What qualities should you have? modern man? Should he be frugal? What is frugality, how does it differ from other qualities, how to manage it? You can find out more about this below in the article.

The word “save” appeared during the times ancient Rus', has the same root as in the word “shore”. It means to cover with the shore. Protect, hide, take care.

The importance of frugality cannot be overestimated, because in ancient times people believed in a goddess named Bereginya. It was believed that she protects the family and the earth from evil spirits and brings happiness to the house.

Hence: the word “thrift” means the quality of a person, which lies in his ability to take care of what he has. Thrift is also the wise use of what you have. This is the preservation of material and spiritual benefits.

You need to understand that this quality applies not only to money, but also to other resources. For example: if you turn off the light behind you when leaving a room, you save electricity. If you wash in the shower rather than in the bath, you save water.

How not to confuse frugality with greed?

If you are saving up and saving your pocket money for something special, giving up going to the cinema and buying unnecessary things, then you are doing the right thing. But if your friend asked to lend him money for travel, and you refused because then you would have nothing to put in your piggy bank, then you are doing something bad, because this is already greed. There is no need to refuse help from friends and family if their requests are truly serious.

Also, excessive frugality can turn into greed towards oneself. This can happen if you suddenly start saving on things that you absolutely cannot do without. For example: if you skimp on food and go hungry all day, you can develop health problems that will cost you much more than on lunch.

Thrift and prudence

These words are synonyms, but there is a slight difference between them. If frugality is simply small savings and avoidance of various unnecessary expenses, then prudence is also taking into account circumstances and having a plan. A prudent person, as a rule, thinks about how he can save and for what.

Good quality

Thrift used to be considered the lot of poor people, while the rich, on the contrary, did not spare money for anything. Now things have changed and there are many benefits to be found in this capacity.

Such as:

• proper handling of money;
• ability to save;
• the ability to appreciate what you have (especially if it was purchased with accumulated funds);
• the ability to determine what is more important to you in this moment;
• ability to manage your time;
• possibility of choice.

How to manage lean?

How can you learn to save without becoming greedy? Let's look at some tips that will teach you to monitor your expenses, but at the same time not go too far with saving.

• Calculate your income (this could be pocket money, gift money, etc.).
• Calculate your basic expenses (what you will definitely need to spend money on, travel and lunch).
• Determine how much you have left.
• Decide how much you are willing to put into your piggy bank.
• Try to save the planned amount of money each time.
• Thrifting is not about giving up everything, sometimes you can buy what you want.
• Don't skimp if you're hungry or cold (it's better to buy food and take public transport home than to get sick).
• Tell your loved ones what you are saving for (most likely they will want to help you, and your piggy bank will fill up faster).

Thrift is not just a quality of a person, but a way of life. Thanks to it, you will be prepared for any life circumstances, you will be able to manage your savings yourself and choose what to spend them on. Being frugal is not difficult, but useful, and not only for the people themselves, but also for the planet as a whole.

Many of us are familiar firsthand with the situation when there is a catastrophic lack of money, and salary is still far away. What remains to be done in this case? Of course, seek help among acquaintances and friends! Based own experience, every person understands perfectly well who to turn to with a request financial plan, and who will obviously answer with a refusal. Usually, last people They are usually called greedy, misers and stingy people. But is it worth rushing to conclusions? Perhaps they are simply taking a rational approach to budget planning? In this article we will tell you how frugality differs from greed.

Definitions

Thrift– a moral quality that manifests itself in a person’s caring attitude towards property and material goods. Antonym of wastefulness, mismanagement, unjustified luxury. The most accurate synonyms for the word are thrift and prudence. In ancient times, Aristotle did not classify frugality as a virtue, considering it an extreme. The Romans defined this quality as external simplicity, economy, lack of stinginess and valued it very highly. In modern times, frugality was included in the list of bourgeois virtues, but in a slightly distorted meaning. It was presented as the source of capital and the basis of national prosperity. In fact, in bourgeois morality, frugality had a class meaning and served as an ideological means of justifying exploitation. The concept acquired a completely different interpretation in socialist society. It expressed a reasonable attitude towards the results of human labor, concern for the well-being of people, etc.

