What are things not to be cheap for?
With inflation on the rise, cutting costs is first and foremost on everyone’s minds. If you’re looking to budget, or already have crunched the numbers on a tight budget for yourself, make sure you didn’t cut any necessary corners by consulting with these 14 financial experts’ never-be-frugal on items.
- Your Health
- A Good Night’s Sleep
- Your Family
- Good Vibes
- Employees
- Kindness
- Legal Protection
- Empathy
- Insurance Plans
- Electronics
- Employee Recognition
- Customer Service
- Your Ideas
- Retirement
Your Health
It’s essential to be mindful of your spending and to be frugal where you can, but it’s also important to remember that your well-being is paramount. Staying healthy can save you a lot of money in the long run, so invest in your health now. Eating healthy foods and exercising regularly are simple, but effective ways to stay healthy. Taking care of yourself now will pay off in the future in both your physical and financial health. So don’t be afraid to spend a little extra on your health—it’s an investment that’ll pay off in the long run.
Michael Sena, Founder & CEO, SENACEA
A Good Night’s Sleep
Don’t be frugal with your mattress. Humans spend almost one-third of their lives sleeping. Splurging on a quality mattress can lead to a good night’s sleep, which in turn can improve one’s overall health. Also, a good mattress should last for years. If you’re still worried about the price tag, snag one on sale and make sure they have a long warranty. You’ll never regret purchasing something that helps you sleep soundly.
Melanie Edwards, Sr. E-commerce and Digital Product Manager, Olipop
Your Family
Your most essential possession is your family. Family might include your parents, uncles, or perhaps even your partner. Never be scared to invest in them. Make absolutely sure that your family comes first, no matter how limited your money is. And do not hesitate to spend money on items that will enhance your standard of life and the lives of the ones you hold dear.
Nathan Hughes, Marketing Director, Diggity Marketing
Good Vibes
Positive energy is one thing you should share abundantly. By putting good vibes out into the world, you are more likely to receive similar energy back. This is especially true in the workplace. When you are a pleasure to be around, you put others in a better position to perform more effectively. If your whole team is on the same page, you are more likely to see success.
Jonathan Zacharias, Founder, GR0
Employees
Be frugal with everything, except for when it comes to your employees. Your employees keep your business running; without them, you don’t have a company. So, do what you can to support your workers, and make sure they’re both heard and appreciated. Your employees are your most valuable resource as a company.
Ann McFerran, CEO, Glamnetic
Kindness
While frugality can be beneficial in some aspects, you should never be frugal with your kindness. Kindness is an infinite resource. You can brighten peoples’ day and be both a better boss and business leader when you’re generous with your kindness. Operating from a state of kindness helps you be a better leader and create a healthy, supportive work environment.
Sumeer Kaur, Founder & CEO, Lashkaraa
Legal Protection
Be frugal with everything, except for protecting your business legally because it’s essential to safeguard against potential legal challenges and costly litigation. With the help of a skilled and experienced business lawyer, you can take proactive steps to minimize your exposure to risks and liabilities related to your products or services, intellectual property, employment practices, and more.
Whether you need help with contracts, payroll compliance, or corporate governance matters, a knowledgeable business attorney can advise you on the best ways to safeguard your interests. So don’t be pennywise and pound foolish—invest in effective legal representation for your business today.
Amira Irfan, Founder and CEO, A Self Guru
Empathy
Be frugal with everything, except empathy. If you want to be a successful leader (in any capacity) you need to operate with limitless empathy. The moment that you start limiting your willingness to understand and feel for another person is the moment you lose your ability to successfully lead. For example, a team wants to follow a leader who works hard every day to support them, listen to them, and understand them.
If that leader starts rationing their empathy and stops making an effort to support and understand their team, the team is going to lose faith in the company pretty quickly and look for better options. So my motto is: be frugal with everything, except empathy because that’s how you become a successful leader and support a healthy team and company.
