The Tao of Ben Franklin Virtue #5: Frugality

“Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself; i.e., waste nothing.”

It appears Ben Franklin had a strict discipline to manage money well. We know from historical accounts he was one of the wealthiest of the founders. Quotes such as “Waste not want not,” have been accredited to him over the years. 

The thing that’s interesting about this particular virtue which at first glance seems to be about money is about something more. Franklin titles the virtue ‘frugality’ but then immediately moves on to describe his virtue to mean actions. Basically, he’s saying don’t waste your time or actions with spending money unwisely being one of them.

So what does it really mean to be frugal? Let’s take a look at the dictionary definition. 

Frugal: (adjective):  sparing or economical with regard to money or food.

I take this to mean Franklin was trying to live up to a Biblical standard from Proverbs 27-28, “Do not withhold good from those who deserve it, when it is in your power to act. Do not say to your neighbor, 'Come back later; I'll give it tomorrow'—when you now have it with you.” 

Franklin seems to believe we should make sure anything we do be it spending money or other actions only be done if it is good for us or others. This being the case, I’d like to explore frugality beyond the subject of money. 

It says a great deal about Franklin’s character that he includes this instruction. Essentially he seems to be refusing himself the title of miser. Just because he has decided to be frugal does not mean he wishes to not be generous to those in need. This seems like an admirable strategy.

Frugality equals freedom. Why do we want so much when we need so little? Frugality removes much of the perpetual want that seems to grip so many people. 

Instead the best we can do is not waste. Make every penny, moment, relationship count. As Franklin says, “Waste nothing.” 

Opportunity costs

I remember in business school getting my first real lesson in economics. I love economics. It makes sense to me. One concept our professor always drove home was the idea of opportunity costs. For every opportunity we say “yes'' to we are saying “no” to all others. While this concept seems to land with understanding in the mind of most due to its financial nature, it tends to get lost in relationships and other matters.

For example, how many times have you accepted a lunch or coffee invitation knowing you really didn’t want to go to? Most of us only focus on the ‘yes.’ We said yes and from then on that’s all we’re focused on. Yes. I will go to that place. Yes. I will be there at that time. Yes. I will eat what is on that menu. Yes. I will get in my car and drive there. Yes. Yes. Even though you are someone I really don’t enjoy spending time with, I will go.

The more the engagement creeps up in your calendar the more frustrated you get for having said, “yes.” Maybe that’s just me, but I doubt it. Derek Sivers has a “hell yes” or “hell no” principle he applies. He practices this for almost any big business decision. I’m not there yet. Derek only says yes to those opportunities where he feels a “hell yes.” It’s a visceral feeling that removes doubt. If it’s not a “hell yes” it’s a “hell no.”

I have to sift through my thoughts a little more when asked if I want to participate in a deal, take on a consulting engagement or something like that. However, with smaller matters like going to coffee, lunch or taking a trip with someone I think the “hell yes” or “hell no” principle works.

What about the ‘no’ you said when saying yes. You also said, No. I will not just relax during lunch today. No. I won’t surprise my wife with a lunch visit. No. I won’t drop by and surprise my kids at school. No. I won’t just read a book during lunch. No. I won’t call a friend who I really enjoy talking to.

All of this should give you an idea of why looking at all you’re saying no to should make you be more frugal with your yes’s. This all begins before we even get the ask. If we are going to be really frugal with our time, we must already have our day planned before anyone asks us to spend time with them. 

Just like we look at our 401(k) statements and bank accounts to get a view of our financial situation we should always do the same with our time. The difference between money and time is time can’t be saved for another day. We like to use the term ‘save time.’ 

This is a fallacy. We never ‘save’ time. We only use time more frugally. We are cautious with our time. On my podcast, The Jason Wright Show, I often thank my guests by saying, “I really appreciate you sharing the most valuable non-renewable resource any of us have-time.”

I mean it. They said ‘no’ to everything else they could have been doing for that hour and ‘yes’ to being on my show. That’s not something to be taken lightly.

Money is obvious. But I think we look at being frugal with money in a backwards way. We are always told to be frugal and ‘save for a rainy day.’ We are saving for retirement. We are saving for our kids' college. We are saving for that car we’ve always wanted. We are saying ‘no’ to all these things today so we can say ‘yes’ in the future.

We are not being frugal with our wants. So how do we do this? Well, I think the first step of financial frugality is taking inventory of what we have. We all have a lot of stuff. I don’t care who you are. You have a lot of stuff. You and I have stuff we haven’t touched in years. We have stuff that once upon a time we thought we had to have and today have forgotten it exists. 

I recently heard Sadhguru talking about this. He made the point we all are at a profit. He said, “We entered this world with nothing. We will leave with nothing. Therefore, anything is profit.” 

We all have something. We all need very little. Most of us want much. So as it relates to being frugal with our money I think it first begins with being frugal with our wants. So how do we evaluate our wants effectively? 

First, we count the opportunity costs. By just asking yourself the question, “What am I saying no to by saying yes to this,?” will change everything. It will at a minimum create a practice of slowing down and blunting impulse shopping. 

The biggest antidote to greed, want and a craving for more things is gratitude. Don’t be frugal here. Go hog wild with your gratitude. Be thankful for the air in your lungs that didn’t cost you a penny. Be grateful for that car you have right now that once you did not and some still don’t. 

The true secret to not wanting more is loving what you have. 

Don’t waste time you haven’t had yet. Look ahead. 

Franklin always looked ahead, way ahead. In 1790, he gifted $2000 to the cities of Philadelphia and Boston by putting it into a 200-year trust, and by 1990 it was worth over $7 million dollars. 

