Frugality and Freedom
An Old Lady”s Deep Thoughts #8
I’m about to make a list of frugality tips that have improved the quality of my life, but before I do, let me clarify a few things.
First, I’m fully aware that there is more than one definition of a quality life. Even something as simple as defining necessities versus luxuries varies tremendously.
So, allow me to define what I look for in a quality life.
Since I was a very young mother struggling to build a life from scratch, I longed for security. Going to bed at night knowing I might not have enough gas in the car to get to work for the week but would have to wait until payday to fill the tank was torture. So, security was at the top of my list for quality living.
That meant I needed to have an emergency fund of at least six months if, god forbid, I lost my job.
Second on the list was living without debt. That goal took me about twenty years to reach. It was the number one motivator, however, that helped me attain the quality of life that I desired. Quality of life, for me, boiled down to no debt, low overhead, and not cluttering my life with unnecessary stuff.
Everything about those three goals spelled FREEDOM in my mind.
Now, I’m fully aware that people face different financial challenges today, especially with how much the cost of housing has risen. Please understand, however, that when I was much younger and raising a family, the US started shipping manufacturing jobs overseas. My husband lost one job after another. Unions disappeared, and with that good wages. To top it off, we went through several recessions. Interest rates soared as well. We were forced to take out a car loan with an interest rate of 18%. Those were indeed challenging times.
I soon realized that no matter who was in office, getting ahead was always going to be my problem to figure out.
So here are a few ways in which I practiced frugality to reach freedom.
- We rarely ate out. And we never ate at a sit-down restaurant.
- I made a grocery list before I went shopping, as well as a weekly menu. If an item wasn’t on the list, I didn’t put it in the cart.
- I cooked less expensive meals that fed us more than one night.
- Even to this day, I rarely order booze at a restaurant. If I do, never more than one. Have you seen the prices?
- I bought a used car that got good gas mileage and drove it into the ground.
- Later, as I became more financially secure, I always paid cash for my cars.
- For the past twenty years, we’ve only owned one car.
- I don’t get manicures or pedicures.
- I don’t buy lattes, cappuccinos, or designer coffees.
- Clothes shopping is done sparingly and never extravagantly. No designer bags, overpriced shoes, or silly fads
- We built our own home, living in the first part while doing an addition.
- We sold our house when it was almost paid off and paid cash for a smaller home right after the 2008 crash. Prices had tanked.
- I had a monthly budget. In other words, I always monitored how much money went out and how much came in each month.
- Credit cards are used sparingly.
- I grew my savings and always kept a lump sum that was never to be touched. Its purpose was to grow even if it was very slowly. I don’t do any risky investing.
- I only invest in no-risk things like CDs or property, hard assets. I prefer raw land over houses because it’s less troublesome. I don’t enjoy dealing with people.
- Twenty years ago, I reached my goal of living debt-free, with no house or car payments.
It feels good. My internal gauge tells me that I’ve reached a sense of security that I never felt while living paycheck to paycheck. I continue to live frugally, although I am now more likely to dine out or buy a drink. I would never choose to take on debt again.
My motto — If I can’t pay cash for it, I can’t afford it.
I’m far from wealthy, but I have discovered that there a many, many Americans who have made ten times what I did over the years but are cash-poor. In other words, the American way is to up our standard of living whenever we get a raise. So we remain in debt and saddled with a bunch of stuff that depreciates overnight.
Here’s what I’ve discovered. Keep your overhead low and you won’t need to make a lot of money your entire life.
In America, happiness is equated with money. Actually, in America, EVERYTHING is equated with money. We have no other gauge. Yet, all I see are anxious, depressed, angry, and worried faces. Americans are in debt while drowning in stuff.
Now, this is where we may differ a lot, and to each his own. But I honestly believe that more stuff doesn’t make us happy. I believe that the more we dedicate our lives to commercialism the less likely we’ll find peace and tranquility.
The secret is learning to distinguish between a necessity and a luxury.
That’s not easy to do in a world where we watch reality shows featuring affluent, wasteful, and in my opinion very shallow people as stars. Ugh! No matter how distasteful that whole way of life may be, it has been presented as the American Dream and produces a population of very dissatisfied citizens. The mantra becomes, I deserve to have more than I need because I’m worth it.
But in the end, Americans have been tricked into selling their freedom for a life of debt which is nothing more than indentured servitude.
Spending should be done mindfully. That requires establishing priorities, setting goals, a willingness to sacrifice, and the will to persevere. It’s not easy. But I was never able to accept a life where I was forced to slave away for the asshole who lived in the mansion on the top of the hill. I needed my freedom more than I needed to live for a king or like a king.
I retired when I was 54 years old.
Teresa is an author and professional myth buster. You can find her books on Amazon.
