Most of us have a budget that we have to adhere to. This budget helps us to live comfortably without overspending and ensures that we have money to pay necessary bills. This frugal approach to life has many benefits when it is practiced over and over. This frugal approach set us up for a rainy day, teaches us to distinguish the difference between wants and needs, and births an independent spirit.
Delayed Gratification
One of the many character building benefits of practicing a frugal lifestyle is learning to delay what you want for a later time. The time you spend working toward your goal is valuable and will enhance the joy you feel when you finally get what you want which teaches the practical act of working towards what you want. You may be saving for an expensive cosmetic dental procedure, spending hours looking over the journal of cosmetic dentistry. When you’re finally able to pay for the procedure you’re filled with gratitude and joy because you had the patience to wait and save.
Prioritizing Wants and Needs
Another valuable moral that is learned from practicing frugality, is the ability to plan and prioritize. In a sense, when you learn to properly prioritize your wants and needs you prove to yourself that you have the ability to make the right decisions for yourself. You learn to look over your own shoulder. This builds your independence and confidence level.
The Value in Earning Things
When you have finally saved enough money to buy the coveted item that you’ve been ogling for quite some time, the joy you feel is two-fold. You are both proud of yourself for working toward what you want and happy to have it. You earned it. There is no feeling in the world the compares to earning the things that you value and really want.
Living a frugal lifestyle helps us in far-reaching ways. It teaches us the value of delayed gratification, which is actually a form of patience. It also teaches us the value of working for what we want. We generally cherish the things we work for more than the things that we obtained without earning them. We also learn the difference between wants and needs in addition to learning what things are of higher priority than others. The by-products of developing these wise life skills are increased confidence and an independent spirit.