Mass Media Reports on Frugality

A TIME magazine article decides to report how the nation has become frugal due to the Great Recession! Interesting read but nothing new to those of us who lived simply before the economic downturn. Freedom!

Free Joy of Songbirds

Over the 9.5 years I've lived here, the songbirds seasonally show up each spring to sing their hearts out! They have no care in the world except to sing! When I moved in here, there were already two older trees available to them. Over the years, I 've planted about 7 more trees without intentionally inviting the birds to hang out at my house, but I'm glad they choose to land here. Last year, I was privileged to host a nest in one of the older deciduous trees but didn't discover it until late fall. These simple natural, organic events thrill me to pieces!!!

Since I don't overwork and removed excessive stress in my life, I have time to both listen to and enjoy the songbirds. I literally stop and smell the roses growing my front yard (and will likely clip a few of them later on today). Life in the natural world is completely fulfilling and I am grateful that I am able to appreciate it. Freedom!

Having My Cake and Eating It Too!

One component of authentic love relies on doing something for others which they cannot do for themselves. It's the essence of enjoying a meaningful life that money cannot buy.

Yesterday, I received these expressions of authentic love for my birthday: My favorite German chocolate cake, you see above, baked by my mom, a handmade card from my 11 year-old godson, a card with some hugs (I love hugs) and a chat from a good friend at work, text messages, emails, and e-card from my sisters and a couple of friends, a phone call from another friend, and a surprise birthday email wish from a friend I had not heard from in a few years which truly warmed my heart and helped me recall some good memories. No amount of money can buy these real gifts and I feel incredibly rich by these expressions. When I decided to live a simpler life, it also empowered those who care about me to give me simpler gifts that are far more meaningful to me than having them shop while wondering if she will like this, whomp, whomp, whomp: I find no joy in people wasting precious time trying to find the so-called "right gift" at all!

The decision for me to live without expecting others to spend government currency for my birthday also plants seeds of freedom in others and furthermore keeps the government and marketers out of my personal business. Why should anyone have to pay taxes on my birthday gift when they can make it or tell me they care tax-free? (except for the unavoidable extra taxes we pay for phone services, Internet connections, etc.) My low maintenance life provides me a fruitful existence. Enjoying more of the stuff money can't buy - Freedom!

My First Debt-Free-Except-for-the-Mortgage-Birthday!

I turn 45 years old today and it's the first debt-free-except-for-the-mortgage birthday I've had since my 20's but then again I didn't have a mortgage back then. It's been an interesting journey that has changed my life in so many ways beyond a reduction in bills. (Check out my blog archive.) Simple living offers incredible stress-free rewards.

My birthday wish for everyone is that you will take the rest of 2009 to eliminate debt. It's a wonderful feeling to get a paycheck and only pay cash for one mortgage debt and simple services like utilities, goods like food, and fun stuff like saving and giving to others. Freedom to live without allowing the pressure imposed by the media and the culture to spend on stuff I don't need and most of which I really don't want is sustainable through good economic times and bad times. Freedom!

Living Well in 2009

My new year's challenge to you is to turn off the news and read the entire book of Proverbs for the next 3 months.

Start with Proverbs 6:6-8: "Go the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise! It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest."

Please don't wait for a new president or government to change your life (they really can't). Only you have the power within you to change your life and the Bible is the most reliable and wise guide even if you don't believe in Jesus like I do. Simply put, universal laws work whether or not you fully understand or believe in them.

So, I've shown you in the photos above what $52 can put into your fridge and pantry when you buy only what is on sale: I estimate that I will be able to eat about 45 meals/servings for the next 12 days from this sale alone. (Plus, I have other food in the freezer/pantry to supplement what I just bought.) No restaurants for me for the first 2 weeks of 2009 including no fast food. Notice, I was still able to include my favorite junk food - potato chips.

With the ground turkey and turkey sausage, I will enjoy spaghetti and meatballs, hamburgers, burritos, and stand alone patties for breakfast. The turkey alone will be part of 34 meals. The pasta and sauce will provide about 20 meals with or without the meatballs. I tend to eat about 4 small meals a day or 28 meals a week. I cook several things at once and either refrigerate it or freeze it. That way, I am not cooking all week. As I pass several temptations on my drive home from work each day, I recall what's already cooked at home. So when the eateries are signaling the dollars in my wallet to stop by and spend, I tell those dollars,"Stay!" pretty much like many of you tell your dogs at home, firmly with love. Also, if friends want to get together, I have enough to share and they can command their money as well.

