Frugal is a choice, with 200K annual income, you can choose to have a simple life. After the tax and expense, set the annual saving goal to 100K. In 10 years, you can reach financial freedom and not afraid of layoff anymore. Meanwhile, still enjoy this 10 years, that’s part of the life as well, very important 10 years. Don’t push too hard on yourself, enjoy every day, on a planned budget.
But if you are only making minimum wage, cheap is the only option. Otherwise, you won’t have enough for retirement.
I saw people with 200K income struggled when they were on the layoff list. Because they have a huge house to pay off, lots toys, non-stop monthly bill, unlimited data package on smart phones. They wanted more when their income increased year after year. People can not be satisfied with what they already have. If they maintained the same lifestyle as when they were making 100K and saved enough, then they won’t need to struggle when the layoff day came.
The higher level you are in a company, the higher chance you have when the layoff come. When a fresh graduate kid who only needs 50K salary can do your job, why keep an expensive senior guy who is happy with the current life and has no more motivation at work.
I always say “hope for the best, and prepare for the worst”. Live simply and save more, you can have more choices when a bad day arrives.
Sometimes we are limited to the money, so have to compromise on the quality to buy cheap stuff that does not last long. But if you can wait, save a little bit more, to buy a slightly more expensive item but last you decade of years. Long term speaking, it actually saves for you.
A good example is bath towels. I always buy high quality bath towels. When they are on sale, around $10 you can find a very decent one. The cheap kind is around 3.99, but those don’t last long. On Black Friday, I will receive $10 coupon from Kohl’s. Every year I use it on the bath towels.
Frugal Practice 