Sharemoney. It is a reliable money transfer service but is cheaper compared to other online remittance websites. It also does not deduct the recipient’s money for hidden charges, unlike some remittance services. With Sharemoney, you do not have to worry about paying too much for remittance fees. You can either save it up or send more money to your loved ones.

Find Better Alternatives

Better is not necessarily cheaper. If you will be creative in choosing what is better than looking at price tags, then you can find alternatives that will work just the same. For example, if you like to eat out but find it too expensive, why not learn how to cook and enjoy the same tasty dishes but cheaper? If you like coffee and spend a fortune buying your daily caffeine fix from a cafe every day, then buy your own coffee maker.

Being frugal is not a bad idea, and you will actually enjoy doing it if you can focus on being practical, observant, and creative!

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