Should All Frugal People Be Minimalists?
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In this video, we host an open discussion about frugality and minimalism. Are frugality and minimalism linked to one another?
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I don’t believe a frugality and minimalist are necessarily the same thing. They CAN be but ironically, most frugality’s I know aren’t minimalists. My frugality friends can stand some stored clutter, some enjoy their collections. Most of my minimalist friends have interiors that I would consider too stark. Ironically, being a creative person… it is difficult to get inspiration from a stark environment. I would consider myself a medium-ist! Haha! Having worked with hundreds of artists and creatives over the years, most had lots of inspirational pieces throughout their space. I agree that society is drawing more distinct lines between people more than ever the last couple of years.
I think the two can go hand in hand, but they don't necessarily have to. I'm quite a frugal person, but I'm by no means a minimalist. If something (useful) is on sale, like groceries, I don't mind stocking up.
I also personally know a few minimalists. One of them isn't a frugal person at all. Instead of owning a plethora of handbags like many women, she only owns a few, but they're all very high end expensive name brands.
I think the lesson here is to not pay too much attention to the labels people throw upon us. 😅
I am frugal (my husband called me cheap but I paid off the mortgage), not minimalistic. I like having a cozy home, not an austere home.
I am frugal but not a minimalist. I have a side gig of repurposing wool sweaters into mittens, headbands and other things.
I do love deals beautiful quality products especially second hand. A lovely handmade quilt for $3, Egyptian cotton sheets that were $5. I enjoy the quest of finding what I need or want.
I would love to meet you all so much I've been watching all for a few months now. I'm 29 years old and I feel like I'm learning so so much everything seems familiar growing up with my family and how y'all love y'all's lives and I think that's incredible.
Would y'all ever consider doing a meet and greet or a meet-up with your followers?
About 3 years ago I started following The Minimal Mom on YouTube. Love her. I did a complete sweep through my house, mainly organizing and throwing out trash. The next year I did another sweep through. And THEN, my husband retired a year later and we decided to leave Alaska after 45 years! Oh my! AND… we were moving down to Utah to a mother-in-law place on my kids property. We moved in ONE of those moving boxes. Now, a year later, it feels SO good to have gotten down to "what we need." I worked for hospice for 16 years and saw the hard time families went through when their loved ones passed and they were left with all that STUFF. We gave to our kids the family heirlooms they wanted. I had gone through all the photos the "first year" of going through my house so that was all organized and came with us. My husband and I have always lived frugally but we do have our priorities and we had junk! So yes, frugal and having "just what you need" and to some that is minimalism, go well together. When my kids lived in Dallas Tx, and I visited them, every house had a garage CRAMMED with stuff! No one could put their cars in the garage! People have a LOT of stuff.
I live below the property level! I am dept free. I tithe on everything including what I recieve from a food pantry. Wherever I have lived I find a way to give back to the community. Minimalism is not for me. I have had to flee more than once in my life and start over . My current décor is roadside find.( love the antique furnture) Im so glad I found you. You help me feel supported in the way that I live. I have not yet figured out how to Have friendships Or socialize for fun at this level of poverty. You encourage me to take baby steps towards this goal. I am grateful for your ability to share your wisdom.
If you get rid of cable, make sure to check your basement for cable equipment that may still be plugged in. I have been paying for this for a couple of years
I like to think that my frugality makes me more of someone who follows "intentional living" rather than strict minimalism. If I want something, I get it, but not if it doesn't serve a purpose or fill a void.
I'm very frugal. I'm getting ready to get a lot stricter of savings
It's hard to be a united people when people use labels to compartmentalize, separate, and divide each other. It's bureaucratic and unhealthy.
That was really good. Hauling out the thesaurus and the dictionary. I just love them both and I hadn’t hauled them out for a bit but I sure do admire them every day. All your definitions are right spot on I loved it. Thank you.
I consider myself a wannabe minimalist. Friends and family tell me I am a minimalist, but as you said, I don't want the judgements that I have too many place settings of silverware or whatnot to be a true minimalist. I am frugal, but follow minimalists who are not frugal. They probably value experiences over stuff and will spend a lot on their experiences. They will also currate and buy the best. They are often really into aesthetics. When you have very little it's more important for it to be good quality.
I wish some of you subscribers would sign up and watch Frugalizzybee she is in the UK. She has a young son and not much money. She hardly has any heating and has to pinch everything. Please watch her she needs views.
I was definitely frugal but not minimalist when we were first married and bought our first house. I would take ANYTHING people offered us that they were getting rid of. I don't think I said no to anything 😂 we still have some of the furniture, so it definitely helped us financially, but it ended up being too much stuff for me to manage. When I took the minimalist plunge, I made $2000 selling things we didn't need AND took several van loads of stuff to donate to the thrift store. As Larry said, I'm much calmer now. I can stay on top of the house work and I love how open our home feels. And I've learned to only say yes to things that I really think we'll use, enjoy, and find value in!