Thrift

Greed- an insatiable desire for possession and consumption. It is synonymous with greed, stinginess and greed. A greedy person wants to individually own all the goods; he does not know how to share and give. This quality is often found in an individual in early age. Children demonstrate it by taking away toys from each other, refusing to share sweets with peers, etc. Later, greed manifests itself in a passion for hoarding, in the pursuit of new benefits of civilization. It also becomes the reason for the lion's share of arranged marriages. As surprising as it may be, many greedy people condemn themselves to poverty. There are many examples when, for reasons of stinginess, businessmen invested a minimum amount of money in the development of their business and, as a result, became bankrupt.

Comparison

Another difference between frugality and greed is that the first quality has a certain basis. That is, a person saves money in order to implement specific plans and ideas. Whereas a stingy person gathers in order not to experience the fear of dying of hunger or not being poorer than others. The expression “save for a rainy day” refers specifically to such people.

In addition, a thrifty person tries to buy only high-quality and fairly expensive things, realizing that they will last him longer. Whenever possible, he attends sales, trying to save money. The greedy person chases immediate savings, wanting to spend as little as possible. If the price for some necessary for a person the product will be, in his opinion, too expensive, he will simply refuse to purchase. Such people buy cheap products without thinking that they can be harmful to health. They choose low-quality clothes from discount stores, which quickly become unusable. Often, such shopping results in even greater expenses in the future. It’s not for nothing that thrifty English people say: “We’re not rich enough to buy cheap things.”

It is worth adding that thrifty representatives of this world in most cases achieve success in all areas of life, be it career, family, interpersonal relationships etc. They surround themselves with worthy people and quality things, achieve their goals, and develop as individuals. Greed is based on fears. It inhibits human development, leads to his depersonalization, and becomes the cause of early old age and loneliness.

To summarize, what is the difference between frugality and greed.

Table

Despite the fact that many people are trying to save money, not everyone is ready to admit it. It so happens that saving is not cool and, due to embarrassment, we often find ourselves in awkward situations.

I’ll say right away - I’m the most frugal of all my friends.

When your work touches on the topic of personal finance, you begin to look at money differently. So it's easy for me to keep my head on my shoulders when it comes to expenses.

And while I don't shout about frugality on every corner, wherever I go, my actions usually speak for themselves. I must note that the economy of some people is not always welcomed by others.

It’s not so easy to hold on when you constantly feel pressure from the outside. There have been times when my preference to save rather than spend has led to judgment and even some isolation. Despite the fact that in no way affected the lives of other people. In such situations, I felt obligated to explain and defend my point of view.

The question arises - since when, in fact, modesty and frugality turned into something bad, negative?

If you've ever encountered a similar situation, you probably know what I mean.

Thrift began to be equated with cheapness, stinginess and boredom.

Such a picture does not attract supporters at all. And it repels those who have just decided to start saving.

It turns out that financial security is seen by others as a sign of personal and professional success, and savings as a sign of stinginess and failure in life.

But before we try to understand our confusing relationship with financial stewardship, let's take a look at the definition of the concept itself.

Here's what Wikipedia says:

"Thrift is careful attitude to property, prudence, economy. A system of actions leading to a moderate expenditure of any resources."

This is a completely appropriate interpretation, despite the general words, and even from such a short definition it is clear how useful and valuable this quality is. Of course, the dictionary will not describe why people cultivate it in themselves, how differently they perceive it and apply it in life.

Indeed, thrift and thrift mean something different for each person. This quality is based on many external factors, and its essence will vary from person to person. Therefore, speaking about the same thing, different people perceive it differently.

Then how do we deal with misunderstanding?

If you can determine what is behind a behavior, what motivates another person and what drives him, then it is easier to understand and accept the validity of his point of view.

When it comes to exercising stewardship, it is important to remember that every person is driven by his or her personal circumstances. Let me give you a few examples of frugality and saving that you have probably encountered in everyday life.

Of necessity. For some, there is a direct need for such behavior. Without diligence, bills will go unpaid and needs will go unmet. Eating out won't break your budget, but it will have financial implications. A budget is a part of life and it reflects expenses that you cannot do without. And this should evoke nothing but respect and understanding.

Save to spend. Those whose budget allows can try to save on something in order to spend the money received in another category. A good example Travel enthusiasts serve here. Flights, accommodation and pocket expenses require significant expenses. Thrift in such cases is nothing more than a manifestation of compromise. To spend money for your own pleasure, you have to limit yourself to something else.

