“Thrift is the glue that holds simple living together”. That is what it says in a book that I am reading and I think it is true. Being thrifty will allow us to live well whilst spending less. It will help ensure that we don’t get into debt and stay debt-free. Many people come to the fork in the road that directs them towards simple living when they are deeply in debt. We don’t want to go down that road and we have many plans for the future so we are choosing the thrifty way now.
Over the years we have filled our little world with products and in our early years together we dug ourselves deeper into debt to get them. Why? Why would anyone want to work their entire life to pay for “stuff”? We did because we thought we had to have all this “stuff”. We didn’t consider until now if we actually needed it.
Every pound we spend has a certain amount of greenhouse gases attached to it. Generally what you buy has been produced and delivered to your waiting hands, using fossil fuels. Not spending saves not only our money but also the environment we all live in.
Every pound we don’t spend and every person who catches the thrifty bug from us will allow the planet to recover just a tiny bit more. (It may just help with the rising numbers of people in debt too) It will take huge changes in spending patterns and attitude to heal the damage done, but true change starts at home. Never let anyone tell you otherwise.
Every pound we spend has a certain amount of greenhouse gases attached to it. Generally what you buy has been produced and delivered to your waiting hands, using fossil fuels. Not spending saves not only our money but also the environment we all live in.
Every pound we don’t spend and every person who catches the thrifty bug from us will allow the planet to recover just a tiny bit more. (It may just help with the rising numbers of people in debt too) It will take huge changes in spending patterns and attitude to heal the damage done, but true change starts at home. Never let anyone tell you otherwise.
Another quote from my book: “Thrift plays a part in almost everything you’ll do in your simple life. You need to use less of almost everything you have.”
We need to be thrifty with our money, the way we buy our groceries and how we use them. We need to be thrifty with our consumption of electricity, petrol, gas and telephone calls. Purchasing clothes etc. There are so many areas in which to be thrifty. Hopefully the savings made will help when it is time to move on in a few years time when our last 2 children finish at University.
We all know that money doesn’t buy happiness. A quick look at the newspapers will reveal the miserable lives many wealthy people live. Of course, happiness doesn’t automatically come with a low income either. To be thrifty and happy will take a change of attitude. It takes a commitment to the future and to our quality of life to make it happen. I have come to understand that what I have and how much or how little of it I have does not have an effect on my overall happiness. Being happy is about being content with what we have. Our future is full of possibilities, and that is what makes us happy. Not “stuff”.
How contented I feel at any given moment does not depend on how much money we have. It depends more on who I am with and what I am doing. I am very happy being at home and doing all my bits and pieces and just simply “BEING”. I can keep myself busy and entertained for hours at a time; I am never bored.
We all know that money doesn’t buy happiness. A quick look at the newspapers will reveal the miserable lives many wealthy people live. Of course, happiness doesn’t automatically come with a low income either. To be thrifty and happy will take a change of attitude. It takes a commitment to the future and to our quality of life to make it happen. I have come to understand that what I have and how much or how little of it I have does not have an effect on my overall happiness. Being happy is about being content with what we have. Our future is full of possibilities, and that is what makes us happy. Not “stuff”.
How contented I feel at any given moment does not depend on how much money we have. It depends more on who I am with and what I am doing. I am very happy being at home and doing all my bits and pieces and just simply “BEING”. I can keep myself busy and entertained for hours at a time; I am never bored.
The consumer culture we live within has taken away our ability to provide for our own needs. Many people can’t even keep themselves amused and busy. It’s lured us all in with promises of an easy life where everything you need is made for you. Everything is provided.
We need to all take back our power to make the things we need. We need to relearn how to take care of ourselves and our families and how to provide our own entertainment. Any time I make something myself it gives me a great sense of satisfaction. Even Loulous coat which definitely wasn’t the most professional! I was still thrilled with it though and I know she loves it!
In theory, anything that we make for ourselves should be better quality, healthier, safer and more suited to us and our family than almost anything we can buy at the store. Hmmm. That’s the theory. I’m not convinced that is always true but that is where the change of attitude comes in.