If you put $2000 into the stock market for 200 years at the average of 8% return, it will be worth over $9 billion dollars. Can you imagine this? You could set up a legal document with a trust company that outlines this trust. Three generations after your death would learn first hand the principle of being frugal with time and money. You could make a stipulation that they must do certain things with the money. They must read certain books or take certain courses. In other words you could make stipulations that would hopefully hedge against the money ruining their lives. 

Be frugal with your words and actions. Most people babble on fruitlessly. Most talk is just noise. We are often not much different from dogs yapping. The English word “noise” comes from “nausea”. Say nothing unless it must be said. Be frugal with your words. One of my college professors once told me, “Remember, you can never un-communicate anything.” This was some of the soundest advice I ever received. Be frugal with your words because you can never un-communicate them.

Silence is appreciated. Shallow rivers are noisy. Deep lakes are silent. Be frugal with your words. The old commercial about E.F. Hutton comes to mind. “When E.F. Hutton speaks, everyone listens. Be like E.F. Be so frugal with your words that when you speak everyone listens. 

Be frugal with your actions. We pride ourselves on being people of action. We like to have long to-do lists. We even ask as a standard question, “Have you been busy?” I love to answer, “Nope. I get away with as little as possible.” This is not to say we should be getting things done. However, action for the sake of action is wasteful. Be thoughtful, deliberate and frugal with your actions.

Make sure your actions will amount to something. Most trouble is caused by action. No action, no trouble. When you are angry, sad or really excited, stop, feel the emotion, absorb it and then determine if action is necessary or useful. You don’t have to do anything. Most of what we do we only ‘think’ we have to do. However, if we hadn’t life would have gone on just fine. Reserve your actions for the best actions. Be frugal with your actions.

Be frugal with your ‘I love you’s.’ Don’t just throw this word around casually, but if someone is worthy tap your reserves and do so with meaning. Let people know they are loved, but say it in a way that they know you mean it. 

Help a friend in need. Franklin alludes to this by writing, “...but do good to others…”. Indeed do good to others, but be frugal with your good. Don’t live other’s lives for them. I have a couple relatives who are in great need much of the time. They have almost forgone their responsibilities as members of society. It’s heartbreaking. I do help them. However, I’m frugal with my help. It’s very thoughtful and intentional. Too much help can lead to dependency. Help people, but only do what is good to and for them.

A final word about helping others. I once read in a book called ‘Toxic Charity’ about the downside of the American way of doing charity. Being the richest country on earth we tend to think of charity as just that, riches. 

We are, in fact, not only the richest country but the most charitable. We give lots and lots of money away. However, that doesn’t always make us the most effectively charitable country.

While reading about the proper and most effective ways of being charitable I learned something that has proven itself more than once in my own life. When we help others, unwilling to examine the long term consequences of our charity, we run a big risk. 

What is first received with appreciation often turns to expectation and then to frustration. The beneficiary begins to expect you to be their angel. You get frustrated with the process of someone no longer appreciating but now expecting you to help them. The system then breaks down on the micro level. 

This is a very negative cycle. Therefore, as part of our frugality we need to be thoughtful. Is the type of charity we are offering going to have long term sustainable changing power? This doesn’t reduce the question of help to a yes or no. We instead stop and decide if we are applying the highest and best form of charity.

Be frugal with your attention.

Finally, here’s an area where frugality not only needs to be applied but is a must. Our attention is being fought for at a greater rate and force than ever seen. Social media companies have become laboratories of discovery in ways to get mine and your attention.

One of my favorite quotes from the Netflix documentary, “The Social Dilemma” is “If something is free, you are most likely the product.” There’s a reason you don’t have to pay for Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Gmail, YouTube or SnapChat. You are the product.

Ever heard of B.F. Skinner? Well, you should have. In fact, click on the link I provided. He might be one of the most influential people in all of Silicon Valley. You know the like button on Instagram or the hearts on Facebook? Those can be traced back to this pioneer of behavioral psychology. 

Considering free will to be an illusion, Skinner saw human action as dependent on consequences of previous actions, a theory he would articulate as the principle of reinforcement: If the consequences to an action are bad, there is a high chance the action will not be repeated; if the consequences are good, the probability of the action being repeated becomes stronger

Did you know studies have shown when you stop what you’re doing to look at a picture that has popped up on your Instagram your attention is diverted for an average of 20 minutes? The sole purpose of social media companies is to hold your face pointed at your screen as long as humanly possible.

I’ve often written about the fact our bodies were not designed for this environment of quick and easy calories. As a result 40% of Americans are obese. The same is true for social media. Our brains were not designed for so many little easy drips of dopamine. However, like the magician who knows how to get you to look at one hand while he performs the trick with his other social media companies have learned to exploit our brain’s chemical makeup.

The first step in getting frugal with your attention is to face the enemy. On the other side of your iPhone is an entire army of engineers fighting for your eyeballs, your brain and your attention. 

Think “The Hunger Games.” Remember when it would cut to the room of the game master and all the engineers were controlling things like fires, or the release of the mutant dogs? It’s like that. The only difference is the dogs are being unleashed on your screen, you can’t help but look, once you do another form of dog is waiting to be unleashed when that one has run its course. 

Before you know it, you’ve lost an hour of your life looking at the dogs in the form of political ranting, cat videos and the latest over the top conspiracy theory. Oh, and there’s probably going to be an ad for something you asked a friend about in your Gmail account, too.

Take control of your attention. Decide where to place it. Afterall, where focus goes, energy glows. This is a fact. Save your focus and energy for those things most meaningful in your life.

Hopefully, I got your attention for a little while today and you consider it a worthwhile investment. For that, I thank you.