Trait. All people are different. And everyone has their own vision of personal finance. Perhaps they have before their eyes unsightly examples of how excessive spending leads to problems. Some people simply have no interest in shopping and there is nothing wrong with that.

Savings by inertia. I tested this on my own skin - frugality as a habit that takes over you more and more. Once you start to see the first fruits of your savings, it is very easy to continue down the same path.

Saving for the future. Future goals are a strong incentive to create a savings plan and stick to it. For those who are focused on big goals, such as buying a home, early retirement, traveling, etc., frugality is a necessary step in the process of achieving the goal.

You may not find yourself in any of the examples given, or, conversely, recognize yourself in several of them.

Whatever the reason for your frugality, it may be completely different from friends, family members or just acquaintances. It's OK.

It is important to understand that everyone has their own approach to personal finance. Once you find a reason to save your own money, you can begin to identify the values ​​that are important to you and get to work on achieving your goals.

Considering all of the above, it can be quite difficult to feel confident when you feel uncomfortable sharing your goals with others and constantly feeling pressure from them.

When you constantly feel like you have to explain your actions, it can be confusing and even cause you to doubt yourself. To cope with such feelings, there are several techniques that you can use to look at things through new eyes.

Understand that those who judge you are simply reflecting their own reality. Most of these people don't want to make you feel uncomfortable at all. You may similarly judge them for overspending.

Gain confidence in your own rightness. The only thing we can truly control is our reaction to what is happening around us.

Whenever you feel pressured to spend money that you had been meaning to save or own frugality starts to confuse you, take a step back.

Remember, you have goals that are of high value. Remember them so you don't lose motivation.

Be kind to yourself and have a positive outlook on the decisions you make. Showing kindness to yourself is just as important as showing kindness to others. Evaluate your decisions on merit and do not try to make excuses for them. If you think it necessary, explain your point of view, but this is your personal business.

Thrift is part of a normal healthy financial life. Be confident that you are doing the right thing.

Well, if with the help of frugality you decide to create your first capital for investing or trading, then my 3-week practical course will help you. .

(Figure TAW4 (freedigitalphoto.net)

History and our nature have taught us to waste and rule, take and own, destroy and appropriate. The first people could not reasonably assess their place in the universe; they were forced to survive, to resist the conditions in which they found themselves. Fear and powerlessness made them revere the wild nature of the universe. Then man began to conquer nature and use it for life. We have not learned to treat it with care, just as we have not learned to treat our work with care. We have created a world of things that we collect around ourselves and make others envy our wealth, forgetting that things only serve a person, and do not indicate his status. We have forgotten their real meaning. Let your mind find the difference between FRUGALITY AND SCARY.

Let's imagine that we are driving in a luxury car, clean and spacious. He delights us with his beauty. There is a man standing on the road and asking us to give him a lift. Why are you passing by? A person is a person, you say, does he have the right to make a choice? But how does he explain his choice? You feel sorry for your clean rugs, but he has dirty shoes - you are indignant. You say that you are thrifty, but maybe this is stinginess? You say you are in a hurry, you are a business person, but maybe this is indifference. Man is an egoist, we value our things more people. We have created a world of logic that helps us explain our actions with hundreds of different conclusions and continue to be selfish. But then you stopped and picked up a traveler on the road. Oh, are you really a generous person, they thank you, or maybe you just wanted to prove your generosity to yourself, to show the traveler that you are a kind person or that you believe in God, or that your parents raised you well? Which explanation for the action will be a valid reflection of your thoughts. Most likely, each of us makes good deeds, when it is profitable or when you want it. Consciousness obeys only its own desire. Stinginess is a mental dependence on what belongs to you. But this is not THRUGGLE at all. A Stingy person owns objects rather than uses them. He needs things to show his status. He associates himself with this wealth and realizes himself in it as an egoist. A THRUGGLE understands that things are created to serve people, but at the same time we must take care of everything that the Earth and nature gives us and everything that is created by the hands of other people. Let's imagine the situation. A schoolboy asks his classmate for a pen.

