by Cynthia Stodolka

Created on: March 31, 2010

Frugality in the college years can be a life long catalyst that we can learn from, and refer back to as we travel through our life.

Learning to live frugally,out of necessity, in our college years will stay with us as a life long habit. Such as when an infant first learns to walk . It is a skill that will stay with him his whole life, used over and over again to benefit to help him achieve the great things life has to offer.

There is a multitude of lessons to be learned from living frugally in our college years. Some of them apply directly to our day to day living expenses and the skills we practice.These lessons would be the physical aspects of a frugal life style.

These lessons would guide us in managing our finances and household budget. We would know how to effectually shop for food to nourish us while saving money and stretching our food dollar.

We would learn the home we choose to shelter us should be practical, well constructed, and financed within our budget. So as to get the most value for our mortgage dollar and still have money to put away.

We would learn to purchase a practical, economical car with good gas mileage. One that will save us money even though  we could purchase a luxury car, we choose a sensible cost cutting car, because we are frugal.

This agenda of frugality would apply to all our material purchases of goods and services out of frugal habit. 

The next lesson we would learn from our college days of living frugally would not be something that you would see physically.

It would be the psychological aspect of it. The part that makes us aware of where are money is going and what it is being spent on. Is what we are doing with our money a wise choice?

Is that something we need now, or is that money better put to use by saving it? It makes us aware of our frugal lifestyle by keeping frugality embedded in our brain.

The final aspect is connected with our emotional side and frugality. Is living a non frugal lifestyle make sense. simply because we have to have the latest gadgets to look good and keep up with our neighbors?

Do we feel frumpy if we wear a dress that we  purchased at the thrift store to our cousins wedding? Even though peers can't tell its second hand and only cost $10 instead of $200.

Our emotion's can play a role in our frugal lifestyle. However, by having learned frugal living skills in college these can re-enforce our habit to spend our money wisely and not foolishly.

As we age and go through the cycle of life ,what we learned in college as a student living frugally, can give us a secure financial future. Never having to face poverty, by building a secure nest egg, learning to live on less and save more money for our future.

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