Dictionary Definition
frugality n : prudence in avoiding waste [syn:
frugalness]
User Contributed Dictionary
English
Pronunciation
- /fɹuːˈgæləti/, /fru:"g
Extensive Definition
Frugality is the practice
of
- acquiring goods and services in a restrained manner, and
- resourcefully using already owned economic goods and services, to
- achieve a longer term goal.
Strategies for frugality
Common strategies of frugality include the reduction of waste, curbing costly habits, suppressing instant gratification by means of fiscal self-restraint, seeking efficiency, avoiding traps, defying expensive social norms, embracing free (as in gratis) options, using barter, and staying well-informed about local circumstances and both market and product/service realities.Philosophy
Frugality in the context of certain belief systems, is a philosophy in which one does not trust, or is deeply wary of "expert" knowledge, often from commercial markets or corporate cultures, claiming to know what is in the best economic, material, or spiritual interests of the individual.Different spiritual
communities consider frugality to be a virtue or a spiritual
discipline. The
Religious Society of Friends and the Puritans are
examples of such groups. The basic philosophy behind this is the
idea that people ought to save money in order to allocate it to
more charitable purposes, such as helping others in
need.
There are also
environmentalists who consider frugality to be a virtue through
which humans can make use of their ancestral skills as
hunter-gatherers, carrying little and needing little, and finding
meaning in nature instead of man-made conventions or religion.
Henry
David Thoreau expressed a similar philosophy in Walden, with his
zest for self-reliance and minimal possessions while simply
living in the woods.
References
See also
External links
frugality in German:
Sparsamkeit
frugality in Zeeuws:
Zunig'eid
Synonyms, Antonyms and Related Words
abnegation, austerity, austerity program,
canniness, care, carefulness, chariness, cheeseparing, constraint, denial, economic planning,
economicalness,
economy, economy of
assumption, economy of means, elegance, false economy,
forbearance,
forehandedness,
frugalness, golden
mean, good management, husbandry, law of parsimony,
management, moderateness, moderation, nothing in
excess, parsimoniousness,
parsimony, pinching, providence, prudence, prudential
administration, renouncement, renunciation, restraint, scrimping, self-control,
self-denial, self-discipline, self-mastery, self-restraint,
skimping, soberness, sobriety, sophrosyne, sparingness, stinting, temperance, temperateness, thrift, thriftiness, tight purse
strings, unwastefulness