FRUGALITY AND SELF DISCIPLINE

We are living in a time when spirituality is declining. It has been declining for well over a hundred and fifty years, as primitivism continues to gain ground. Primitivism leads to idolatry. Idolatry thrives when there is a lack of spirituality. Man must worship something and primitive man is not a deep thinker, therefore, he can worship only what he sees. He cannot form concepts and think spiritually.

A nation can live for a time on its spiritual capital, but after a time this capital will be squandered away and there is nothing left to build upon and things will begin to decay. Spirituality is the most important thing to any nation. It is more important than the food that we eat. Without spiritual life, there will be death both spiritually and physically. Most people do not think that accounting has anything to do with spirituality, but it does.

A business possesses life. The lifeblood of business is cash flow. A business must have more come in the door than goes out. Accounting for the transactions of a business determines whether the business is healthy (life) or sick (death). This is the purpose of a profit and loss statement. It is a spiritual (health) checkup. Auditors make a statement whether a business is a going concern. This means is the business going to continue to live or is it dying by having to declare bankruptcy?

Frugality is a spiritual characteristic. Either you possess it or you do not. Most people do not because frugality only operates under the premise of self discipline. Being frugal means that you understand finance and the financial world. Understanding is spiritual. No plan will work unless there is a concerted effort to make it work. Concerted effort is accomplished by someone disciplining themselves to achieve their plan.

Wherever there is frugality, you will find a self controlled individual. Frugality only works under this condition. To live within one’s means requires that the individual controls his spending. He does not spend money that he does not have. If he wants something that is beyond his financial means, then he will save his money until he can afford the purchase price. The wise are frugal and self disciplined. One leads to the other and you cannot have one without the other.

BUYING SECOND HAND

Frugality is a way of life. It is not something that you do this time and then do something else later on. Once you go frugal, it is wise to stay frugal, no matter how much money you make. Why let monetary success change your character? Frugality is about character. It is something that you are. Those who are frugal, do not become spendthrifts overnight. Frugality is always a virtue. You cannot live virtuously and be a spendthrift at the same time.

We are not living in times of frugality. Credit card debt proves this. People are living beyond their means. They do not have a budget. They do not understand finances. People will pay full retail. Malls are crowded with people. The majority of these people are not interested in saving money. They are emotionally controlled by money. Spending money makes them feel better about themselves. Some people are trying to keep up with the in crowd. The in crowd shops at the Mall.

The in crowd is characterized by group think. These people are motivated by what the group thinks and does. This is why Mall stores cater to the young. Most of the young people do not have to be responsible for their spending. Their parents want to keep the peace with their children, so they capitulate to their children’s whims. If their child wants something, they whine until mom gives in and buys it for them, just so their children will feel better about themselves and so that the group will accept them, so they think.

Frugal people are motivated from within, not from without. They are self-contained. They do not need the acceptance of the group. The frugal make their own decisions based upon what is the wisest course of action. The frugal have thought their system through ahead of time. They act, not react. They have goals and then work toward those goals. They have separated the essential from the non-essential. They concentrate on what is most important to them, not the group.

I buy most of my clothes second hand. No one has come up to me and said, "Hey, aren’t those clothes you’re wearing from Goodwill?" No one knows where I bought my clothes because I am wearing brand names that someone else paid full retail for and I paid just a fraction of the original retail price. I can grab an arm full of clothes for what it cost someone else to buy just one pair of pants.

The Mall will have multiple people buying their clothes at full retail this weekend. The frugal would rather buy second hand and with the money saved invest in productive uses. The frugal are always looking for ways to save money so that they can invest their savings in productive enterprises. The spendthrift is more concerned with whether or not he is wearing the latest fashions so that he will be the rave of the group.

FRUGALITY IS THINKING AHEAD

One thing that man cannot evade is objective reality. It has a way of crashing in on us at every turn. People today are receiving a jolt of reality by rising food prices. They are having to make adjustments to this new reality. Many of them apparently did not have a budget in place. They probably did not shop with a list (using a list prevents impulse shopping). They are probably deep in debt.

I have written previously on having a financial system. Having a financial system means that you have planned ahead. Prices on products are relative. They fluctuate because of the law of supply and demand. The cornerstone of a financial system is the budget. One has to live within his means. Living beyond your means is not wise because it is trying to live on what you have not yet earned.

Making a budget requires that you make adjustments as time goes on. Usually, our income is fixed. This means that it does not fluctuate like prices. One has to adjust their budget to fluctuating prices. Since we have to eat and if food prices are rising, what has to happen is to either forgo some purchases or cut out something that is not essential. This requires monitoring your budget. With limited funds, something has to give.

