Friday, May 17, 2019

Frugal Living

Today I'd like to share some of my thoughts on Frugal living.  In our society it seems we are bombarded with images on social media of people that just seem to spend endless amounts of money.  That is fine for those who truly have enough money to do so, but most of us don't.  So we should be careful not to compare our life styles with what we see on social media.  We need to redefine what is a luxury for our own personal budgets, not for someone else. For me luxury is burning a candle and reading a good book, enjoying a cup of freshly brewed coffee or a cup of chamomile tea in the afternoon.  It is once in a blue moon going to a nice restaurant, but not on a regular basis.  This also makes it more special when we do go out to eat. Luxuries do not have to be something we do as a daily routine, it is okay if they are only once in a while, as this will help us to appreciate them all the more. Learning to appreciate what we have is also so very important. There have been times that I have been very poor in my life, and only had dried beans and flour for food for about three months.  However I also had multi vitamins, good water, a safe and cozy place to live, books to read, so even then, I saw us as being blessed.  God has always provided for me even in the hardest of times.  One thing that helped me to be content even in those times that were the most challenging, was to not compare myself to today's society, but rather look to the past.  Back in pioneer times people did not have an abundance of things, and they had to make due with what they had.  Reading the Little House on the Prairie books and studying the great depression times taught me to have a more old fashioned mind set.  Back then, people did not have a disposable society, but rather only spent what they truly needed to, and took care of the items they did own that were special.  Today it makes me sad to see how we have a disposable society, in which people have too much, so much so that things just don't seem as special to so many people.  Homes are overflowing and cluttered due to constant purchases.  If we can learn to have a more old fashioned view on money, and what is luxury for our own budgets then so much of this stress people have would just go away. We need to guard our wallets and not fall for this spend thrift idea that is part of today's society.  It's not only okay to live a simple life, it is a blessing.  Thanks for stopping by my space.  Have a cozy weekend.  Hugs. ~Juli

2 comments:

  1. Amen sister. It is very hard in our consumer culture to be satisfied with what we have. I tell people to stay away from things that trigger their spending gene.

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