7 Amazing Tips for Living Fabulously Frugal

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Yes, you can live fabulously frugal and maintain your fabulousness

If you think fabulous and frugal are mutually exclusive, you think wrong. You can live fabulously frugal and here are 7 ways to do it. Now you can live even better with the free 5 Building Blocks of a Happy Gay Life available here.

Getting queer on living fabulously frugal:

Living fabulously frugal is about doing more but better

Frugality isn’t about eliminating fun from your life. It’s about spending money on what matters most and finding ways to do more with less.

Frequent Queer Money® guest David Rae is a Certified Financial Planner and Accredited Investment Fiduciary based in Los Angeles. He’s been helping clients achieve financial security for the last 17 years, building a reputation as a specialist in serving the LGBT community. David writes a regular column for Forbes, and his work has appeared in The Huffington Post, Investopedia and The Advocate. He’s also been interviewed on Nightline, the Today Show and NBC Nightly News and more.

David joins us to discuss how to live a champagne lifestyle on a beer budget. He shares his take on what it means to live fabulously frugal, exploring why the queer community is often tempted to overspend. David shares advice on how to treat yourself, how to balance money management with gift-giving, and how to negotiate a raise as a member of the queer community. Listen and learn how to include your friends in your fabulous journey to financial security!

It’s really a stereotype to think that frugality is about being poor. - David Rae of Financial Planner LAClick To Tweet

7 Amazing tips for living fabulously frugal

1. Plan ahead and save accordingly

A twist on a popular saying goes, “If you’re not planning to spend, you’re spending to fail.”

Most of us spend unconsciously, then regret our spending like whiskey dick or can’t sleep because we lack financial security. As our friend, Paula Pant, says, “You can have anything you want, you just can’t have everything.” But few of us know exactly what we want and don’t plan to get it.

2. Find ways to do more for less – ‘Not So Expensive’

It’s been the cliché for so long it’s in our DNA – gay men are supposed to live fabulously. Sorry to burst everyone’s nitrous balloon, but we’re not all white, upwardly mobile gay couples living in modern homes, driving Audis.

One thing we realized after we acquired $51,000 in credit card debt was that in too many ways we were living a champagne lifestyle on a beer budget. Many of us can afford to splurge in certain areas of life, but most of us can’t afford to splurge in all areas. So, we learned to find ‘not-so-expensive alternatives’ or NSE for some of our spending.

With everything in life, there’s an NSE alternative. These may not be alternatives you want to live with forever, but they’ll help you become debt free. Plus, the more ways you’re able to live NSE, the easier it’ll be to stay debt free.

We found NSE alternatives for watching TV, drinking wine and meeting our annual gay-quota for travel. Now that we’re debt free, we still exercise some of these NSE substitutes.

3. Use ‘Milestone Rewards’ to reach goals

Use Milestone Rewards as incentives to help you reach your goal.

Milestone Rewards are affordable treats we give ourselves when we reach milestones in achieving financial goals. They also don’t wreck our financial goals because they’re too much of a reward. Examples are going to the movies, a reasonably priced dinner out, a decent bottle of wine or buying an affordable, yet stylish, piece of clothes – maybe a cool t-shirt.

Milestone rewards should be enough of an incentive to keep you on track for your financial goals and not kick you off the saving and investing wagon.

4. Talk with your friends and family about your money goals

People don’t talk enough about money. The queer community doesn’t talk enough about money. That was the whole purpose of last year’s Queer Money Live Tour – to get our community talking about money.

Share your goals. Share your aspiration. Then, share how you’re reaching those goals by spending consciously, saving and investing your money.

The more we talk about money, the more we learn about money and then the better we do with our money.

The financially stronger we are as individuals, the stronger we are as a community and the more we can advocate and push for equality.

5. Know your worth and get that raise or promotion

While there’s workplace discrimination against LGBTQ people, studies also show that we don’t strive for or advocate enough for raises and promotions in our careers. Let’s stop that!

Know your value. Apply for that big job. Demand equal pay and push for those raises and promotions.

6. Hire a financial coach for accountability and planning

Do you think you need to just go it alone when it comes to your money? No.

Why do professional athletes have coaches? Why do rich people have financial advisors?

Because everyone needs a coach to excel. If you’re not sure what your financial goals are, if you’re not sure how to create a plan to reach your financial goals, and if you’re not sure if you have what it takes to reach your money goal – get a coach.

7. Use tools for saving and investing

It’s a million times easier to reach money goals when you use the tools and resources designed to help you reach money goals. There’s no other part of the economy designed for success quite like the stock market. The sooner you hop in the better.

Topics covered on living fabulously frugal

David’s take on living fabulously frugal

Find ways to do more for less
Save up and plan ahead

Why queer people spend more money than they have

Make up for feelings of inferiority
Overextend to project an appearance of success

How to live a champagne lifestyle on a beer budget

Focus on what’s important to you
Plan ahead for big-ticket items (i.e.: travel)

How often you should treat yourself

Use incentives to reach financial goals
Budget small amount for week/month

How to include your friends in your financial journey

Let them know you’re saving
Share steps to buy a house, pay off debt

How to balance budgeting with gift-giving

Talk about goals with friends/family
Set a budget on gifts (or skip this year)
Draw names or do a white elephant

The myth that frugal people are poor

Smart financial decisions = long-term wealth
Don’t judge based on car or clothes

How to negotiate a raise

Know your worth and don’t be afraid to ask
May have to be willing to switch jobs

David’s favorite tools for money management

Financial advisor for accountability
Quicken or Mint to track spending
Honey extension to save on purchases

The difference between being cheap and frugal

Cheap = not paying your fair share
Frugal implies smart spending choices

Connect with David Rae

Financial Planner LA

More resources for living fabulously frugal

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