Frugalism isn't an ideology. It's just a poverty trap.

I'm seeing this more and more, people justifying undertaking frugalism as a way to defend the planet. I've lost count of the amount of articles that have been posted online saying that frugalism is a way to avoid poverty.<br><br>The reality is that frugalism isn't an ideology, and it isn't a way to save money. The idea of being frugal is to spend less than you make. That's it. If anything, it's less of an ideology and more of a basic tenant of financial planning.<br><br>I've seen people justify frugalism by saying it's a way to save money for a "rainy day" or to save for retirement. This is a terrible take, because it assumes that you have the income to save that money in the first place. If you're living paycheck to paycheck, you can't save, and you probably don't have the time to think about "Frugalism" either, because you're making a choice between "Do I pay the electricity? Or my rent this month?"<br><br>This is literally what poverty is. Not making enough money to afford the basics. Perhaps we should be fighting for a world where everyone has a living wage and basic services, like clean water, food, and a roof under their heads, rather than pretending that simply spend less will resolve the issue?