Why am I not talking about making the big bucks in an article about wealth? After all, surely wealth is about money, isn't it? I am keen to explore the idea that wealth is not just about amassing material riches, such as living a celebrity lifestyle with all of the goodies, but living well with what you have. And when you have more, it's living well with that, too.
Have you heard stories of lottery winners who lose their gains almost as soon as they have won them?
I am not interested in stressing and straining for more, more, more. Being open to receive is different. So how do you create the frame of mind and outlook that makes you an attractive receiver? This is not just about mental and emotional programming, as in the Law of Attraction, but something that comes more from the heart.
Frugal sounds a bit limiting and mean, don't you think? But it need not be. I associate living frugally as living within your means and according to what you really need. Living frugally might mean letting go of stuff that you no longer really need or want to have around you. Being lean and fit with no excess baggage to hold you down, or back, is personally liberating.
To another recent article on the subject, one reader responded:
A number of years ago due to gut wrenching divorce I began to change. Cut my cable. Cut out the newspaper. Some other things.
My life began to fill up with new things I was DOING myself. Ice hockey (pretty good for a 53 yr old gray hair) Public speaking and a career shift. It was not by design but it happened. I filled up as stuff went away just like you said!
Push DOWN on debt and stuff and push UP on personal wealth and money wealth. Its a good formula.
Living frugally can allow you the space to be less distracted and more creative, both with what you have and in bringing forward more that you would like. Frugality can lead to freedom. Fewer distractions can make it easier to live fully in the present moment and be at one, or at peace, with what is true for you.
Creativity invites your imagination to bring into being a new enterprise, a service to benefit the world around you, a way of being that is very different from an old set of habits that has made your life routine or boring -- plugging in to the Internet, switching on the TV when bored, sending another text message.
Simple does not have to be dull. Trust your spirit, and the life force within you, to come up with new ideas, a game to play, ways to connect with others that no one has yet thought about.
There is a great beauty in living fully in the present moment, open to the opportunities that show up, in and around you. How could you treat your day as a creative enterprise? Would you like to create more joy, for example? Would you like to create greater peace of mind? How will you do that?
You have tremendous freedom to create your experience in each day, to develop new habits of well-being and enjoyment. A friend wrote recently about assuming "default happy." I love that! Anytime you get off track with being happy -- depressed, despondent, complaining, irritable, for example -- switch back into default happy.
Default happy is a choice. Then you train yourself into your choice. What does it take? Practice, practice, practice.
Another reader commented:
I think being frugal has helped me get more of what I want. If I put my resources toward the things that are my highest priorities, then I am not wasting them on lesser priority things.
For example, when I suddenly became the sole support of my family, I decided not to spend money on junk food. I did not choose to afford stuff that wasn't going to nourish us well. It might have been cheaper but not in the long run and not in terms of going for what I really wanted.
At the end of a day, having successfully created the quality of life you want, you may like to record a list of all you are grateful for that has taken place. Being grateful costs nothing.
Gratitude is one of the best ways to attract and receive more of what you would like. Gratitude and generosity will enrich your world in amazing ways.
How has being frugal served you? I would love to know. Please feel free to leave a comment below. Thank you!
For tips and hints on creating a wealthy life, go to "The Wealth Book: Winning with Spirit." Wishing you health, wealth and happiness -- in all of the many ways it can come to you!
Follow Anne Naylor on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Anne4Joy
Money and stuff cannot buy real love, anymore than it can create long lasting happiness, that comes from within.
In my experience, I have found that money so often hides the real connection between people, leaving us poorer for it.
For anyone, it can be challenging to keep in balance healthy relationships with a good material standard of living. Simplicity on the other hand makes more available to us many aspects of beauty - in people and in the ordinary world around us.
Thank you for your comment.
Happiness to you,
Anne
My wife and I were both making good money. We lived in an old craftman style bungalow with our 7 yr old daughter. Two paid off cars and a low mortgage payment and yes a dog. We had several thousand in savings and retirement accounts were building. Crosby Stills and Nash were on the stereo and all was good.
Them my employer started getting hinckey (as in unethical) and I went into big stress mode. We were talking about what to do and then,..........she blew me away. She turned to me and said, "why don't you quit and take the summer off with Emily? You can go back to work in the fall."
And so by living below our means, a 40 year old man had the best summer vacation ever with his 7 year old daughter. You don't even have to live that frugally, just live below your means.