He gives him a pen and says: “Make sure you don’t break it.” In response to such a statement, some people will not take the pen, but will ask someone else for it, deciding that only a stupid person or a very greedy person can go broke like that over a trinket. Although in this situation we can also argue that we are talking about frugality here. Let's take another example. A neighbor asks you for some device you need, which you are not using yet. It is clear that you must take care of everything that you get with such difficulty, but can you be called stingy if you do not give him this device? It is with this thought that he will leave your home. You can be considered THROUGH only if you have already given your neighbor some items and he did not return them intact, although this will not always be an excuse for your action. In addition, we cannot be thrifty with things and at the same time stingy with our feelings and support for other people. Here you need a subtle instinct and a reasonable choice of your position. We must not be stingy with our strengths and good feelings towards other people, but at the same time TAKE CARE of ourselves for worthy people.

Let's take an example on a different scale. Humanity uses Natural resources. Of course, since we use what nature provides, we cannot call it THRUGGLE. This is selfish in relation to future generations, especially since each person believes that everything can be used endlessly, believing that he is doing too important a job to think about planetary problems, and besides, we can only value what we have earned through our labor . To use things and your powers wisely, you need to train your brain to see everything reasonable and separate it from the unreasonable. From time immemorial, man has striven to capture as much as possible more territory, live in a huge palace of twenty rooms, while constantly being in one, have ten cars, using one, accumulate wealth until death and not give it to anyone, believing that irons and samovars will be useful in the next world. All this is logic and selfishness. Most likely, there is no life after death, and the objects that we value so much and on which we depend so much become old very quickly and turn out to be of no use to anyone. Children, for whom each of us keeps our wealth, most often do not treat it with care or are made impossible by these riches and are a great disappointment to those around us. The only thing that will help us find the difference between THRIVAL and STINGY is selfishness. A THRUG is not selfish because he SAVES everything for people and must make sure that things serve as many people as possible. But if we help only in order to oblige other people to help us in the future, then here we are again talking about STINGY, STINGY for good deeds and good thoughts. Things lose their meaning if they lie in your closets and chests.

A person, collecting things, thinks that he owns them, in fact, they control him, make him their slave. And then money makes us stay awake at night, thinking about how not to lose it. Money makes us blind and stupid; it will not give us real joy and will not help us make real friends. They pollute our feelings and turn true love into great disappointment. Therefore, the rich people of this world understand that people’s envy is the only reward that pleases their egoism, for the sake of which they sought to rake in wealth around themselves. Money will never help them control people. Their souls will only hypocritically demonstrate their submission to them. Demonstrate and dream of taking possession of money. Ask a rich person if money is the meaning and happiness. And he will answer you “Yes!” But why then are they so unhappy? They drink and have fun, travel around the world in search of adventure, but do not find either true love or real friends, they doubt every second whether women love them because of money and whether their friends help them because of money. Why do they continue to seize more and more wealth, sparing neither health nor life?

In the next world we no longer need anything. They do not find an answer to these questions, although the answer is obvious. A rich person is loved only because of his wealth, because he is surrounded by egoists just like himself, so envy and profit are the only feelings that will envelop their consciousness when they are near him. What is the difference between THRIVAL and STINGY? The difference is that a thrifty person uses things to improve himself and change the world around him for the better, while a stingy person owns things to please his egoism. A stingy person does not think about other people, so when choosing apples he will take the best ones, while making his way in life he will choose the most easy way, leaving difficulties to others, he will find thousands of excuses not to do his job. He is an egoist, which means he must take care of himself or be stingy with good deeds.

Not a single thing in the world, no matter how beautiful and useful it may be, will make us happy, even if it is the universe itself. And you will throw it away, disappointed that you spent half your life acquiring it, because things have no meaning. Any thing loses its meaning as soon as someone begins to own it. People bring home expensive things that they have long striven for, betraying friends, forgetting about their children and sacrificing love, and suddenly they realize that they do not need these things, but need others, more beautiful and more expensive. We simply do not know how to go out of context and foresee the outcome of a situation several steps ahead. Development is not about owning as many things, knowledge or anything else as possible. Development is the desire for perfection and absoluteness of oneself and the whole world.

