Frugality is a wonderful thing. It can be seen as a way of appreciating the money you have and finding value in every purchase. It’s a great way to approach living and can drastically reduce the amount of money you pay for everyday expenses. However, there is an art to balancing your frugality in a way that doesn’t lower your quality of life or well-being while saving money. In this article, we’re going to give you two example situations where people can be too frugal and explain why they’re situations that warrant using your cash.
Source: Pexels
Emergency Home Repairs
Emergency repairs are incredibly expensive. The first thing people think about when they’re frugal is how they can fix a home repair with the least amount of money possible while still maintaining a high standard of repair work. Sadly, the only way you’re getting this is if you know a DIY-savvy friend that can help you, or if you have the skills to tackle the repair job on your own.
The first problem is that most people won’t be willing to work for free especially if it’s tough work. Secondly, many people overestimate their ability to do a repair and they’ll also forget about the cost of obtaining the tools, materials and other expenses required to do a DIY repair in the first place.
As a result, the best way to handle an expensive emergency repair is to rely on a short-term loan service like MoneyBoat. No one likes to be in debt nor do they want to rely on a lender to fix their home, but if you want a quality repair and don’t have the means to do it on a budget, there’s not much choice outside of hiring a reputable professional and paying their fee. As such, this is one example of a situation in life where it pays to ignore your frugal mind.
Investing in the Future
Your future is one of the most important things in not just your life, but the lives of your children, your partner and your family. If you want to give them the best, then it pays not to be frugal one ounce. Investments can include things such as a student loan, it can be a family-run business or it could be a house. These are expenses where it pays not to be frugal because you’re essentially investing in the future and your money will be stretched across several years or potentially decades.
It seems like a paradox, but it could be argued that spending more on your future is actually the frugal choice to make. Yes, getting a mortgage approved is going to be difficult and expensive, but it’s far better in the long term than renting constantly or living in a home that doesn’t offer you the freedom to live your life the way you want to.
If you’re going to invest in the future, make sure you look for the best deals and flip that frugal switch off for a day or two.