I just read about Alex Martin, who in 2005 decided that she'd wear a simple brown dress she made for an entire year. That's 365 days. There were a few "fix up" sessions, sewing on buttons and stitching things up here and there, but it worked. She thought others would notice that she was wearing the same dress everyday, but to her surprise, most people were so consumed in their own appearance, hardly anyone took note of her unusual experiment! This makes me think... of so many things. What really brings us happiness? I mean, true happiness, true contentment? I know I get giddy when I find a cute outfit or spend money...whether or not I had the money, that's another question, but I do know I get pretty happy to spend and have new things. But truly, as so many lottery winners could tell us, no amount of money has brought them lasting joy. Why is that?!
David G. Myers (Secret to happiness) summed it up: "More than ever, we at the end of the last century were finding ourselves with big houses and broken homes, high incomes and low morale, secured rights and diminished civility. We were excelling at making a living but too often failing to make a life. We celebrated our prosperity but eared for purpose...In an age of plenty, we were feeling spiritual hunger."
This just makes me think. What truly brings me happiness? Why do I spend more than I should? And finally, what can I do to be motivated to save more? What is a new goal I could make for myself to remind me of those things which are most important in this life? I would love to hear your comments!
I feel like we cut back so much we stick to a budget which is tight and we are able to save money. Here is one example of us cutting back. We used to need cell phones to run our window cleaning business. But for 2.5 years now we don't have a business so we thought we would try not having one. We first started by using Vonage and a T-Mobile prepaid phone. We gradually phased out the prepaid cellphone and now we never use it except in emergencies. That has saved us so much but soon we will cut back even more by using a Skype subscription for our phone service. We are probably on the extreme of saving so you can take our advice with a grain of salt. I guess the most important thing to me is to try cutting back in specific areas and trying it and if we are determined we can make it happen! What is really important to me is that my family is happy.
ReplyDeleteCouple things:
ReplyDeletestay out of IKEA!!!!!!!!! ha ha ha :)))))
dave ramsey
the grass is only greener where you water it
i love you!!!! :)))))
pray
Norma