Extreme frugality vs abundance mentality

Extreme frugality vs abundance mentalityExtreme frugality vs abundance mentalityExtreme frugalityisnt just about cutting cable or growing your own vegetables. Its about cutting your lifestyle and expenses to the bare bones.Frugalistas are the cheapest of the cheap. They live on beans and rice, rice and beans with the hope that one day theyll hatch the golden egg.Follow Ladders on FlipboardFollow Ladders magazines on Flipboard covering Happiness, Productivity, Job Satisfaction, Neuroscience, and moreOkaymaybe thats an outlandish portrayal ofextreme frugal living, but Ive done my fair share of skimping out on spending money so that we could save enough for a specific cause.Sometimes we lived super frugally so that we could keep the lights on andfood on the table. Thankfully, were at a place in our lives where we dont have to be insanely frugalwechoose towithin reason.Folks with an abundance mentality, on the other hand, believe that there is more than enough to go around. They believe with all their hearts that they already have all they need (and then some).Go to instagram and search abundance and theuniverseprovides. Youll see a plethora of motivational posts to help shift your mindtischset.These are obviously two completely different ways of living, and yet some people have found a way to combine the two and live an amazingly abundant life.3 Reasons for Practicing Extreme FrugalityThere are three main reasons why folks choose to be frugal freaks.Out of NecessityOut of WantThey were Raised to be FrugalLets break these down real quick.Theres a reason I mentioned beans and rice earlier.Dave Ramseyhas offered beans and rice, rice and beans as a way of life when working on paying off your debt, also known as Baby Step 2.Necessity- Youre broke, living paycheck to paycheck and dont know where or how youll get the money to put food on the table, let alone rent.Want- Youre sick of being broke. Maybe you have plenty of money to pay the bills, but your monthly payments a re nickel and diming you. You want out. So you give up the extras so that you can finally be free of the financial burden.You were raised to be frugal- Mama and Daddy didnt believe in credit cards (or banks, for that matter), and you have a really good savings account in your gun safe (or sock drawer) at home.Whether youre living paycheck to paycheck or just working on paying off debt so you can departure working towards bigger goals, like funding your retirement account or paying off your house early, you need a plan.Living frugally out of necessity often means temporarily delaying gratification in order to reach a specific goals. Dave calls this extreme frugality gazelle intensity. Its basically stripping your budget down to the bare minimum, no extras, multiple jobs in order to pay off your debt.If you want to learn how to start a budget,go here. Im also sharing a freedebt snowball spreadsheetwhere you can calculate how many months it will take to pay off your debt.Get yours here .How to Live Abundantly Frugal1. Choose Your Tribe WiselyKeeping up with the Jonesesis very tempting when theyre getting new cars and boats and campers and traveling all the time.You haveno geschftslebentrying to match other peoples lifestyle Hang with humble, down-to-earth people who have some of the same financial goals.If you find that you struggle with the comparison trap, check out Rachel Cruzs Best SellerLove Your Life Not Theirson Audible. You might think you dont have time to read, but let me tell you something, sister.There isalwaystime tolisten to an audiobookwhile youre putting on makeup, cooking, driving, etc.Which brings me to my next point2. Make Personal Development a PriorityThere wasnta lotof good that came out of my time as a Beachbody coach. If you are a reader of my blog, you know that I cut ties with the multi-level marketing goliath 4 years ago and havent looked back. You can read more aboutwhy I quit Beachbody coachinghere.But Beachbody wasnt all bad. The comp any taught me about the importance of personal development. I never realized how empowering it is to learn through audiobooks.I know it sounds cheesy, but you can instantly lighten your mood by listening to something positive and uplifting.Everyone knows aboutAudible, but I preferScribdfor my audiobook experience. Its only $8.99 per month and includes unlimited audiobooks, ebooks, sheet music, magazines, etc.So much cheaper than Audible and (honestly) better.Sign up for a free trial here.If you want to stick with Amazons Audible, you can get 2 free audiobooks when yousign up for a free Audible trial.3. Change Your Money MindsetI talked a bit about abundance mentality earlier and how you can easily find all sorts of mainstream advice to bow to the universe, and the universe has your back and it will provide.Im personally a believer in Christ, and some of this is hogwash, in my opinion. I do believe that we have the ability to will something into existence, but the universe isnt God.F ocus on positive thoughts and set goals. For example, if your goal is to increase your income by $10,000 this year, take a look at all of the ways to make this happen.Then, believe that it has already happened. You just have to follow a couple of steps to finalize things.Ask your boss for a raise. If you arent comfortable asking directly, then rephrase it and say, What would it take for me to work towards a raise of X dollars in the next six months?. Maybe there is a position opening up that could offer promotion potential.Another way to work towards increasing your income is to start a side hustle. I previously wrote about76 Side Hustle Ideas to Start This Year. Theres plenty of inspiration to get started. Im currently earning about $2,000 per month from this blog, and a year ago I was only earning $100 monthly.You can literally write about anything that interests you. Follow my simple tutorial onhow to start a blog, and you could be up and running in 30 minutesI know theres a lot of confusion about blogging. How can a person get paid for writing blog posts. And you might be scared of what youll do when you actually start making money. How will you manage it? You might barely be able to keep your personal finances in order. Dont stress too much about this right now. Just get started. There are plenty of articles on how to separate business and personal expenses.But you wont know what youre capable of until you start doing things that make you uncomfortable (and a little afraid). Trust me. I stay scared. It keeps me on my toesPrioritize your ExpensesIf you want to live abundantly frugal, youll need to start prioritizing what you spend your money on.Print out your last months bank statement and take a look at where your money was spent.Do you have a goal to spend $10,000 per year on travel, visiting a new place every year? Why did you spend $600 last month eating out at restaurants?Im not here to judge you.Its up to youto decide whats important to you.find your WHYand make adjustments so that your budget aligns with that.Then, you wont feel like youre missing out on something by skipping those expensive dinners because youre funding one of your dreamsSuper Frugality is one extreme in which Id caution you to steer clear. Its simply a fad diet for finances that leads to burnout.What happens when youre tired of starving yourself?You pig out. And everything youve been working so hard for goes down the drain. Find a healthy balance between extreme frugality and abundance mentality, and youll set yourself up for success.Please considersubscribing to my newsletter Id love to be able to encourage you to take control of your money, your blog, and your businessThis article first appeared on MelissaBlevins.com.You might also enjoyNew neuroscience reveals 4 rituals that will make you happyStrangers know your social class in the first seven words you say, study finds10 lessons from Benjamin Franklins daily schedule that will double your productivityTh e worst mistakes you can make in an interview, according to 12 CEOs10 habits of mentally strong people