Is Frugalism even a word? I don’t care, I like it.
Today I’m going to ponder the age old question, nature vs. nurture with a twist. Which of these factors makes a person inherently frugal in life?
Now up until writing this post, I was firmly in the nature camp. We can all think of examples where there are several children in a family all raised under the same roof who turn out very different from each other. I’ve only found examples where neglect has had a negative influence on someone with potential. In the case where someone is lazy and has no work ethic, no amount of nurturing and setting good examples will change their character.
I’m going to take a little break for a Babci story. Babci says that one of the worst character traits one can have is laziness. She even said there was an old Jewish Curse* about it. I.e. shake fist in the air with a grave look in your eye and say “May your family be cursed with laziness.” You see, you can be dim witted, ugly, introverted, or selfish and still get ahead by being a hard worker. Laziness usually comes along with other unsavory vices too. I’ve seen first hand that people feel a sense of entitlement to things they haven’t worked for, they sponge off people and when they get desperate, some even move onto theft or other illegal activities. Working long hours doesn’t even occur to them as a viable option.
I digressed a bit there, but what about frugal living? Can someone be born frugal? I’m not talking about the person who’s just responsible with their money who chooses to save up for a vacation in lieu of going out to dinner. I’m talking about the person who has $1/2MM in the bank but still has that same musty old couch from 50 years ago.
Given all the examples that come to mind of my frugal brethren, all of them went through some kind of financial hardship in life that molded their spending and/or earning habits. Some learned earlier than others, but they all had at least one. Either the person grew up with very little money, or they ate ramen for 4 years in college, or had a medical disaster or a loss of a loved one that caused financial hardship. Alternatively, there’s also the group who delayed the lesson by racking up the debt and either filing for bankruptcy or spending years paying down that debt. I can’t think of a single person who didn’t have some kind of character building time in their life that led them to their frugal lifestyle. So for frugalness, I definitely vote nurture on this one.
So for those of you out there that have said “I’ve always been frugal by nature”….are you just one of those people who learned their lesson early, or do you think you’re just wired that way?
I’m not fully convinced of my argument, so I would love to hear a little debate on the topic.
*I don’t know if it’s an actual Jewish saying but Babci thinks it is.
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