7 Habits of Highly Frugal People (1)

* Author: Guest Contributor

Habit One: Be Proactive

The first habits of highly effective people is to take responsibility for your life, there is no one else to blame but yourself. Regardless of how you were raised or how you were treated at school you are able to choose your behavior now. Being proactive means understanding that you are in control of (the ) direction your life takes and in control of your day to day interactions. Whereas ( a ) reactive person is often affected by their environment and will find external sources to blame for their behavior, for example if (the ) weather is good they are in ( a ) good mood but if (the ) weather is bad it affects their attitude and so (the ) weather is to blame for their bad mood.
However what most people forget is that between (the ) stimulus and your response is your freedom to choose your response, and one of (the ) most important things you choose are your words. (The) language you use is ( an ) effective indication of how you see yourself and if you use proactive language such as ‘I can’ or ‘I will’ you are starting with ( a ) more positive attitude than ( a ) reactive person who uses language like ‘I can’t’ or ‘I have to’ or ‘if only…’

How to be proactive for effective frugality:

* Take (the ) first step. You cannot take control of your finances until you make (the ) commitment to do so because (the ) more you ignore (the ) situation (the ) worse it will get. Instead take ( a ) long hard look at your finances and your budget, your debts, income and expenses and understand where your money is going and where you can budget better.

* Tell people. Using proactive language to vocalize your goal of being more frugal and more financially responsible not only helps you crystallize your goal but can also help you avoid (the ) peer pressure which can make budgeting and frugality hard. If you explain to your friends and family how you are trying to live ( a ) more frugal lifestyle then they are less likely to pressure you into one more round of drinks at (the ) pub or dinner out, again.

* Listen. Listen to yourself and listen to (the ) reasons you give each time you make ( a ) purchase outside of your budget or decide not to put those spare funds into your savings account. Taking (the ) time to stop and listen to (the ) reasons you give yourself for spending more than you earn will give you (the ) opportunity to hear just how shallow many of those reasons are, and can stop you from making purchases which can impede your goal of effective frugality.