Something I’ve noticed about minimalist people is that they generally have a lot of extended family that they borrow from. They never have to buy, because the older people in their lives are preppers, or people who make sure they have what they need on hand. Another thing I noticed about people who show you decluttering videos of their homes is that they have basements or separate buildings that house all of the useful tools and extra stuff that we all need from time to time. You just never see it in their house. It can seem deceiving, because they lead you to think what you see is all they own. They even look somewhat like a minimalist, but the extra stuff is just not stored in the regular living space of the home. If you know you don’t have anyone to borrow a wheel barrel from, or a leaf blower from, then you are going to own those things that you definitely need. Even if it’s only a few times of the year. Sometimes the videos will say 1100 square feet of living space. If you ask about where they store the vacuum (because it’s not in any closet they ever show) they don’t tell you that they actually have a full size basement that’s a work horse for them, or a garage that acts the same way. I say this to say, don’t be fooled or discouraged by what you see on YouTube. People often aren’t revealing the full picture for you to see. Some have parents next door. They borrow from the parents, and or use their storage space, so they don’t have to spend money or create storage for themselves. There’s nothing wrong with that. Just know that they still have things, and use things just like everyone else. If they don’t have a hammer in the house, they have someone close that they borrow it all from. I think I’m like some others have said on here…I’m a middle-ist. I’ve never lived around family, and I don’t like having to run to the store for every little thing. So, I prep ahead of time. I always enjoy your talks. There’s always so much we can learn from each other.
Each person should give sufficient thought to what items they really need in their home, instead of buying lots and lots of things to fill up their house, or to keep up with other people. Therefore, if you only buy the essentials you're naturally not going to spend more money than is necessary. I think most minimalists are frugal.
Frugality = Boss of the money, Minimalism = Boss of clutter riddance. Imo. 🙂
I'm not a minimalist in the traditional sense, style wise, but I'd say I am in practice. I try very hard not to buy things I don't need or things that wouldn't add much value. A lot of my clutter is free stuff and just in case things that were given to me and I worry I might need some day. I have needed many of those things.
Here is a frugal and minimalist paradox. Minimalists say they can get rid of something because if they need it later, they'll just buy it (again). How is that frugal or minimalist? I'd say try to do without if minimalist, and if frugal then buy something that's good quality for a good price and take care of it. I find some minimalism to be wasteful and careless with how quickly things can cycle in and out. I'm not accusing people, but I've seen minimalist YouTubers do stuff like that. I did some Marie Kondo stuff, and while it really helped, I still have stuff I don't want and don't have some of the things I realize I now need.
I am very frugal but not at all a minimalist. I stock up on things when on sale which saves lots of money….not only on food but on sewing things likr buttons, thread, zippers, patches, etc. because these things help me be frugal as i use them for repairs or repurposing.
I also have lots of gardening items, bought at frugal prices, and very helpful in bring frugal as the garden saves on food cost.
Kitchen items like a dehydrator help me be frugal in food and reduce waste.
Glue, tape, nails, hammer, paint, etc. bought at frugal prices all help in being frugal in mending and repurposing items.
I could go on and on with examples.
Definitely call myself frugal and waste free as possible, but not at all a minalmalist.
I think of minimalism as a style and frugality as a lifestyle choice.
That is a good question! Frugal is buying quality at a good price. Minimalism is just having less stuff. They lend themselves to work together, but they wouldn't necessarily have to. As I declutter more and more, I see them as working together for me. They both are interesting topics. Could be it depends on the amount of money one has, where their prioties are, what they like, etc.
I think frugality and minimalism overlap to some degree. Both involve being careful about your spending and trying to save money. But there are clear differences. Frugality is more focused on being wise, thrifty and saving money for what matters. Minimalism is more focused on living simply and having few possessions. I am both frugal and minimalist.
My question is why do we, people have to find labels for one another? If we are all created different then what one person does will be unique to them. We can as you said learn from one another and practice elements of what we see working for someone else. I’ve been thinking about this a lot. I’m a black woman who wears my hair in braids that I put in daily. Not because as a person told me, I’m poor, by because I am choosing what I will spend my money on. Do I need to pay big bucks to artificially straighten my hair to be “beautiful” or choose to spend my money on something that enhances my joy and embrace my natural beauty? I think that labeling people is just one more way to keep everyone separate and thinking how someone is perhaps better than another person based on something as superficial as what you do with your money or hair or the clothes you wear. If we are minding our business and not harming others then why must we try to put us in boxes?
Some minimalists are extreme and unhealthy. There should always be balance. Being frugal means finding the best price for what they need. I think not wanting to spend money can mean being cheap which can be a form of greed.
Larry your hair looks good today* Love you guys Youtube
I used to be a total cheap person, now, I just think before I buy, but still look for the bargain! Also, I wind up not buying from Amazon generally.
I repair everything here. The problem with that is the amount of tools needed. A garden requires many tools. Canning requires so many items. Cooking requires tools.The use of reduce, reuse recycle to reduce waste requires collecting and saving things. This flies in the face of the minimalist. When you do what I do you, understand organization is key and I buy items that hardly ever break down and if it fails you can get parts or I can 3d print a part.
I need to toss or sell more things and organize the items I own. The key is to do what works for you because at the end of the day you are the person that has to live in that space you made.
Hope & Larry, I don't think the two terms are synonymous at all. I knew people in Silicon Valley who had few possessions in their homes but spared no expense traveling the world, dining out, socializing among friend groups who had some pretty extreme wealth. The term "minimalist" wasn't part of the popular lexicon back then, but they'd certainly qualify. At the opposite end of the spectrum are folks who hoard whatever they collect and barely have room to walk through their homes out of fear that ridding themselves of anything at all will be regretted later as having been "wasteful." I consider myself frugal in numerous ways, and tend to keep anything I spend money on for a long time. I drive my cars until the wheels practically fall off, I have a much-loved 34 year old tractor that makes it possible for me to maintain more than 9 acres of land, and I record every expenditure I make, no matter how small, on a monthly budget/log page. I have somewhere around 1,000 books, however, and only donate from time to time to make room on my shelves for new acquisitions. Minimalism is perfect for some, but for me would be an anathema.