Also, I don’t think cooking at home is “cheap” or “low quality” – yet it seems to be the single frugal lifestyle change that has the greatest impact. It doesn’t require much skill to get higher quality food at home than what you’ll get at most restaraunts. I occasionally eat the “cheap” fast food, and I agree that the quality is crap. I can make higher quality food at home and it costs less. I’m doing it to be frugal and yet I’m not sacrificing quality.

I agree with you about “cheap” cars, clothes & food. But being frugal is about spending on quality when it matters, and not spending money just to spend money.

One example is thrift stores. If you were to shop at a thrift store you would probably find some things that meet your standard of quality and some things that do not. Don’t buy the things that don’t. The things that do were probably purchased by somebody who was playing rich, worn once or twice, and tossed after they bought more clothes. They spent money on quality, where they didn’t need quality because they only wore the item once or twice. Now somebody who shops at that Thriftstore can benefit from it. That’s the idea behind that frugal activity. It’s not necessarily sacrificing quality.

You did make one statement that I find quite ignorant: “don’t think people that live frugal that save money is RICH either, i think they are forced to live that way because they don’t make enough to afford everything and live out loud.”

I make 65K a year, have no kids, and nothing at all preventing me from moving to a more expensive area where I can make even more. I’m only 30K in debt – including my car and student loans. I can easily “live out loud” and take 10-20 years to pay off that debt. I choose to live frugally and pay it off in 2. After that, with my current living expenses (which could be less) I’ll have at least $2000 EVERY MONTH to put towards all the travelling I want to do. Or I could work for about 4-5 months a year and take the other 7-8 months off and live on savings (without sacrificing my retirement or emergency fund). How’s that for “living out loud”. I’m frugal because I want to spend my money on me, not on stuff.

This quote jumped out at me: “Just because you make $100,000 a year doesn’t mean that the things that brought you pleasure when you made peanuts stop bringing you pleasure”

Over the last couple years I’ve been so depressed I’ve forgotted what used to bring me joy. But when I was “rich” I bought a lot of books – I just didn’t read them. I’ve finally started going to the library and reading more. With only 3 weeks before a book is due back, I only check out books I will actually read. That’s way better than buying them and letting them sit on a shelf. I’ve read more in the last month than I have in the last year & I’m starting to enjoy it again.

It is worth all the little economies that one goes through (after covering the basics, having a reserve emergency fund, paying all debts and saving for retirement) to be able to visit far-away places where people are different but interesting, food is surprising and often delicious, behavior and values are also different, and everything you see and hear makes you reflect on your own home, your own country and your own life…

All the “frugalista” tricks for living below your means suddenly become well worth it when you see the Taj Majal or the Temples of Agrigento or Halong Bay or whatever has caught your imagination – and if you can take a child or two or an adolescent with you, you may open their eyes to all the interesting things in the world beyond Disney World and Miley Cyrus …

I DON’T believe in going into debt for travel, but I do believe it can change your life. And I hope to continue to do it now, not later. The way I see it, Rome may be eternal, but I am not.

The only people I want to impress are people whom I respect. And then the only way I can impress them is with my conduct. If they are impressed by material things, by fancy houses and expensive cars, I have no respect for them, as I have no respect for shallow people.

Stay true to your values. If your values include expensive cars, go for it.(But you better not pass me at 100 MPH…) Keep people you respect in your life, and unload the others. This will keep you for ape-ing the ways of the rich.

If you really are just putting on an act, then yes, that’s dangerous. (What’s the phrase, “spending money you don’t have on things you don’t want to impress people you don’t like”?) But if you’re spending on stuff that you truly want and value, well, there’s nothing wrong with wanting and valuing stuff that costs money. Even a lot of money. And if you can afford to spend that money without sacrificing anything that you want and value even more, then there’s nothing wrong with that either.

I’m not sure I agree with this. Once I was able to afford to buy organic milk and Odwalla orange juice, drinking non-organic milk and Minute Maid orange juice definitely stopped giving me pleasure — even though it used to! Honestly, some more expensive things really do just taste better. I still get $1.75 tacos from the taco truck, because they’re amazing (which may be more your point). But I don’t buy Minute Rice any more, even though it used to be my after-school comfort food (along with a can of Campbell’s soup).

What if the things that bring you joy cost money…lots of it? Not everyone enjoys Campbell’s Soup. Not everyone is happy pitching a tent in a State Park for their vacation.

How does one define “rich” and who’s to be the judge of that? Would a coach flight to a tropical island and a stay in a $30 a night hotel be considered “rich”? If I were to show you photos of some of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been, you might say I’m “acting rich” but I spend a lot of my “real life” cutting costs so that I can afford a coach ticket to spend a week in a cheap hotel in some of the most amazing places on Earth.

Others will stay across the street for $500 a night. That would pay for two weeks at the places I stay. If they can afford that, are they “playing rich” or just enjoying the fruits of their labors? I might look at them and laugh at how wasteful they’re being with their money because I can see/do all the same things as them outside of the hotel, but then again, they might be laughing at me because I can see light through the crack in my door, or because my shower leaks all over the floor. It’s a matter of priorities. I prefer to be cheap, but someone like you will call it “playing rich” as you have repeatedly done towards travel.

If travel isn’t your thing, fine. Other bloggers love travel like it’s some sort of virtue. It’s just a matter of perspective. You sing the praises of your affordable meals, but I’ve yet to see one that I’d cook myself as they look pretty boring and uninspiring. Again, it’s a matter of perspective.

And really, what’s the point in being frugal if you aren’t able to indulge yourself every now and again? It’s important to stop being so concerned about where every penny is spent once in a while. How can you enjoy life if you’re always concerning yourself about money?

For those who have cut back on everything and cannot make extra income for various reasons (and there are many), my heart goes out to you. You really don’t need money to feel rich. I think that comes with being confident and comfortable in your own skin.

There’s nothing wrong with spending more, as you get more. The problem comes when (like today’s Get Rich Slowly post about the materialistic woman) you are spending money you don’t have!

What’s the point of earning more money, and working harder, just to live at the same level you started?

There is nothing wrong with enjoying the fruits of your labour as long as you don’t go overboard. Having a budget (or spending plan) can help with this.

So why not dine at a nice restaurant, or go on a nice vacation? Just make sure you are doing so responsibly.