By Kevin M
Frugality is practically THE staple topic of the personal finance world. Hundreds of posts come out each week telling us how to save money on this or that expense, how to cut costs with more do-it-yourself efforts, where to get the best rates and rewards on credit cards, how to cut your taxes—you name it. And I confess that I regularly write of such topics myself.
But at some level at least, it seems like we may be doing a disservice by focusing so heavily on only one side of the personal finance ledger, while giving short shrift to the other major component: income.
I’ve actually seen the earning more vs. frugality debate written about in a few places, buried among the scores of posts written on frugality and thrift. Maybe the reason is that frugality is easier to write about than making more money. What ever the reason, more balance is certainly needed.
Here are two facts inherent in the earning more money vs. frugality analysis:
1. Expenses can be cut only so far, short of “living off the grid”
2. Income, at least in theory, has no limit
The bottom line is that while frugality can enable us to maintain our current financial status, only by increasing our income can we elevate ourselves.
