The miser's edge

• Prudent habits and practices could see you through even when your means are limited.
• Being careful with money, a euphemism, you may be called by the world as 'miser'. A miser is defined as a person who is reluctant to spend, sometimes to the point of forgoing even basic comforts and some necessities, in order to hoard money or other possessions.
• Not only money, one should be careful with all resources, including water, food and electricity. Not to waste, not to overuse and minimum use with maximum benefit. That is frugal living. 
• Whether miserliness is an acquired habit or a hereditary trait is not clear.
• Money is not everything.
• Misers are blessed. They generally do not smoke or spend money on alcohol. They do not eat out. They do not go to theatres. No paid darshan in the temple. 
• When young they save for children. Later they save for their future.
• They generally walk to the temple, the market, the railway station, bank and post office.
• They are usually content with what what they have. They are not avaricious. Nor they envy others. With parsimony as their personal philosophy they ensure peaceful old age.
• They don't not run after money. They spend carefully and save the rest. This prudence may burden their children. They save for the unknown tomorrow and dark exigencies. They may not enjoy the fruits of labour and may leave entire savings to family. But that is a better option.
• Being called a 'miser', they take it as a compliment.
• Frugality is an intelligent and efficient use of time, energy and resources whereas stinginess is a form of fear of not having enough. 
• Stinginess arises out of one's perceived feeling of financial insecurity. Even though a person may have lots of money, he may still feel insecure deep inside and thus behave in a stingy manner.

A miser grows rich by seeming poor. 

An extravagant man grows poor by seeming rich ... William Shenstone

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A lot of rich people aren't exceptionally talented at what they do. They just have quirks and habits that let them think differently about money than the rest of us. The price of being rich is simple -  live below your means. That is hard. Most rich people try to impress others by spending money, which is the surest way to have less of it. When aspirations, desires, and wants grow faster than incomes, you are in the express lane to disappointment. Most rich people are more impressed with retiring early.

Avoid being judgmental

• We are all judgmental. It’s human nature. 
• While it is in our nature to be judgmental, it’s not always useful to us. We look down on others, as if we are so much better and that creates division between people. 
• You are not the only one with betchy opinions. We see someone, and based on their looks or actions, we pass judgment on them. Not good judgment, either. Usually without even knowing the person. In most cases, we don’t really have any idea what’s behind other people’s actions. We don’t make an effort to get to know the person, or understand them, or see whether our judgment was right or not. 
• We judge, without understanding. We don’t try to find out more, and through communication begin to understand, and through understanding begin to build a bridge between two human beings.
• It might be hard to avoid gossip completely, but make an effort to change the conversation when your friends start sounding judgmental. Try bringing up another perspective, or sneak some of that person’s good qualities into the discussion. If you can’t help but get caught up in the negativity of your usual social group, find a more positive friend who you can spend time with too.
• Everyone makes mistakes, so make a point of framing it as a bad action, not a sign of bad character. 
• As you feel a negative thought enter your brain, accept it as a thought only and then redirect your mind to think about something else. Detaching yourself from your thoughts will keep you from getting caught up in criticizing others.
• An onslaught of scary events (political upheaval, apocalyptic weather) has made us all feel unstable, amplifying our instinctual urge to call out those who threaten the norm. Because things seem less predictable we're assessing more, looking to shut down threats everywhere. 
• It is easy to dismiss these savage instincts as harmless. But constantly judging others can create an addictive cycle. We judge, then judge ourselves for judging, then feel bad, then judge others again, ultimately losing way too much mental energy to process that makes us feel foolish. 
• The solution is noticing the critical thoughts and then replacing them with kindness. 
• When you begin your day with self-judgment, you end up projecting those insecurities onto others. Instead try to notice your judgment without judgment. When you realize that you are critiquing yourself, congratulate yourself for noticing. Positive reinforcement neutralizes negative feelings, squashing the urge to transfer them onto someone else.
• After recognizing what triggers your judginess and using positive mantras, try cultivating compassion. Looking for people's good qualities helps you feel more love for them. So close your eyes for a second, breathe deep, and reflect on how hardworking this guy is.
• Evening is great time to take inventory of your and forgive yourself for all the times you have judged. This is the last step in your detox. No matter how many negative thoughts slipped through, tell yourself that you did the best you could. And be proud of all the critical thoughts you did catch. 
• In order to let other people off the hook, you first have to let yourself off the hook.

Be curious, not judgmental ... Walt Whitman