When you hear someone say that they are having financial problems, you will invariably find that they are spending money on luxuries. They usually do not have a budget, so they are unaware of how much they are spending. All that they know is that they are spending more than they have. Having a budget and a financial system requires thought. This is where people get into trouble. They refuse to expend any mental effort in understanding finance and mastering it. Finances and reality end up mastering them.

A quote from a newspaper article makes my point. "Restaurant meals are now almost a luxury." Almost a luxury? No, restaurant meals have always been and forever will remain a luxury. A luxury is something that is not a necessity and restaurant meals are not a necessity. Restaurant meals are a luxury and a convenience. For what you spend on a restaurant meal for a family of four, usually $60 including tip, you could buy a lot of groceries.

Eating is not optional. It depends upon where you eat your meals. Someone who eats at home is someone that is living within their means and someone who understands that eating out is a luxury. Eating out should be saved for and part of a budget to be used for special occasions. This approach is properly classifying a restaurant meal as a luxury. A lot of families eat out when both spouses work. Usually, the wife is to tired to cook and it is easier to go out and eat. This financial decision does not come cheap in comparison to eating at home.

Having meals planned ahead, will also minimize the desire of eating out. This requires forethought. For one to save money, they must first understand the concept of saving. The spiritual precedes the action. Concepts are spiritual. The spiritual have plans or forethought in place. When tough financial times come, the frugal are prepared. It matters not whether the times are good or bad, they are frugal in either case.

CHERRY PICKING

I remember when I was in high school and played pick up games of basketball, there would be times that someone would not play defense. Instead, they would be under their own basket and if someone rebounded the ball from the same team, all that they had to do was throw the ball to the player and he could make an easy lay up. This was called cherry picking. Why is beyond me. What it had to do with picking cherries, I do not know.

Do a Scroogle search typing in cherry picking sports and in a Wikipedia entry, you will find the mystery behind the phrase cherry picking. A cherry picker when it comes to stores is one who purchases only things that are on sale. Generally, a store will put an item on sale at cost or below cost to draw customers into the store in hope that the customer will also purchase other items at their regular prices.

Someone read a newspaper article regarding cherry pickers and according to the study, only one percent of people are cherry pickers. Why this is I do not know. I tend to think that people are unaware of how to save money when shopping. Most people probably could care less or it may be because it requires effort. For whatever reason, people end up spending more money than necessary. The stores would have it no other way.

My view is that I would rather save the money than give it to the store. Why spend money you do not have to? To be an effective cherry picker, one has to be aware of prices. It requires having a benchmark. My benchmark is Walmart prices. Walmart usually has the lowest price in town. I do the majority of my shopping at Walmart because they offer me the best price on the things I use. Living on a fixed budget requires me to be price conscious. I buy from those who offer me the best price.

Cherry picking requires getting the sales flyers and then perusing them for the best deals on items you regularly use. One good thing is that Walmart will match the price on these sales items. Generally, you can do one stop shopping at Walmart using the sales flyers as supplements. It is important to remember that any money that you save on price, you are also saving 8% on tax in Tennessee.

I just got through cherry picking Kroger. They are having a mega sale event. What I targeted was their Kraft Cheese. If I purchased 10 blocks of 8oz cheese, I got $5 off the purchase price. This made each 8oz bar be $1.50. An 8oz bar of Great Value Cheese at Walmart is $1.84. Therefore, I saved $3.40 by making this purchase ($.34 x 10). Add to this the 8% tax savings (.08 x $3.40) of $.27 and I saved a total of $3.67. This is money which I did not have to expend. This means that I came out ahead of the game.

Yesterday, I took the K-Mart flyer to Walmart and bought three heads of lettuce at K-Mart’s sales price of $.69. Walmart’s normal price is $1.38. Essentially, I got each head of lettuce at half price. Thus I ended up saving $2.24 on the purchase of these three heads of lettuce ($.69 x 3 x 8%). With these two purchases alone I ended up saving $5.91. There are many other instances I could tell you about this week, but I think that you get the point.

My system works over and over again. It saves me money on a continuos basis. Think of the money you would save not only over a week’s time, but over a year’s time, over a decade’s time etc. The real key to making this system work is to become price conscious. When in the store look at the prices of the items you buy. Either make mental notes, or write them down on a piece of paper. Ensure that you are getting the best price for your hard earned dollars. You will never be disappointed.