No, we haven't won the lotto, or found some hidden pirate treasure. In fact, we have exactly the same amount of money that we had yesterday. It's just that I stopped, for a moment, thinking of all the things we can't afford, and realised what we can.
We have the money to pay for DD's unexpected dental costs without a struggle.
We have enough to buy food, petrol and other necessities without having to count pennies.
We have enough for luxury items, like a nice TV, nice furniture, and new items to replace those that break.
We have enough to buy nice material for clothes.
We have enough to spend the odd $100 at Spotlight on purely decorator items, without feeling (too) guilty.
We have more than enough to buy most things we want, comfortably, and most importantly, without going into debt. (Though we're still paying off the debt from the days before we realised this, nearly there now.) Sure, there are things we would like that we can't afford. But show me a person, no matter how well off they are, that doesn't? (OK, maybe Bill Gates doesn't have to consider the bank balance, but otherwise...) Yes, the cost of the 'wants but can't affords' goes up, but they are still there, no matter how much money you make.
The trick is to realise when you have 'enough', and be happy with it.
Simple Living on 3/4 of an Acre
In April, 2007, my husband, 3yo daughter (now 4yo) and I sold our 2br unit in the inner suburbs, and bought a 3/4 acre block of land on the outskirts of Brisbane, Australia. Join us in our simple living adventures as we attempt to get our new house built, grow our own food, get some chickens and maybe a goat (or two), and slow our lives down a bit.
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2 comments:
Thanks for that post. Made me realise that when we built this home just over a year ago we were moving from a much larger one to a smaller one. For good reason. We didn't need the size, the constant cleaning and were hardly using four of the rooms that we had in the old one. We got a program over the net for free and measured all the furniture that we really wanted to take with us. Put them into the program and therefore we knew what furniture went where before the house was even built. The rest went into a big garage sale. Now that when I go out I realise that I have to get rid of stuff first before getting more. More reason just to keep what you have. We have plenty too. Again thanks for the post. It is good to stop and think that we DO have enough... We don't need more. I am so glad for that reason that I don't have TV. Out here I get very little junk mail as well. Am about to put a stop to that as well. If I really need to know what is on offer at a shop you can always look online and that saves more trees again.
Cheers Damaris, Maryvale QLD
Thanks Damaris. It's good to know that my post resonated with you. We too built a small house, but it's more than big enough for us (and I wish it was smaller when it comes time to clean!)
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