This is my attempt to explore the lifestyle of a frugal living person. have you known someone who lives a frugal lifestyle? or even you live a frugal lifestyle yourself? then you might be able to relate to some of the things that I am about to share. I will be recalling some of my college days and how some of my college classmates and I lived. We had a classmate who every day would cook white rice for dinner instead of buying snacks. There was another classmate who would keep track of all his expenses on his phone. And then there was another classmate who would walk for 20 minutes to save on the cost of a ride. What’s with all that? A 2026 Starling Bank study found that the cost of living for students in the UK had risen by 47% over the previous decade—far exceeding the national inflation rate of 41% and outpacing the 32% increase in student loan funding This data is not just numbers on a page. 9 out of 10 students described how financial pressure has affected their mental health and 83% said they were getting poorer quality education because of financial pressure. Data from the Office for Students shows that more than half of students have found that their financial circumstances have worsened over the past year.
The same pattern can be found in other countries. In research by Pangestuti and Yuwono (2019) conducted at Muhammadiyah University of Surakarta, students living in dormitories practice frugal lifestyle through concrete steps of monitoring expenditure, curtailing unnecessary expenditure, saving, and cooking their own food. Not only the tight finances of students in dormitories that determine their practice of frugal lifestyle but also are influenced by several factors including ties with friends and the stress of asking for money from parents. So, the question is no longer “why do students live in dorms?”
Not Enough Money First
Before addressing issues of social pressure or identity, the root of the problem remains quite simple: a lack of financial resources. Student tuition, accommodation costs, the price of necessities, and public transportation costs are all steadily rising. Meanwhile, students’ income—whether from parents, scholarships, or part-time jobs—has not increased proportionally, or has risen much more slowly than these various expenses. A study by *Interactive Investor* notes that the basic cost of living for British students rose by 8.7% in one year, outpacing both the increase in student loan values and the average household inflation rate. It is this gap that drives students to seek solutions, and living frugally becomes the most sensible choice because it is the only variable they can fully control. They cannot control the prices of goods, nor can they influence campus financial aid policies, which are beyond their control. The only thing they can control is their own spending.
There is another aspect of the problem that is rarely discussed: many first-year students are taking full control of their own money for the first time without ever having been taught how to manage it. The study, which linked financial literacy to frugal behavior among college students, found a correlation between an understanding of basic economic concepts and a person’s level of discipline in maintaining a frugal lifestyle. So, this isn’t merely a matter of necessity. There’s a learning component involved; the longer someone is in college, the better they understand ways to manage money, so that living frugally naturally becomes a habit—not just a last-minute reaction at the end of the month.
The Influence of Friends Who Are Often Underestimated
There is one factor that is often neglected when people talk about a frugal lifestyle: its social influence. A study by Pangestuti and Yuwono (2019) in Universitas Muhammadiyah Surakarta (UMS) shows that college students who live in boarding houses lead frugal lives not merely because of circumstances that force them to, but rather because of encouragement from their friends and their own initiative. The reluctance to be a burden on their parents serves as a strong motivational factor; coupled with this, the habit of living frugally is usually established within the family long before a person has officially become a college student. This habit then spreads among dorm residents through shared routines—such as taking turns cooking or reminding one another about expenses—rather than through decisions made individually and in isolation.
This makes sense from a social psychology point of view too. As people, we adapt to our environment, especially when we feel under pressure. Most of the people your friends live with are probably living on a very tight budget. As a result, you will feel self-conscious if you are not living frugally too because you will stand out in a very unfavorable way. However, on the other hand, living frugally can even garner respect from your peers and they will even consider you to be mature and responsible. So, living on little is not just a personal choice that you make, but is often influenced by the culture in the dorms and on campus where you live.
Not just money strategy, but identity
There’s another interesting aspect: living frugally turns out to shape an individual’s identity, not just a financial strategy. Sunawang et al. (2024) in their study of out-of-town students at Pertamina University attempted to reveal how a frugal lifestyle of college students is expressed and how values of simplicity, sustainability, and responsibility towards others are formed in them. This sense of identity influences how students interact with their surrounding environment, strengthens independent thinking, and makes the students appear prudent in financial management. Living frugally is no longer merely a means of survival; it has also become part of the self-image students wish to project to their social circles—an image of a mature, disciplined, and non-consumptive individual.
A study conducted by Mufarrikhah, N., & Wicaksono, H. (2025) identified three ways how students implement this: managing their money rationally by keeping records and planning a budget; controlling their consumption by limiting daily spending as well as prioritizing their basic needs; and adapting to the social and cultural context by showing solidarity with their fellow boarding house residents and maintaining the habits they brought from their hometowns. At this point, living frugally transforms into a kind of moral practice that goes against a consumption-oriented lifestyle, rather than simply a response to economic pressures.
Interestingly, for some students, frugal living can even take on a spiritual dimension. A study of Islamic Economics students by Haq et al. (2026) found that frugal living is practiced as an implementation of the principles of Maqashid al-Sharia, especially in terms of safeguarding one’s wealth. The habit of frugality has also transformed from a mere financial trend into a form of religious practice, an expression of daily faith. Its meaning may vary depending upon the values held by each student, but the essence remains the same: living frugally is a way for these students to affirm their identity, not simply a method of managing money.
The Temptation That Never Stops
Even though it has become a kind of norm, the temptation remains. Research by UIN Malang found that frugal living does help students limit spending and foster interest in saving. The problem is that aggressive digital marketing often encourages impulsive shopping behaviors that interfere with the intention to save. Flash discounts, advertisements that continue to appear on social media, shopping trends that are exhibited through influencer content — all become real tests for students who try to consistently live frugally.
Even though a frugal lifestyle has become something of a norm, the temptation to stray from it remains. Research by Dzakirah, N., Meldona, M., & Julaiha, U. (2025) from UIN Malang has found that a frugal lifestyle does indeed help students limit their spending and develop an interest in saving. The problem is that aggressive digital marketing can often encourage impulsive consumer behavior that interferes with the student’s intention to save. Flash sales, ads that constantly pop up on their social media feeds, and the shopping trends promoted by content creators—all of these are real temptations for students who are trying their best to consistently live frugally.
This serves as a useful reminder that a frugal lifestyle isn’t something you develop once and then forget to maintain. It requires constant effort to resist the daily pressure to spend that we encounter through social media and digital ads. Even the most frugal students remain vulnerable to temptation, especially in a digital culture that constantly promotes material consumption as a form of social validation. Success in living a frugal lifestyle doesn’t just depend on intention, but also on one’s ability to manage exposure to external information and temptations.
Conclusion:
Thus, a frugal way of life amongst college students from both home and abroad is sustained by three related factors: the increasing economic burden of studies, support of their friends and family and values that are based on a lifestyle of frugality and that this habit reinforces the above-mentioned three factors. However, once digital consumption becomes tempting, a consistent lifestyle of a college student can be threatened by the increasing pressure of advertising and ongoing trends of social media.
Moving forward, a frugal lifestyle should not be viewed merely as a stopgap solution to economic pressures, but rather as part of long-term financial literacy. Universities play a crucial role in this regard—for example, by providing financial management education from the very beginning of college—so that frugal habits emerge not merely as a reaction to economic hardship, but as consciously applied life skills. In this way, a frugal lifestyle not only helps college students survive the rising cost of living but also equips them with healthy financial habits that will continue to benefit them long after their college years are finished.
By: Wahyu Tri Atmojo
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