It waswayhigher than what we were used to from the days of our tiny apartment.

Our old energy bill was around $80 a monththis was over $300!

Right then and there, I was on a mission to get that bill lowered.

I added caulk to windows.

Over time, I swapped out every light bulb in the house andreplaced it with an LED bulb.

The actual list of things that I did went on and on and on.

Who couldnt use another $100 a month in their checking account?

They see endless effort dumped into a bottomless pit that merely saves them pennies.

Who wants to bother with that?

However, those fears are entirely misplaced.

If youre giving up stuff that you truly care about, then youre not being frugal.

Frugality is about getting maximum value for your dollar.

Its not about self-deprivation, at least not regarding anything that holds true value in your life.

Itisabout cutting out the things that arent actually important to you.

Itisabout seeking out less expensive ways to have the things thatareimportant to you.

Its a really joyful part of their day and cutting it seems miserable.

The thing is, you shouldnt be cutting those things that really bring you joy.

Youshould, however, always ask yourself what things actuallyarebringing you joy.

Again, if things bring you true joy, you shouldnt cut them.

Theyre righttactics like that are pretty labor intensive.

Theyre also tactics that I dont bother with the vast majority of the time.

For example, one thing I often do is make meals in advance for my family and freeze them.

Lets say were making chili in the slow cooker.

I can go on and on with examples like this.

The next time you replace a light bulb, replace it with a long-lasting energy efficient one.

Many people would fixate on that $0.20 figure.

Thats not worth doing this!

Ill just buy a jug of Tide.

The thing is, you repeat that $0.20 over and over and over for no additional effort.

You repeat it fifty times and thats $10.

If youd give me $6 for spending a minute doing something in my kitchen, Id do itconstantly.

Some frugal tactics dont save you much moneythats true.

However, many tactics save you alotof money, especially for the work involved.

Fear #4: I Dont Want to Live Like a Weirdo!

The TV showExtreme Cheapskatesis a perfect exampleit depicts people taking frugality to an absolute extreme.

Again, what those people are doing isnt really frugality.

Theyre being cheap, and those are two different things.

Frugality is about maximizing the value of your dollar.

It doesnt mean that you just buy the least expensive thing.

It doesnt mean that you turn away friends and guests with your super cheapness.

It doesnt mean that you abandon basic courtesy for others or basic sanitation or health.

If you find a behavior weird or socially uncomfortable, you shouldnt be doing it.

This often builds into a sense that the store brand must actually not be very good at all.

Quite often, the store brand isexactly the sameas the name brand version of the product.

Many other times, the store brand isfunctionally identicalto the name brand version of the product.

The cereal tastes like sweetened graham crackers, as does the name brand.

There is one difference, though.

Give them all a fair shake.

Youll find that the vast majority is actually perfect for your needs.

But why do we have these fears?

Its because, as humans, were creatures of habit.

We tend to amplify the reasonsnotto change our habits and minimize the reasonsforchanging our habits.

Dont let that fear rule you.

Start making changes, a step at a time.

Image byNucleartist(Shutterstock).