At What Point Does Frugal Just Become Stupid?

Frugality can make your life better, but it also has the capacity to make it miserable. In the process of living on the cheap, we can often diverge into a path of stupidity. Where do you draw the line between frugal and stupid?

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Kentin Waits, writing for personal finance blog Wise Bread, discusses a number of frugality myths that he thinks just aren’t true. For example, he disagrees that frugality is all about sacrifice and denial:

There have been very few times in my own life when I’ve felt denied anything truly important because of my frugality. Maybe my wants have been suppressed, but more likely, they’ve been recalibrated. For me (and I have a hunch, for most frugal folks) the real denial would be the peace-of-mind lost from living beyond my means. I truly get a charge out of saving money and I enjoy the rich experience of (usually) being worry-free.

As he notes, frugality does actually involve sacrifice and denial, but it’s about how far you take it. How far is too far when you’re being frugal?

7 Frugality Myths Debunked [Wise Bread]


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