One thing I’ve noticed over the years is that whenever I talk about managing money, someone eventually labels me a miser. Apparently, if you speak about budgeting, investing, avoiding unnecessary debt, or controlling expenses, you must be someone who doesn’t know how to enjoy life.
I disagree. There is a huge difference between being miserly and being financially wise.
About the author: Vishnu M is a SEBI-registered investment adviser and a member of Fee-only India, a group of fixed-fee-only SEBI-registered advisors. He can be contacted via his website vishnum.in
Many people tell me, “Don’t think too much about the future. The future is uncertain. Live in the present.” At first, it sounds like profound advice. But if we look at how most of us actually live, we don’t behave that way at all. The same people who say, “Only today matters,” buy homes with 20-year loans. They spend crores on apartments because they want a secure future. They buy expensive cars that they hope to enjoy for years. They exercise, eat healthier food, and undergo regular health check-ups because they want to stay healthy tomorrow.
Whether we admit it or not, almost every important decision we make is based on the belief that there will be a future. So why is planning for that future considered a bad thing only when it comes to money?
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Let me explain it with a simple example. I grew up in Kerala, where water has never really been a concern. We have our own well, and throughout most of the year, water is easily available. When I took a shower, I never thought twice about leaving the tap running. Later, I moved to Bengaluru. The situation there was completely different. Water shortages were common, and there were days when supply was limited. Before taking a bath, I would fill a bucket and use only that water. Was I being miserly?
Of course not. I was simply managing a limited resource.
If water had been unlimited and I still refused to use it, you could probably call me miserly. But when a resource is limited and has to meet multiple needs, careful management becomes common sense. Money works exactly the same way.
Most of us earn a limited income that has to support our current lifestyle, our children’s education, our parents’ needs, medical emergencies, retirement, and countless goals that will arise over the next several decades. If we spend everything today without a plan, the problem isn’t that we enjoyed life too much. The problem is that we ignored the fact that the same income had to serve many purposes.
That is why budgeting, investing regularly, avoiding unnecessary spending, and using credit responsibly are not signs of miserliness. They are simply ways of managing a finite resource wisely.
Of course, the opposite extreme is not healthy either. If someone has accumulated more than enough wealth to comfortably meet every financial goal, yet refuses to spend on meaningful experiences, personal well-being, or family simply because they cannot part with money, that may indeed be miserliness.
After all, money is only a tool. Its purpose is to help us meet our needs, fulfil our aspirations, and improve our quality of life. Wealth has little value if it is never used for the purpose it was created. Perhaps the real goal of personal finance is not to spend as little as possible. It is to spend confidently on what truly matters while ensuring that tomorrow’s needs are not sacrificed for today’s impulses.
That isn’t being miserly. That’s simply being financially wise.
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Dr M. Pattabiraman (PhD) is the founder, managing editor and primary author of freefincal. He is an associate professor at the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras. He has over 14 years of experience publishing news analysis, research and financial product development. Connect with him via Twitter(X), LinkedIn, or YouTube.
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