Can I Afford to Become a Frugal Entrepreneur?

What is a Frugaleur?

A Frugaleur is a self-sustainable career choice, a frugal entrepreneur, a job with many hats!

'Homeworker' means exactly that - you work from your home.


Tiny garden office

Frugal entrepreneurs can be based anywhere, even in a garden shed! You can pretty much work whatever hours suit you and work wherever you want. On the flipside, there's no holiday pay, no guarantee of unemployment benefit if your income vanishes, no final salary and no company pension. We need to keep accounts, do annual tax returns, pay income tax when (or if) due and pay National Insurance. That's the price you pay for being self-employed. But it's also a fabulous position to be in when that great opportunity presents itself and you're free to grab it!

If anyone says to me that they hate going out to work, hate sharing the responsibility of being a parent with some stranger, hate spending hours commuting or hate never having any time to do things for themselves or to spend with their families, then my answer to that is to work out how soon you can afford to QUIT! Set your sights on the lifestyle that you want and aim beyond that, then don't give up until you've reached your goal. Otherwise, quit moaning.

Remember - You may need back-up in the form of savings to tide you over during start-up and for any particularly lean times. This is why you need to adopt a frugal lifestyle and equally frugal work ethics.

Many people will use the excuse that they can't afford to give up work, then blame it on a host of other reasons - too many bills, too many debts, got to pay the mortgage... you get the picture. What they really mean is that they aren't prepared to make the necessary changes. The other thing about this scenario is the fact that many people just don't know how much they are actually spending and, worse still, how much their job COSTS to keep, let alone how they will earn that amount without the security of an employer!

But first, let's look at all the career options that are rolled into just becoming a frugaleur. I used the Prospects and Wikipedia websites for my speedy research. Here, you will see some of the hats you'll need to wear during life as a frugaleur. Life certainly doesn't get boring!

Entrepreneur - a person who is willing to launch a new venture, project or enterprise and accept full responsibility for the outcome.

• Frugaleur - a person who is willing to launch a new frugal venture, project or enterprise and accept full responsibility for the outcome.

Quantity surveyor - manages costs relating to building and civil (as opposed to military) engineering projects, from the initial calculations to the final figures. Surveyors seek to minimise the costs of a project and enhance value for money, while still achieving the required standards and quality.

• Frugaleur - manages costs relating to building a safe and secure homelife, remaining civil throughout and engineering. Frugaleurs seek to minimise the costs of running the household and enhance value for money, while still achieving the required standards and quality.

Project Manager - the person responsible for accomplishing the stated project objectives. Key project management responsibilities include creating clear and attainable project objectives, building the project requirements, and managing the triple constraint for projects, which are cost, time, and quality (also known as scope). The project can be anything.

• Frugaleur - the person responsible for accomplishing the stated project objectives. Key project management responsibilities include creating clear and attainable project objectives, building the project requirements, and managing the triple constraint for projects, which are cost, time, and quality (also known as scope). This particular project is the business of frugal living.

Accountant - a practitioner of accountancy (UK) or accounting (US), which is the measurement, disclosure or provision of assurance about financial information that helps managers, investors, tax authorities and others make decisions about allocating resources.

• Frugaleur - is responsible for finances and accounts relating to the household, measuring, disclosing or providing assurance about the financial information that helps them make decisions about allocating resources (the income).

Buyer - primary responsibility is obtaining the highest quality goods and services at the lowest cost. This usually requires research, writing requests for bids, proposals or quotes, and evaluating all information received.

• Frugaleur - primary responsibility is obtaining the highest quality goods and services at the lowest cost. This usually requires research, visiting suppliers, writing requests for bids, proposals or quotes, joining trading groups like LETS and evaluating all information received.

Analyst - an individual for whom the primary function is a deep examination of a specific, limited area such as finance. Analysts normally use spread sheets and accumulated data to arrive at their final conclusions. e.g. budget analyst.

• Frugaleur - an individual for whom the primary function is a deep examination of a specific, limited area such as finance. Frugaleurs normally use spread sheets and accumulated data to arrive at their final conclusions. e.g. budget analyst.

Auditor - carries out an evaluation of a person, organisation, system, process, enterprise, project or product. The term most commonly refers to accounting, but similar concepts also exist in project management, quality management, and energy conservation.

• Frugaleur - carries out an evaluation of the entire frugal living and working project. The term most commonly refers to accounting, but also project management, quality management and energy conservation within the frugal household.

Chief Executive, director, administrator, secretary, dietician, chef, housekeeper, cleaner, gardener, interior designer, decorator, caretaker, sales and marketing, advertising, public relations experts... look up the definitions of any, or all, of these terms and you'll find something relevant to the job of running a frugal household while establishing a business. There are many more and we need to harness some skills relevant to so many of them - don't let anyone fool you into thinking that you're a jack of all trades and master of none because you are the master of your own destination!

It doesn't cost much to become a frugaleur, just as it doesn't cost much to maintain debt freedom while living within your means, but it does take hard work, determination to succeed and a steadfast will to summon your own self-motivation every day while doing whatever it takes to generate sufficient income. By all means, be inspired by anything or anyone around you, but don't waste your time, money or energy on anything that won't contribute to your overall success.

NYK Media.