Frugality is a topic that is at the back of my mind, always.
Having grown up with just enough money for a decent happy life, but not at all for frivolous stuff, it is ingrained in me.
From watching my parents being careful with how they made their spendings, and still making sure we had a good life together, I feel fortunate to have that sensible way of thinking of money.
So. I am thinking of how I spend my money a lot these days.
I am questioning myself:
Is this spending I am planning to make is needed?
A need could be defined as:
- An actual need- we are out of eggs, so we better get some.
- Something that truly touches me and makes me happy, and I would like to have it in my life- a need rising out of a genuine want. An example of that would be buying house plants, or my favourite bar of handmade chocolate.
Besides that, there should, ideally be hardly any spending.
Yes, please go ahead and pay your bills- mortgage, insurance, utilities, health related expenses etc. Because not paying that is not going to keep us happy for long. Those expenses don’t count with what I am talking about. Or subscriptions that add to life- gym membership, anyone? Or education of any sort. Not talking about those either.
Just tangible things we buy.
Things that we actually have a choice with.
With my No-Buy on-going period, I feel like life is much simpler. I don’t have to give in to my impulses.
When I was walking by a vintage house stuff store in Port Hope, I felt a pull towards many things that I could take home as a momento of my time spent on a solo retreat. But that pull, that desire, was immediately followed by the thought of whether it is a need. Or a genuine want.
Nope and nope.
Moving forward.
Simple!
Life is so easy when the choices are limited and the criteria is clear cut.
Whenever I do think about this self-imposed buying ban, I realize more and more that this has to be the normal way of being, rather than a special one-off thing to do for a fixed period of time in life.
What do you think?
Nature did not design for us the endless choices for humans to give in to impulses all the time.
I see a yummy bison walking past me…too bad I can’t just eat it. I better go get my buddies to follow it, hunt it, carry it back, and cook it, and then I get to enjoy the fruits of my labor…
Ok, that was my imagination running with me!
But we had to work for everything.
These days we have enough money at our disposal, and too much stuff (and food) in our reach, that impulse buying is the name of the game.
No wonder overconsumption- of food, of material goods- is a big problem.
And worst of all, it leads to big consequences:
Bad health
House and storage full of stuff
Mental health problems
Factories churning out stuff
Hurting our planet with over-drawn resources and toxic waste disposal
Exploitation for greed
I think taking a step back to think about our choices is a good idea. Having that little break between:
I want this NOW
and
I am taking it
with a
Do I really need it, or genuinely want it?
In most cases, if the break is long enough for us to process that thought, we will probably reconsider that “want it now” impulse and move on.
The denying helps us with being a curator of our life…
that is full of things and ideas that truly match us inside and out.
Hand-picked, considered things, friends, food.
Whenever possible makes for a richer, more content life.
Simple is beautiful.
In that vein, while traveling in Portugal, we saw a lot of beautiful things. Cork products are Portugal’s specialty. And of course there were shops full of their ceramic tile design stuff and cork products in the touristy areas.
I was tempted to bring back some momentos from our travel.
After all, who knows when and if we’ll ever be back. And really, how will we ever tell stories to our friends visiting about our time in Portugal?
All this played out in my mind every time we walked by a store full of lovely things I could buy for the house.
But thankfully, every time I backed my desire with those two questions of need and genuine want.
And my steps kept going past the store, without having spent a Euro.
I never thought back of those things once the store was behind me. I never wanted those things when I wasn’t looking at those things. I never REALLY desired them.
We did bring back what we always bring back from our travels to add to our collection.
That bring back memories, and remind us of the stories we lived through.
Two magnets.
For our kitchen magnet board.
My entire shopping in Portugal.