My
grandparents and my great grandparents (I'm sure their grandparents as well)
knew that thrift leads to abundance. Thanks
to them I know it as well. Whether by
need or desire being thrifty and wise with our finances and our resources makes
all the difference between merely surviving and thriving. Born out of necessity, I took on a thrifty
lifestyle the moment I stepped out of my parents home and started living on my
own, maybe even a bit before. I didn't
have much when I got started, but one thing I did have was a lot of
determination. I also had gleaned a lot
of information and some skills from those who knew what they were doing. I read books, spent time with neighbors that
grew a garden and canned food, spent time with my grandparents and learned a
ton from my parents. I was fortunate to
grow up around very resourceful people. One
thing I want to be clear about is thrift or frugal does not mean cheap, not at
all. Thrift simply means using money and
resources carefully and not wastefully.
This year I
plan to be extra thrifty meaning that before I spend any money I want to really think about it first and decide
whether I really need to spend. Of
course the mortgage and utility bills will need to be paid, but what about other
spending? Food, clothing, toiletries, supplies,
insurance and even furniture can be much better thought out. One thing I do and will do even more is to
ask myself some questions:
"Do I
need it?"
"Is
there something I already have that I can use instead?"
"Why do
I want it?"
"How
much will I use it?"
"Can I
borrow it?"
"Can I
buy it used?"
"Could
I get it for free?"
"Can I
make it instead?"
"Can I
get by without it?"
I am very
blessed with abundance. My needs are few
and my wants are even fewer. Still, I
know I have room for improvement and with lofty goals to save up for early
retirement I want to make sure I am making the best decisions I can. In the process I will be a good steward. I want to be resourceful and not wasteful. In doing so I will continue to be blessed
with abundance.
So true. I'm grateful to have learned the lesson by age 35 and certainly would have benefited greatly had I understood it at age 22 ;-) I think we all have room for more frugality/thrift on a regular basis.
ReplyDeleteI love that I found Facebook Buy-Nothing for my area (Boise Southeast). An easy place to give away little things as opposed to taking them to the thrift store. And the other opportunity is to fill a need for someone else. I can look around and evaluate "do I really use this item or can I gift it and make do without".
Happy Wednesday and Happy Planning!
That is great! There are so many ways to acquire what we need for little or no cost. We are so fortunate.
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