The difference in these concepts is practically invisible. You can find it intuitively in situations. Knowing and understanding the measure will ultimately help you find the difference. The less stingy you are, the more you will have to save, and vice versa, if you don’t save anything, you will definitely become stingy. Let's give another situation. Imagine two scientists, one of whom has an excellent laboratory for his experiments, but does not have any ideas in order to bring them to life. Another scientist, on the contrary, has an idea, but he does not have the conditions to pursue it. Each of them will own what they have and supposedly save it for the right occasion. If they agreed and worked together, they could bring a lot of benefit to people by making discoveries, because that’s what knowledge is needed to help people develop. Why does someone who owns it need knowledge? Most often, to sell your mind at a higher price.

Selfishness and SCARY at all levels deprive us of reason. The world we have is just a huge delusion of every person. People are increasingly moving away from each other, locking themselves in their homes in order to preserve the meager amount they have: things and money. They value them so much because it has become difficult to survive in this world without things and money, or because they do not see the difference in the concepts of THRIVAL and STINGY. Teach your child to TAKE CARE of everything that comes into his hands, so that he will be freer than we are, so that he does not waste his life chasing objects, but devotes it to higher aspirations. After all, it is in the pursuit of things and money that a person begins to see meaning in them. This is how dependence on objects and SCARY is born.

To get rich, you must always remember three things. The first is frugality. Second -

thrift for what is saved. The third is thrift to thrift. That's all.

Thrift is an important source of wealth.

The richest person is the thrifty one, the poorest person is the miser.

Be thrifty and prepare for tomorrow

You just have to call stinginess frugality, stubbornness persistence, and backbiting wit, and you will find yourself facing a completely different person.

Thrift as a personal quality is the ability to observe reasonable measures in spending any resources.

One day a poor peasant went into his barn and found a golden egg under a chicken roost. His first thought was: “Someone wants to play a joke on me.” But to be sure, he took the egg and took it to the jeweler. He checked the egg and told the peasant: “100 percent gold, pure gold.” The peasant sold the egg and returned home with a lot of money. In the evening he threw a huge feast. At dawn the whole family got up to see if the hen had laid another egg. Indeed, there was a golden egg in the nest again. Since then, the peasant found such an egg every morning. He sold them and became very rich. But the peasant was a greedy man. He asked himself why a chicken lays only one egg a day. And in general, he wanted to know how she does it in order to produce golden eggs himself. He became increasingly angry. Finally one day he ran into the barn and cut the chicken into two halves with a garden knife. All he found were parts of a nascent egg.

Moral of the story: don't kill the goose that lays the golden eggs. Often, people act thoughtlessly: they deprive their money of the status of “capital”. Capital is a value that brings an increase in value. Golden eggs are interest on capital. Having spent all our money, we lose the gold-bearing chicken, which, if we were prudent and moderate, would eventually turn into a gold-bearing chicken. Thrift is an important source of prosperity. If we put money in a bank as a deposit, then we would make a choice in favor of saving. If we spent it, it means we were seduced by consumption. Poor people always prefer consumption. Any rich person knows the rule - you have to spend less than you get. Wealth and financial independence in his understanding are achieved when a person has enough money to live well on interest.

Any government, when setting a budget, is faced with a choice of how much money to allocate for accumulation and how much for consumption. If there were only fools in the government, they would suggest either eating everything or throwing everything into savings. In practice, the optimal ratio, a reasonable measure between accumulation and consumption, is always sought. Imagine that a country spends twenty years eating up its entire national income. What will happen? It’s even scary to describe: factory equipment is wearing out and not being updated, nothing is being built, science is in decline, investments in production development have been forgotten, Agriculture dies, the gross product falls from year to year, etc. Ultimately, the country comes to a state where there is nothing left to consume - everything has been eaten. In other words, they drank, ate, had fun - they counted, they shed tears.

A similar situation arises in our personal household. A thrifty person perceives himself as an independent company, where he CEO and an ordinary employee rolled into one. Only he has the right to sign for any monetary transactions. Such a vision implies responsibility for all one’s actions. This is a fundamental point. When a person does not see himself as a company, he often acts spontaneously and irresponsibly. As an ordinary employee of the company, you receive a portion of the total income. Without fanaticism, set your salary, not forgetting about the problems of the company. After all, it must develop, it needs to invest in the development of production, and create a reserve fund. Such a system will save you from remorse. Previously, you spent money and worried that you had spent it, and, conversely, you saved and worried that you could have spent it on something that deceived you. Thrift is a way of spending money without getting any pleasure from it. Now the created system does not depend in any way on your self-control, willpower and self-discipline. You can't rob a company, can you? The system works automatically. The only condition for its effectiveness is that you must impose a taboo on touching the fixed capital. Forget to stretch out your playful little hands to your main capital.

