Have you ever noticed how many of the same people who are trying to promote a simple lifestyle make frugality into a negative concept, or how they routinely equate frugality with being cheap? Somehow frugality has become almost synonymous with deprivation and denial, and understandably, this kind of negative frugality turns most people off. It turns me off too.

True frugality isn’t complicated. Leo Babauta of Zen Habits says that instead of having a lot of stuff in your home, a minimalist would choose just a few really good things he loves and uses often. A really nice table, for example, is better than 5 pieces of press-board furniture. Sometimes being frugal means spending more initially in order to save more over time. And it isn’t just about spending less money, how you choose to spend your time and how you choose to conserve other resources should all be a part of the total equation.

True frugality feels amazingly empowering. When you regularly make conscious and deliberate decisions not to waste your hard-earned dollars on things that have little or no value to you, in favor of focusing your resources on what is important to you, you are taking control of your life. Making sensible, deliberate choices will help you achieve financial freedom.

Regardless of where you are in life, it is almost certain that there are areas where you can eliminate waste, make more thoughtful decisions and more deliberate choices.