Over the last year I've been working toward living a more frugal life. It's not that my husband and I were outlandish spenders. But we weren't really frugal either. We had accumulated some credit card debt that we wanted to pay off, and since our income wasn't increasing, we knew we had to decrease our expenses.
So a year ago, we made a commitment to living more frugally and put the money we saved toward our debt. At first it was really hard. But as time went on, it became easier.
As I reflect back on the change, I realize that one thing made the difference as to whether being frugal was a chore or a blessing. It wasn't the amount of money we had. It wasn't how much progress we were making on paying off our debt. In fact, it wasn't even something that money could buy. What was it?
ContentmentWhen my husband and I began our frugal living experiment, we were caught up in keeping up with the Joneses. We were the only couple in our group of friends that did not yet own our home. My husband drove a 1990 two door Toyota Celica with close to 200,000 miles on it, instead of a newer SUV. For any of you with children in carseats, you can imagine the headache of dealing with a two-door car. We wished we could afford the things our friends had. We were living a life of discontentment.
But over the last year, we've learned to count our blessings. When something in our house breaks down, we can call the landlord to fix it, rather than trying to fix things ourselves. Our cars are paid for. We have everything we need. If our lives don't look like those of our friends, who cares? We're happy, and that's what matters.
Are you content with your life? If you're having trouble finding contentment, start small. Here are some things to focus on.
- Your children's laughter. When is the last time you really listened to your kids giggle? Laughter is contagious. Catch some from your kids!
- The sunshine. Isn't it amazing that sunshine provides us with so much? Light. Vitamin D. Warmth. I just love a sunny day!
- No sunshine? Be grateful for the rain! I love rainy days, because it means I don't have to water the garden. Rain makes the grass green…and I don't have to pay a big water bill!
- Birds. Have you ever opened up the window early in the morning and listened to the birds sing as you drink that first cup of coffee? It's peaceful. Nature's music!
When you realize that you have everything you absolutely need, and you start seeing simple things as blessings, you have the freedom to give up some of the wants in your life. Wants don't seem as important when you realize you have everything you need and much, much more.
Lynnae blogs at Being Frugal.net, a blog about frugal living and smart money management.
Photo by tanakawho.
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This is so true. My husband and I have experienced the same thing. Sometimes contentment takes practise but the effort really is worth it.
We also have a wall of various charities we've supported which is a constant reminder to our whole family how blessed we truly are.
Thank you for this post!
this was great. it's so true that even if you're not a big spender that is still different than making a consciouse effort to be thrifty.
This is so us! We could easily buy the houses, cars, toys, etc. that our friends are buying but are really trying to be wise and good stewards of what God's given us. Sometimes its not fun and other times its totally like a game! Thanks for encouraging everyone!
This is a great post!!! We started our Frugal life in January and it is still hard at times but so worth it.
http://www.southerness.blogspot.com
You hit the nail on the head…Contentment! So many in our affluent community are SO caught up in the "keeping up with the Jones" that they are causing themselves great problems with debt. So many are afraid to tell their children no and continue to try and keep up with what other parents are doing. I see it every day the look of discontentment on their faces or worry. We jumped off that train over seven years ago and while I have had flashbacks and moments of longing for 'things' I can't trade the feeling of being content with where we are or what God has provided for us.
We have been saving and are going to buy a new television in a few weeks. We have not had a brand new television in over 20 years! We have new to us televisions but we have not purchased one brand new. While we may be the ONLY person around that does not have the new flat screen television and who have been watching tv on a 19", we have a sense of contentment about where we are at. Your post was fabulous!
Thanks for this post. I've been wanting to be mroe frugal, but it's my husband who has lived a very material centered life that causes the controversy with having contentment. Maybe I should show him this post.
How true! I am the same way with cars…I am carrying two big teenagers around in my 95 Mustang! But I am trying desperately to be more frugal with our food and gas expenditures. I don't have many corners to cut, but we definitely have all we need.
Your last sentence sums it up perfectly. Once you really, truly understand that your needs are covered, the wants tend to fade into the background a bit. What's funny is that I always associate the feeling of contentment with the simple things in life. In my head I picture contentment not as cruising around in a fast car, but as laying in the grass and staring at the clouds.
Gratitude – not Resentment. Something I learned while attending Al-Anon for Families of Alcoholics…. It has sure changed the way I look at things! Focus on the Gratitude – always something good in everything!
Appreciating all the things that you have; great and small is the key. And also, the key to all of these is inner joy. Being joyful to wherever you may be.
Cheers,
Yvie
Exactly! It is so easy to blow the $15 you saved at the grocery store on junk. You really need to make frugality a lifestyle in order for it to be successful. (Said to self…)
I am so pleased to see that someone else actually "gets" it!! You truly do have to be happy and content with your frugalism before you can live through it. I truly think being frugal is a state of mind, it is constant! Love the blog!