It's a minimalist Monday edition of Optimal Finance Daily, episode 1375.

Simple and frugal can be different things.

By Dawn Starks of Simple Money Pro.com.

And happy Monday to you.

I'm your host and personal finance enthusiast,

Diana Merriam.

This is the show where I read to you

from some of the best personal finance bogs on the web, with the author's

permission of course.

For now, let's get right to today's post as we optimize your life. Money Pro.com. Let me begin with a disclaimer. On the road to get to where I am today, I have

experienced several times when our household finances were not so awesome.

I've had experience on both sides of this issue.

For many years, we practice extreme frugality.

Now, thankfully, we don't need to do that anymore. Our focus now is on simplicity. I've learned

that frugality and simplicity can be related but they can also be very different.

Grocery shopping is a great example.

If you're practicing frugality, whether by necessity or choice,

you shop sales, stock up on sale items,

use coupons, and shop at multiple stores.

All of these are excellent ideas to help you save money,

but following these practices is far from simple.

I cannot stand to shop at all, so it was sheer torture for me to follow these frugal practices.

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