Why I'm not frugal

Being frugal has been very popular for a few years now. 

While its traditional meaning comes from the term fruit, a living that is fruitful, the modern concept of frugality is based solely on the prudence of money.

In this post I refer to the choice of frugal living rather than the need.

For my family, I do not agree with living frugal. I feel that life, and its experiences and memories should be measured in values other than solely monetary.

I do not understand how a day can be measured by the amount spent or saved.  For me I take many factors into account when judging the prudence or thrift of a day, an activity or a future purchase.

I judge these on factors such as:

Time versus money 

The effect on family life

Health benefits

Relationship building 

Learning experiences

Making good memories

I then judge the balance of these factors against the quality of life it produces.

An example of this would be our plan to purchase expensive water sport equipment. A frugal person would disagree with this purely on a financial bases. But to us for an investment of money, we would gain health benefits and exercise, happy childhood memories for our children, the learning of new skills and closer family bonds. When the equipment has fulfilled its purpose, it can be resold.

Would this create an improvement in our quality of life? Yes!

Another example would be with food. If we were frugal, we could cut our food budget in half and still feed our family easily. It would have a negative impact on health, due to poorer food choices and provide us with less joy. Therefore we would never do this as it would decrease our quality of life.

I have met many people and read many blogs who have chosen frugal, very frugal ways with their food shopping. I am always worried about their choices as they rarely factor in their long term health. I am sure this can be done in a healthy way but I have yet to see it. Surely the side effect and treatment of diabetes or obesity are not frugal?

Somethings are just more important than money! 

I hope to die with an average bank account but with life well tasted! I guess everything is a manner of balance within the bigger picture.