Thriving on Less, Not Struggling
January 23rd, 2009. Filed under: Finance & Fitness Fridays.Here is the third chapter of Leo Babauta’s Thriving on Less, the companion ebook to his The Power of Less.
Chapter 3 – Thriving on Less, Not Struggling
“Who is rich? He who rejoices in his portion.”
– The Talmud
Scaling back your life and living more frugally can be seen in two ways:
1. It can be a struggle, as you are sacrificing many things and living less comfortably.
2. Or … it can be incredible, as you are sacrificing consumerism for a life filled with the things you love, a life you’ve always wanted.
And it all depends on your mindset. Do you want to focus on what you are giving up, or on what you really love? I’ve found it to be really useful to focus on the positive, and to
learn to thrive within a simple, frugal lifestyle by filling my life with things that give me joy and satisfaction.
You can live life now and enjoy it to the fullest – without destroying your future. The key to doing that? Find ways to enjoy life completely, utterly, maximally … that don’t cost your future very much.
Here are some tips for actually living that philosophy:
* Find free or cheap pleasures. Frugality does not have to be boring or restrictive … if you use
your imagination. Be creative and find ways to have fun – loads of it – without spending much
money. Have a picnic at the park, go to the beach, do crafts, board games, fly a kite, make art, bake
cookies … I could list a hundred things, and you could come up with a few hundred more. Make a
list of simple pleasures, and enjoy them to the maximum. This is the key to the whole idea of
enjoying life now without spending tomorrow’s dollar.
* Make simplifying fun. I’m a big fan of simplifying my life, and to me, it’s great fun. I get rid of
stuff (and possibly make money selling it) and have a blast doing it. That’s good math.
* Make people a priority. If you give “stuff” a priority – things like gadgets, nice furnishings,
nice clothes, shoes, jewelry, etc. – then you will spend a lot of money. But if you make people a
priority – the people you love most, you close friends and family – you don’t need to spend a dime
to enjoy life. Make some time to visit with friends, or your parents … and have a conversation with
them that doesn’t involve eating out or going to the movies. Just sit, have some iced tea or hot
cocoa (depending on the weather), and talk. Tell jokes and laugh your heads off. Talk about books
Thriving on Less : Simplifying in a Tough Economy 8
you’ve read, movies you’ve watched, new things going on in your life, your hopes and dreams. And
make time for your kids or your significant other – really spend time with them, doing things that
don’t cost money.
* Find time for yourself. Make time every day, and every week, to spend time alone. It really
gives more meaning and enjoyment to your life, rather than rushing through life with no time to
think, to breathe.
* Sometimes, splurge. You shouldn’t restrict yourself from expensive pleasures all the time –
it’s not good to develop the feeling of deprivation. To prevent that, once in awhile, buy yourself
something … or better yet, give yourself a decadent treat. I love things with dark chocolate or
berries. Crepes with ice cream and berries are one of my favorites. Just don’t go overboard … and
learn to enjoy the splurge to the fullest. If you truly take the time to enjoy a treat, you don’t need a
lot of it.
* Track your successes. It doesn’t really matter how you track your success … you can use gold
stars for creating a new simplifying or frugalfying habit, or a spreadsheet chart to track your
decreasing debt and increasing savings or investments. Tracking is a great way to not only provide
motivation, but make the process of changing fun.
* Reward yourself. And in order to make it more fun, celebrate every little success! Set rewards
for yourself (not too expensive!) along your path to success – celebrate one day, two days, three
days, a week, two weeks, three, a month … you get the idea.
* Volunteer. One of the most rewarding things for my family has been when we have managed to
volunteer. It’s actually something we only started doing last year, but since then, we’ve done it a
bunch of times in a number of different ways. And while it doesn’t cost a dime, it is tremendously
satisfying in ways that money could never buy.
* Live in the moment. Learn to think not so much about the past or future, but about what you
are going through right now. Be present. It may seem trite, but it’s the key to enjoying life to the
fullest – without having to spend money. Think about it – you can spend money on eating out, but
if you are not really thinking about what you’re eating, you may not enjoy it much at all. But if you
cook a simple but delicious meal, and really taste every bite, it can be tremendously enjoyable
without costing a lot.
* Slow down. In the same way, you can’t really enjoy life to the fullest if it’s rushing past you like
it’s on fast forward. Ever think about how quickly a week, a month, or a year goes by? Perhaps
you’re in the fast lane too much. Try slowing down, and things will be less stressful and more
enjoyable. (See The Power of Less for more on living slower.)
* Learn to find cheap, cool stuff. Call me crazy, but I love shopping at thrift stores. You can
find so many cool things there, and it costs so little. Garage sales are the same way. Or check out
Freecycle.com, or the library, or used bookstores.
Thriving on Less : Simplifying in a Tough Economy