There are two parts to getting ahead financially – spending less and earning more. Some bloggers seem to think that you can either spend less or earn more. This isn’t an either/or situation though. It is entirely possible to be frugal and also be rich. A couple of well known examples of very rich and frugal people are Warren Buffet and the late Sam Walton. The book “The Millionaire Next Door” noted that frugality was a common trait among the profiled millionaires. I’m not sure why some people think you can’t be both frugal and rich. The definition of frugality is the practice of economy in the use of resources or the lack of wastefulness. Even if you’re rich you shouldn’t want to be wasteful. Every year you hear tales of famous athletes who earned millions during their career and are now broke. This shows that even if you earn more you still need to pay attention to spending less.
Many blogs do focus more on one side of the equation. This blog definitely focuses more on the spend less side of the equation than the earn more side. Frugality is the area I have more experience with and expertise in so that is the main focus of my writing. I think many focus on spending less because it is easier to do and quicker to put into practice. Earning more usually takes some time to develop and many people aren’t sure how to earn more.
I would like to point out that I don’t entirely ignore the earn more side of the equation. I have wrote about making passive income from sources such as dividend investing or Mr. Rebates. I’ve also written about making money with alternative income sources such mystery shopping, medical studies, and blogging.
Both spending less and earning more are important. Neither side of the equation should be ignored.
I tend to agree here. This equation was how I got out of debt. I spent less and earned more. It is the same thing with regards to paying off debt or saving. You can do both. I did it with some careful planning.
Doing both would be the fastest way to get out of debt.
Increasing your income and controlling your expenses each will help your financial situation, but together the impact is greater than just focusing on one area.
Yes, combining them helps the most. There isn’t any reason to ignore one of them.
I agree, not sure why this topic is so polarized. And it is a hot button for a lot of people too. We are trying to do both, balancing them gives the most impact. Some areas are easier to cut than others and will feel like we are depriving ourselves; which means we will (at least I will) give up easily.
It does seem to annoy some people that others don’t focus on the same area as them. Both are important.
Spend less and earn more…that’s the simple equation to being financially well off. I think earning more is great but it is difficult to write about those topics…usually it has to do with your career and career prospects. Sure you can earn more by investing in the stock market and real estate too…where you can find plenty of articles. But for many in debt, they don’t money to invest. Cutting expenses and spending less is something you can implement immediately into your lifestyle.
I agree. That is pretty much the same as I think.
I have reduced my spending quite a bit and am at a level where I consider there is no waste. I enjoy my luxuries such as travel or good food and won’t cut out so the only way left is to earn more. However, you can perfectly do both.
That is about where I am. There isn’t much more I can cut so I’m going to have to work on earning more if I want more luxuries.
I very much agree with you. Definitely both! It does depend on priorities though in order to determine what is a necessity and what is waste. Anyone who is taking a deeper look at their financial health (which should be everyone) needs to do some serious soul searching. Only a realistic plan/change will be sustainable.