Don't just manage your debt - kill it!
Thanks Anne
I love your freedom!
Living below your means gave you such a wonderful experience. Your story is warming and inspiring - thank you so much for sharing it!
Blessings to you,
Anne
I thought of a story I heard years ago that I think well illustrates the effects of frugality. A famous Hollywood singer, songwriter, actor, and all that, had a house filled with, original manuscripts and scores, awards, pictures of him with heads of state and other famous people, lots of art, and other collectables... memories, most sentimental; some priceless: Then came one of those west coast forest fires; he and his wife lost it all.
After being upset, very upset, they bought a house on the beach, and decorated it themselves with regular trappings. Upon reflection, he said all that "stuff" was just a weight, an anchor, dragging on them (they had live in guards), but after the fire, they were freed from the concerns about the things they held onto so tightly, which in turn held on tightly to them.
In jest (I think) he said, all people should, every ten years of so, simply pile everything they have on their lawn and set it on fire... because though he lost his stuff, he gained his freedom. :)
Lawson
Anne
My favorite definition of frugal is living without waste. Not just the waste of "stuff," but also the waste of time, effort, emotions, feelings like fear, envy, or greed. In order to do that, I re-evaluated my happy mind set in light of economic realities. For the most part, the things I thought were needs were in fact wants; my attachment to stuff has waned, and my subsequent appreciation and associated gratitude for the positives that exist in my life now has taken priority.
Somewhere along my path I found a significant quote from Sarah Breathnach, "As we become curators of our own contentment on the Simple Abundance path... we learn to savor the small with a grateful heart.”
I am not saying one should settle, or not have goals, on the contrary, I believe each person should follow their passion's path, as they stretch toward and strive for greatness. I guess I see life as being less about the symbols of success and more about the significance of contribution.
To achieve this, it has become a matter of focusing on what is really important and understanding that discipline is simply making choices that support what I want most.
I have less, yet I feel I do more... and I am happy!
Lawson Meadows
What a wonderful phrase - curators of our own contentment. I also love the distinction you make between the "symbols of success" and the "significance of contribution".
It sounds like you are enjoying the benefits of making some wise choices!
I am happy for you.
All blessings to you,
Anne
It is more than meaningful, almost magical, that conjunction of intent and encouragement... the book is in progress; though 'living without waste' is not the primary focus, its incorporation is an integral element.
With humble gratitude,
Lawson
I love what you say here: Creativity flowers in the bed of necessity. It allows you to push up through the ground to an uncertain future, trusting that all will be as it should be.
This also speaks to me of faith, which I love as an aspect of the human spirit.
Blessings to you,
Anne
I spent the day, as I often do as of late, working in my flower beds. I apply your phrase, "Creativity flowers in the bed of necessity" where my plants "push up through the ground to an uncertain future, " and it reminds me why I do it. Will they all be as they should? As you said, that is a matter of trust... for them and purpose for me.
Fanned for your well turned phrase... :)
Lawson Meadows
ations.
At times in my life I've had to be frugal because of financial difficulties. Life with fewer things is a lot easier.
A lean wardrobe makes dressing easier, a lean home makes cleaning easier.
No matter how much we earn, how much we have, we can always downsize.
The aim is to simplify life to make room to what is really important, which is to love ourselves and others, contribute to our community, enjoy nature, work well.
Buying less will create financial freedom, which is also a big asset in life.
Blessings to you,
Anne
In your comment there are two important, but often overlooked points: the preservation of resources for the kids, and the inclusion of loving ourselves. The harmony, overtones, and reverberation of the two - loving self and caring for others - reflect to support life choices that serve all in the village. Well said!
Lawson
The Century of the Self - 1 of 4 - Happiness Machines -- an eye opening Documentary.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcYBSXgtmKQ
What a fascinating video. What I am seeing is an era now in which individuals are learning more about their freedom of choice and gaining the awareness of what compromises it.
Sometimes accepting, more than fighting, is the best way to win.
I appreciate your thoughtfulness.
Peace and loving to you,
Anne
Dena
Founder, www.wishadoo.org
Creating Compassionate, Cooperative Communities
Lovely article, Anne! :)
With warmest good wishes to you,
Anne
How wonderful that you have been able to adapt so powerfully to the circumstances you have met. Your creativity is admirable. And looking younger too.... ! That has to be good. Well done!
With love to you,
Anne