Record Of Special Events: How to Deal with Frugal Advice

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

How to Deal with Frugal Advice

Whether we are like them or not, we receive many advices every day. Sometimes, we learn about them from our readings. Sometimes, it’s from our trusted friends. Other times, we hear about it over other people’s conversions. There are many more examples, but you get the idea.

With the economy the way it is, frugality is becoming a hot topic and we therefore hear about it all the time. Yet, most of the time, the advices don’t apply to us.

You know what I mean,

Those advices for college graduates when you are well past your school years.
The articles about calling your car insurance agent when you just renewed your plan.
The break room talk about car buying tips when you just signed up for a new 5 year lease.

Most of us will choose to tune out whenever we feel the headlines don’t apply to us but why not try to absorb it anyway? If the advice is solid,

Save it in your email archive
Write it down in your notebook
Read it and absorb the material so you will react the right way if you encounter the situation in the future

What those articles talk about may never apply, but consuming yourself may allow you to gain further insight into those that are successful in being frugal.

You may not need to fish (or even like fish), but learning how to fish gives you another chance of survival if you happen to be on an isolated island one day.

You may even be able to extend the ideas to other parts of your life. Prepaid cell phone plans may not make sense for you, but it might spark your interest to look at other types of prepaid vs monthly subscriptions. You may not care about another online savings account option, but it may prompt you to look for a better and safer yield for your emergency fund. You could own your house outright and not really care about the housing market, but reading about the analysis and commentary may allow you to gain a deeper understanding at how different industries work (and possibly create a career path in the future).