Maintaining a comfortable lifestyle with frugality

| Filed under: Personal Finance | Author: Hope Ikwe

Living a frugal lifestyle does not necessarily mean cutting off completely all that is meant to make you comfortable. It only makes it more comfortable not only because you will not be stranded but because you will have enough to accommodate the luxuries of life.

To constantly have a comfortable life style without draining your resources, be proactive and take charge of your finances and learn new ways of earning more and utilizing the resources you have judiciously?

Being responsible for your actions will help a great deal. For instance, when searching for an apartment bearing in mind that the size  and the location of the apartment determines the cost will help you make your choice. You need to be true to yourself knowing what blows your mind as a person and what your need at that point. If you are fascinated by sight you may choose to find a small apartment in a high brow area of the city but if you are one that feels great in a wider space, then a less expensive large and comfortable apartment in the suburb will do as you breath the fresh air of your natural environment.

Commitment to your outlined goals is a step towards living a comfortable life.  Everyone who means well for his or her financial life will set goals they plan towards achieving. Of course, don’t forget the new year resolution for your finances. Even if you did not make any resolutions because it seems like such resolutions is just a mere tradition in writing to you and you have been making resolutions for the heck of it, it is not to late to make some now. You may choose to tag it “goals to achieve” or any tag that suits you, you never can tell may be your problem is with the nomenclature “New Year Resolution”. Furthermore, achieving it lies on you changing your attitude to life generally because attitudes have a way of affecting every area of your life. So to get it right, don’t focus on changing the attitude which you feel are just bad for your finances, change your core attitudes and you will see that your finances will fall in place and you will lead a comfortable life.

Focus on your on achieving your financial goals. Determine how much you intend to save for a specific period and what you intend to achieve with the money. It may be for the purpose of education, purchase of a car or a house. As you keep these goals in view, it propels you towards achieving your set goal and your achievement will improve your lifestyle and makes your life comfortable.

Another step further is defining your goals instead of having a vague idea to help achieving your set goals. Having a vague idea on what kind of lifestyle you intend to adopt be it high profile lifestyle, middle class  or low profile or may be upgrading your life style while practising frugality and look forward towards actualizing it.

Planning ahead is a crucial step to financial stability and maintaining a comfortable life style as the maxim “he who fails to plan, plans to fail” is true for finances. To set your financial, life in the right track, plan ahead towards achieving your goals in months, quarterly, biannual or annual intervals. When paying for your rent, if it is on a yearly payment basis, waiting for payment date to draw close before making moves to rise up money for your rent will mean you running from pillar to post. To save you troubles, divide the payment into months and set aside money for payment each month.

Asking yourself what your priorities and essential needs are in life will determine if you will live a comfortable lifestyle. This will help you choose right on what to spend your money on. Prioritize payment of bills in the order of priority and urgency. Consider payments of rent, school fees, light bill, subscription for Television and determine which one is the most pressing need and attend to it in the same order.

Competition is a no-no! for If you must be financially stable and enjoy a comfortable lifestyle , you must say no to competition. You must not have what other people have or try to outdo them. Be comfortable with whom you are and with you can afford so that you can live a comfortable life devoid of unnecessary stress.

Understanding the power of “NO” is a sure of having a comfortable life. Learning the power of no is very important to having financial stability that leads to leading a comfortable life. If you always bow to financial pressure to spend more than you can afford, it will result into financial constraint.  When you learn to say “NO”, you will be on your way to enjoying that comfortable lifestyle you so much desire.

By: Hope Ikwe