{"id":659,"date":"2009-07-26T20:48:54","date_gmt":"2009-07-27T03:48:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/?p=659"},"modified":"2012-10-26T18:02:30","modified_gmt":"2012-10-27T01:02:30","slug":"evaluating-the-cost-of-extreme-frugality","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/id659-evaluating-the-cost-of-extreme-frugality.html","title":{"rendered":"Evaluating the Cost of Extreme Frugality"},"content":{"rendered":"

Earlier this month one of my favorite personal finance bloggers, Bret Frohlich, wrote a terrific piece where he declared war on frugality and explained why frugality doesn’t always pay<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In fact, Bret’s post got me thinking about those who choose to take on a life of extreme frugality. <\/strong>Keep in mind that I’m not referring to people who dutifully cut coupons and grow their own vegetables.<\/p>\n

Instead, I am talking about people who bring home roadkill for dinner<\/a>, read by candlelight, and\/or eschew heating regardless of how cold it is outside.<\/p>\n

Why would anybody ever choose such a punitive lifestyle?<\/strong>
\n<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n

As I see it, there are three predominant reasons:<\/p>\n

1. After living far beyond their means for too long, they discover themselves to be deeply mired in debt, like this college student who chose to live out of a pick-up truck<\/a>.<\/p>\n

2. They are committed environmentalists that are determined to try and “save the Earth”, like this lady<\/a>.<\/p>\n

3. They are fanatical, committed anti-capitalist knuckleheads that are determined to try and “save the Earth” – like the Freegans<\/a>.<\/p>\n

By the way, on their website, the proudly-unemployed Freegans unabashedly proclaim to us uninformed working-class sheep that not only does “working suck,” but it is “dehumanizing” as well<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Interestingly enough, in the very next sentence the Freegans go on to espouse, without the slightest hint of irony, the joys of dumpster diving. Go figure.<\/p>\n

Just Remember…<\/strong><\/p>\n

Those who practice extreme frugality do not have a monopoly on making life harder than it has to be.<\/p>\n

And while it is<\/em> important to invest in your financial future by doing everything you can to stick to a strict budget and stay out of debt, please don’t go so far overboard that you forget to invest in your quality of life as well. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

Life really is<\/em> too short to live like a refugee if you don’t have to.<\/p>\n

Hey! If you liked this article, please be sure to <\/em>subscribe to my RSS feed<\/em><\/a>!<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Earlier this month one of my favorite personal finance bloggers, Bret Frohlich, wrote a terrific piece where he declared war on frugality and explained why frugality doesn’t always pay. In fact, Bret’s post got me thinking about those who choose to take on a life of extreme frugality. Keep in mind that I’m not referring […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","pmpro_default_level":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[459,466],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-659","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-family","7":"category-saving","8":"pmpro-has-access","9":"entry"},"yoast_head":"\nEvaluating the Cost of Extreme Frugality<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/id659-evaluating-the-cost-of-extreme-frugality.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Evaluating the Cost of Extreme Frugality\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Earlier this month one of my favorite personal finance bloggers, Bret Frohlich, wrote a terrific piece where he declared war on frugality and explained why frugality doesn’t always pay. 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