Karim Hachem, VP of eCommerce, Sunshine79
Insurance Plans
Be frugal with everything, except insurance. It’s a financial safety net, which can help you and your loved ones recover after something bad happens. Life is full of unexpected events, no doubt about that. Still, although we may not prevent some things from happening, thanks to insurance, we can minimize the damage done.
Life insurance may actually turn out to be a great money saver. You can trust me on that—by the time I turned 30, I’d had a serious skiing accident, a car accident, money stolen from my bank account, and an apartment catch fire. Luckily, my mum used to work in an insurance company, so I grew up being reminded about the importance of insurance. So, make sure to invest in a decent insurance plan. I’d compare it to first aid skills—nice to have, better never used. Better safe than sorry.
Agata Szczepanek, Community Manager, Resume Now
Electronics
Frugality is a continuous, ever-evolving concept. What being frugal doesn’t mean, is washing your clothes in the dishwasher with your dirty dishes. Nor does it mean you have to sacrifice eating at restaurants or on vacations. Sure, you should be frugal about grocery, clothing, and large purchases, but you should never be frugal about your technology. In an increasingly technological society, it’s a requirement to have a laptop and cell phone. While you don’t need the latest and greatest pieces of equipment, you should invest in high-quality electronics, as these are the items you will use every day.
Investing in a high-quality laptop and cell phone will also save you money in the long run. Discount electronics are discounted for a reason, typically due to short battery life, slow operating systems, or poor physical quality. If you’re having to pay more for replacements, you’ll end up spending more than if you originally invested in a quality item.
Henry Abenaim, CEO, Fundingo
Employee Recognition
Providing recognition to employees’ efforts through employee recognition programs helps you acknowledge the contributions of your workforce and show them how valued they are within the organization. In addition to making an employee feel revered and distinguished, the practice motivates employees to sustain their success streak and keep delivering their best performance. You will find such a workforce appreciating the attention and reciprocating with a conscious effort that helps them add to the growth of your brand. On the other hand, practicing frugality with employee recognition will only result in a dispirited workforce with little motivation to do their best.
Larissa Pickens, Owner, Repeat Replay
Customer Service
Your company’s customers are its lifeblood. Every company leader knows, or should know, that customer service needs to be a priority, no matter how difficult it can be to deal with disgruntled or bewildered customers. Sometimes their behavior is warranted, oftentimes it’s not. But freezing out customers, getting back to them late or not being accessible to them will surely sink you. Obtaining customers is important. Retaining customers is critically important.
That’s why you need to have a team on hand to clean up mistakes, answer questions and handle grievances. Some of the best achievements in business happen as a result of addressing a problem and learning from it. That can’t happen without a competent customer service department.
Emily Saunders, Chief Revenue Officer, eLuxury
Your Ideas
Be frugal with everything, except your ideas! It costs you nothing to dream big and those big dreams can help you think outside the box and come up with innovative ideas that can change the outcome of your business and attract the attention of investors. For example, if you limit your brainstorming sessions to what is financially feasible, there’s no place for you to go from there and new business ideas are going to feel pretty uninspiring.
But if you brainstorm with the sky as your limit, you’re going to have a vantage point that will allow you to come up with unique and inspiring business ideas that can stretch the norms and put your company on the map—and what investor can say no to that? Be frugal with everything, except your ideas because your ideas cost you nothing, and they’re the key to your success.
Gabriel de la Serna, CEO, Founder, On Post
Retirement
Be frugal with everything, except retirement. For many, retirement seems a distant dream and the focus is spent on present day finances. Investing in your future early can allow you to retire early and follow your passions. While it’s tempting to drive a nice car and live in a big house, by saving on these items now and putting the money into retirement, you will actually be able to do more in your later years. Investing early will also allow for the ups and downs of the market, which are inevitable. Taking care of the future will provide security and peace of mind today.
Kirin Sinha, CEO, Illumix
Submit Your Answer
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