Yeah, I see what you mean. I think that most people could benefit from minor tweaks in their spending that would save them a lot of money, but, when people try to cut down their spending, they tend to focus on the wrong things or use the wrong strategies. If people think that being frugal means removing luxury and convenience from their life, they are approaching it in a way that’s guaranteed to discourage them from doing so. (I think eating out is a prime example of this. If you go to cheaper places, eating out once a week can be very easily off-set by very simple changes such as purchasing the cheapest fruit, purchasing fruit in larger quantities, and keeping a minimal pantry to reduce food waste.)
I definitely agree that looking for tweaks that could save money without reducing luxury or convenience is a great idea and think that resources to help EAs make such decisions quickly and easily would be great. I don’t think it is all that people mean typically when they think about living frugally, so maybe a different framing would make sense.
Yeah, I see what you mean. I think that most people could benefit from minor tweaks in their spending that would save them a lot of money, but, when people try to cut down their spending, they tend to focus on the wrong things or use the wrong strategies. If people think that being frugal means removing luxury and convenience from their life, they are approaching it in a way that’s guaranteed to discourage them from doing so. (I think eating out is a prime example of this. If you go to cheaper places, eating out once a week can be very easily off-set by very simple changes such as purchasing the cheapest fruit, purchasing fruit in larger quantities, and keeping a minimal pantry to reduce food waste.)
I definitely agree that looking for tweaks that could save money without reducing luxury or convenience is a great idea and think that resources to help EAs make such decisions quickly and easily would be great. I don’t think it is all that people mean typically when they think about living frugally, so maybe a different framing would make sense.
That’s a good point! I’ll have to think about how to do that!