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The following post is from Christina of Northern Cheapskate: Five Compelling Reasons to Live Frugally

Living a frugal life is not always easy.  It takes constant creativity and diligence.  It takes a big heart, savvy thinking, and thick skin.

It’s a lot easier to spend money and not worry about the future…at least for a little while.

When I first started my journey to a frugal life, I found myself on a singular path — to pay off our debt. Everything I read or did was directly related to the goal of being debt-free.  Along the way, I realized that there was so much more to living frugally than I had once thought.

Here are five compelling reasons to live frugally:

Living frugally allows me to get out of debt.

We clipped coupons, cooked all our meals at home, never took vacations, and rarely bought new things so that we could pay off our student loans and car loans.  It was hard, and there were times that I wanted to give it all up and go on a wild shopping spree.  But we’re debt-free now (except for our mortgage), and the hard work was all worthwhile.

Living frugally allows me to stay out of debt.

Once we were free from the shackles of debt, we became determined to never get into debt again. We’re applying the frugal lessons we learned during our debt repayment to build our savings so that we can afford to pay cash for things like new vehicles and vacations.

Living frugally allows me to be prepared.

When we have a plumbing leak or a car repair, I can turn to an emergency fund that I have built by being frugal.  When we’re snowed in during a blizzard or the kids are all under the weather, I can turn to my stockpile in my pantry to get us through.  Frugal living has developed my powers of resourcefulness.  The unexpected is no longer insurmountable —  it’s just another challenge to be tackled.

Living frugally allows me to give.

When we were still in debt, we were very focused on our money troubles and paid little attention to those who may have been suffering around us. Now we know how simple it is to donate items we get for free or nearly free with coupons.  Because we’ve eliminated debt and saved some money, we have extra money to donate to causes we believe in.   We’ve learned that it is possible to be generous even when you’re broke.  We’ve learned to help our friends and family learn to live frugally, too.

Living frugally allows me to help the planet.

I resist buying disposable, one-time-use products.  I use more cloth and less paper.  I recycle more and plant my own food.  I plan my errands better so that I don’t waste any gas.  I watch our energy consumption. I teach my children to reuse things and to take care of what they have.

Frugal living isn’t about deprivation, it’s about freedom.  Frugal living opens doors to a better way of life, free from the constraints of debt.  It opens your heart to others and allows you to see the world in a different way.

What motivates you to live a frugal lifestyle?

	Christina Brown is the creator of Northern Cheapskate, a blog dedicated to frugal living through coupons, freebies, and money-saving ideas.  She lives in the rural north woods of Minnesota where she clips coupons, pinches pennies, and chases her three boys (a 6-year-old and twin 4-year olds) as a stay-at-home mom.