Living frugal would be easier if...

Tonight I came across this article about "Living Frugal". It was actually a blog from a military wife and what caught my eye was the fact that it said, "we are a family of four and live on 14,000$".. my thought was, "are you fucking kidding me? is that possible? I am a family of ONE and cannot live on 14,000$".. None the less- I think about why we don't live frugally or reasons we do continue to spend out of control and I feel that it typically stems from a lack of happiness, an obsession/compulsion in regards to thinking habits, the idea that "things" will make us happy (i.e. retail therapy - which yes, I am completely guilty of!), and overall the need to impress other people. I think to myself, okay wow I have a lot of nice things, expensive things, and for example let's talk about $350 sunglass I bought a few years back. Now... was that a wise purchase? NO! But why did I buy them? Because I really needed them? No. But, because it set me apart from other people in terms of "status" or financial status in particular? Probably. As if to say, "Look at me, look at how cool I am - I have $350 sunglasses and yours aren't!" - REAL SMART SARAH, REAL SMART. The more I move forward with my life and continue my education and working in the field I'm in - I see just how much more important it is to be humble, to be kind, and to focus less on "things". Now, I will admit "shopping" and my addiction for "things" went hand-in-hand with my eating disorder. It was not necessarily a status quo or a desire to look stellar, but rather - it was another "drug" for me (a spending high, or in the psychology world we refer to as the "hedonic treadmill").

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs goes to show that people are typically happy and/or satisfied when their basic needs are met (i.e. food, shelter, clothing, protection). Anything about this is just a surplus and is not necessarily contributing to your overall happiness. A dear friend of mine who is far wiser (and nicer) than I am, introduced me to a documentary entitled, "Happy" - her name is Emily. The film specifically discusses the hedonic treadmill (as well as 90 million other cultures who are happy without things). Studies show that YES, the difference between someone with an income of $5,000 and $50,000 is drastic. WHY? Because with $5,000/year you cannot meet your basic needs! However, the difference in happiness between someone who makes $50K and $50MIL? There really was no difference. In fact, people who had MORE money were found to be more consumed by consumerism, more anxious, and found they had less close personal relationships. One of the biggest components to happiness in the documentary was close personal relationships with family (or whom you consider family).

So, am I saying to go out and burn your Jimmy Choo's and stop spending needless amounts of money to look glamorous or paint a good picture for everyone else? NO! I'm just asking you to step back from the big picture (like I had/have to!) and ask yourself what you're really buying? Do you really need _______ ? I think it's important to see what we need to spend that's inside us - versus or monetary transactions that are empty and occur on a daily basis outside of our basic needs.

Just food for thought... :)

Anyway- so this is a link to that girls blog. Lots of a good ideas. You have to decide where you are willing to cut and really what kind of "baller" are you. Do you want to live it up while you are in our 20's or do you want to pay cash for your first house? It's up to you.

http://www.blissfulanddomestic.com/p/frugal-posts.html