So many times when we practice frugal living, we concentrate on saving money and making things stretch farther because we have a sense of not having enough otherwise. I think we need to get away from the attitude of not having enough. Instead, we should change it to one of gratitude for what we do have, as well as the opportunity to have enough knowledge and drive to be good stewards of our resources.
Have you ever been to a store and saw something you wanted only to think: I can’t afford that! This is the wrong attitude to have. Instead, you should think, “I am choosing not to spend my money on this.” In actuality, you might be able to afford it, but choosing not to buy that thing is empowering. You may know that you can get it for less elsewhere or maybe you could find something else that you already have that will work just as well.
Okay, you may not be able to afford a big screen television without compromising your ability to pay for food and housing, but chances are pretty good that you can afford buying a coffee at the mall, let’s say. Of course, making the coffee at home would save you the money to afford something else instead. Instead of lamenting that we can’t afford a cup of coffee, we should be grateful that we have the choice to buy that coffee or not. Many people who have wealth in money still decide to live very frugally.
Being grateful for what we have can really make life so much better, so much happier. Focusing on the good in our lives instead of the negative can really make a big difference in living a fulfilling life when practice frugal living. One of the wonderful consequences of being grateful every day is the experience of having whatever it is that we need or want come in to our lives. I really believe this. I’ll give you two examples from my own life yesterday. These are small things, but they still gave me a little thrill.
Next up, I’ll share those two experiences.
Mary Ann Romans writes about everything related to saving money in the Frugal Blog, technology in the Computing Blog, and creating a home in the Home Blog. Starting June 1st, don’t miss her articles in the Baby Blog. You can read more of her articles by clicking here.
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