Only donkeys do not learn frugality. One day Molla thought about how expensive things had become. “I have nothing to buy barley with. Wouldn’t it be better for me to reduce the donkey’s portion?” He liked this idea. From that day on, he began to give the donkey less and less barley. On the first day, he saw that this measure had no effect on the donkey. The next day he gave the donkey even less barley and chaff. Molla saw that the donkey had weakened a little, but still it was not very noticeable. Molla gradually reduced the portion of barley and finally began to give one chaff, and then only once a day. And then one day, coming to the stable, Molla saw that the donkey had died. Molla, sighing, said: “I successfully taught the donkey to be thrifty. It’s a pity that fate prevented me from finishing the job.”

Why do people ignore frugality? There are many reasons, but mostly people want to live comfortably here and now. “Life is too short for me to limit myself in anything,” they say, “The bank has low interest rates and they are not reliable. In addition, inflation is high. Hoarding won't do anything." The passion for consumer loans can be considered real madness. The thirst for consumption clouds the mind. A person still has nothing, but he is falling into the trap of an expensive loan. This “businessman” has a stall in the market, and he drives up in a car with a hundred thousand dollars on credit. All for the sake of showing off your coolness and showing off. The crisis that broke out instantly sent hundreds of thousands of these unfortunate businessmen into debt.

Consumer debt dates back to ancient Babylon. The Babylonian could offer himself as collateral. If he could not repay the debt, he became a slave. He was sent to build the city wall. The severity of the work could exceed hard labor in Siberia. The average life of a slave was three years. If he fell from exhaustion, the overseer beat him with a whip. If, despite the beatings, he could no longer rise, he was pushed off the wall and crashed on the rocks below. At night the corpses were taken away. The Babylonians saw this terrible performance every day. But what is characteristic is that two-thirds of all the slaves at the wall were not prisoners of war enslaved, but townspeople who had lost their freedom. How many convolutions do you need to have in your head to take out a loan, watching a living example of what can happen to it? Only one - on which he sits.

Thrift is not limited to finance. It is equally important for a person to manage his time, physical and mental strength thriftily, that is, wisely. Let's remember V. Vysotsky's song about a sprint skater who was forced to run long distance: “Will will, if my strength is too much, and I got carried away, I rushed ten thousand like five hundred, and got stuck, Let me down, because I warned you, the breather. I only ran two laps and fell, which is a shame.”

Thrift involves organizing your life in such a way that you have time to realize your plans. Most people in last minute life thinks not about God, but about what they have not yet managed to do. Thrift means treating not only your property with respect and care, but also everything around you, including property and inner world other people. Thrift is free from unjustified desire for luxury and is to a certain extent autonomous in the social structure. She always has the opportunity to help those in need.

Thrift is one of the human qualities that the balancing forces treat with due respect. How can one not respect the quality that serves as the inner guard of human dignity? A person who realizes the sufficiency of what is necessary and the excess of luxury evokes approval and reverence among the balancing forces. If in greed, stinginess, avarice and greed, the excessive importance that a person attaches to objects is off scale outside world, then with frugality the equilibrium forces rest. There is no one to educate, because the alarm signal about crossing the threshold of significance does not flash. Thrift, like a tightrope walker, balances between stinginess and greed, on the one hand, and generosity and extravagance, on the other. Thrift is the golden mean between excessive accumulation and reckless consumption. The main thing is not to go from the golden mean to greed and stinginess.

One day, when Molla was plowing in the field, a large thorn pierced his leg. His leg was covered in blood. Molla suffered for a long time and finally pulled out the splinter. He sat down, grabbed his leg and began to cry and then thank Allah. They saw him and asked: “Ai Molla, what’s wrong with you, why are you crying?” “I got a splinter in my leg,” Molla answered. “What do you thank Allah for?” they asked him again. “I thank Allah for being barefoot,” Molla explained, “otherwise the thorn would have made a hole in my shoes.”

Petr Kovalev 2013