Instead of convincing ourselves that we can’t do something we need to learn so that we can start making our own things, be it a skirt, a cake or whatever. Learning is the key. I am trying at the moment to convince myself to learn to do proper sewing (as opposed to embroidery). Any new skill will help in a thriftier lifestyle. It will save money and give satisfaction.
So to begin to achieve this new thriftier lifestyle that will see us financially sound and debt-free into the long term future, we need to stop spending. That seems to me to be a good place to start. We need a plan.........I like plans, and lists and goals!
THE PLAN
Once our last 2 children have finished at University, which is still 4 years awa, we would like to move into what we hope will be our final home. We want a smaller house but with a much larger garden. Hopefully we won’t need an allotment! The house needs to have a large garage attached for Simon’s hobbies and for making things. We want it to be in a quiet, rural area, possibly a village or possibly just in the middle of nowhere! Any money saved from being thriftier now will go towards realising that dream home.
THE PLAN
Once our last 2 children have finished at University, which is still 4 years awa, we would like to move into what we hope will be our final home. We want a smaller house but with a much larger garden. Hopefully we won’t need an allotment! The house needs to have a large garage attached for Simon’s hobbies and for making things. We want it to be in a quiet, rural area, possibly a village or possibly just in the middle of nowhere! Any money saved from being thriftier now will go towards realising that dream home.
We need money for our future as Simon wasn’t always a teacher. He went into teaching 23 years ago so he will not have the necessary years at retirement age for a full pension. This is something else we need to look at. Simon would like to retire early, possibly at 60 but as that is only just over 6 years away, we fear that it is just a pipe dream.
Two things to point out here. Firstly the changes we are making to lead a simpler life are not just about saving money they encompass all the environmental issues as well. It just seems the right thing to do. Secondly although we want to move eventually that does not mean that we are not happy with the home we have. It has served us well for over 23 years and best of all it is paid for. So a plan..........................
· We should stop spending on non-essentials. We should continue to pay for our car and pay for food, heating and transport costs. If we were really being good we should probably get rid of our car but that would make life quite hard and I don’t think I am ready for that! I want to lead this simple life but I don’t want to make it too hard! LOL!
· We need to carefully watch what our spending habits are. Although I religiously check our bank accounts several times a month and know the details of all our bills it is the little “spends” that can go unnoticed and add up.
· We need to calculate how much we still owe on our car and see if we can pay it quicker. That is probably costing us loads.
· We could do with trying to save for an emergency fund to act as a buffer between us and any “hard times” that may come along. We have savings but they are sort of ear marked for other things if you know what I mean.
· We need to be careful about where we shop for the essentials, taking into account not just prices but all related “green issues”
· A stockpile of food and provisions seems to be a good idea. Buying products in bulk or when they are on offer, providing they are things we use of course and providing we can store them correctly to keep them preserved. I don’t make good use of my huge second freezer and it is often half empty which is a waste and costs money. Hopefully we will be able to fill it with all sorts of goodies when the allotment is up and running and harvest time comes round.
· We need to absolutely make sure that we devote the necessary time and energy to the allotment so that we do actually end up with something to harvest.
· We need to look at our utilities consumption. We need to work out ways to conserve water, electricity, petrol and gas. We should cut down on phone calls, particualarly mobile calls. I am not guilty here. I have an old mobile which I very rarely use. If I need to take it on a journey with me I have to charge it up first as it is always run down. You know only 20 years ago people did not walk around with a phone attached to their ear all day long.
So how should we try and do all this?
· Lots of research.
· Always ask ourselves before buying “do we really need it”.
· Separate our wants from our needs and be firm about it.
· Learn new skills such as sewing so that we can do more for ourselves.
· Start a change jar. All spare change at the end of the day should go into a change jar. Although we don’t often use cash I am sure that this could still add up.
· Above all else we need to cut back on what we are spending. We need to live thriftily and simply; this will give us a chance to save for our future and create more choices for us. In the end it should give us the freedom to live the life we want.
So...................a Mission Statement, “Live simply, live well, be thrifty, be environmentally aware, continue to learn, but also be content and thankful for where we are now. Know that we can do it.”
No comments:
Post a Comment