I have enough toothpaste to last through summer and I already had a couple of tubes in storage so I don't think I will need to buy any in 2009 at all, we'll see. Now, even when toothpaste goes on sale again, it would be wasteful for me to buy it because I already have enough. It's crucial to know when you've stored enough and stop buying. Save your money for something else or give it away to someone else who needs it.

Tomorrow, I may go my city's farmer's market for some fresh produce but I already have enough frozen for the next two weeks. The best part is that I have absolutely no pressure to visit a market for 2 weeks unless something else goes on sale that I already eat on a regular basis AND I don't already have it stored.

Praise God for the ant! Freedom!

Marching to a Different Beat in 2008

(This photo was taken in my backyard a couple of days before Christmas. It must have been around 55 degrees that day. Cold for Southern CA)

I just made another pot of chicken veggie soup from scratch and it is probably the best one I've ever made. Of course, I say that each time I make a very tasty soup. The chicken was from the one I baked for myself on Christmas. I added the last of this season's fresh herbs from my garden plus the usual base of red bell pepper, garlic, onions, celery. Threw in some frozen green peas. Yummy!

In terms of my simple, frugal lifestyle, I learned more about what I can live without and altered a few practices throughout the journey:

• I began driving to work again about 2 months ago after gas prices shot down far below what I paid summer of 2006 when I started taking the train/bus to work - 25 miles away from home. I learned more about community on the buses/trains of Los Angeles County and encountered the everyday extraordinary people you never hear about on the news. The advantage of taking the bus allowed me to read, on average, 2-3 books a month. I read mostly free library books.
  
• I drive the street to/from work during rush hour so I don't sit in traffic and I enjoy driving through different communities.
  
• I took my lunch to work every single day except for the one or two days when I forgot it. YIKES! It hurt to buy from the cafeteria. I brewed my own coffee each morning at about 11 cents a cup including my favorite creamers. You do the math of spending $4 a day on Stuckbucks coffee...never mind, I'll do it for you: comes to about $1460 a year.
  
• I gave up buying bottled water except for the ones in my earthquake kit and bought 2 large reusable bottles for lunch and working out. I will miss my periodic trips to the recycling center to claim my $5 but the tap water does taste very good.
• I reduced my DirecTV bill to the family plan which eliminated another $30 from my monthly expenses and forced me to stop watching all of the gloom and doom news. (I have been known to scream at the TV for the ridiculous programming they throw at us.) I average about 7-10 hours a week watching the TV I bought about 13 years ago.
  
• I reduced my grocery bill by $60 to $100 each month by buying more of what I already like when it is on sale and freezing or storing it. (Lots of websites and blogs out there on the benefits of buying like this.) I still don't care for coupons, though. So, I just try to go the store every 8 to 10 days instead of once or twice a week.
• I totally gave up red meat. I gave up pork years ago but I will sample it if I am invited to someone's house. I was still enjoying an occasional steak but I no longer miss it.
• I reduced my visits to restaurants to about 1 or 2 a month, including my favorite Pollo Loco drive thru binge.
  
• I paid cash for every single thing that I bought in 2008.
• I was able to give over 10% of my gross income away and I never missed it. God has a way of making this all work out and it is essential to the way I've chosen to live.
• Just received my water bill for December and I cut water usage for the 3rd month in a row: We received free rainfall over the last couple of weeks which directly affected how often I watered both front and back yards and I have consciously been washing larger and fewer loads. I bought more towels from Target a few months ago so that I could wash that load less often. Plus, I don't own that many clothes. I never wash my car at home and prefer the little drive thru one at the gas station. (I stopped going to full service car washes in 2008 and I vacuum the inside myself.)
  

Freedom!

Joy of Giving Throughout the Year and Less in December

A couple of decades ago, I totally gave up shopping for the "Christmas" season. As I became a more consistent giver of my time and resources throughout the year, I found the holiday rush to be frivolous and shallow. It unnecessarily raises my anxiety so I gave it up.

As a discipled Christian, I believe in looking for opportunities to love others through giving and that includes far more than just shopping or giving money ALL YEAR LONG. This practice has made my life more meaningful and manageable because life really isn't just about me and buying more stuff that brings more lasting clutter than joy.

For the past couple of Decembers, I baked cookies and gave them away to neighbors and a few friends. This year, I don't even plan on doing that: I lost 14 pounds in the last 18 months from working out more and simply eating less so I will neither tempt myself nor deliver butter-filled and sugary calories to my neighbors. I may pick up a couple of under $10 items for the neighbors this year or give them a poinsettia but over the past few years, we have learned to be good neighbors during sickness, abandonment, and simple checkup greetings on the way to work or after arriving at home, sweet home. Two or three of us have given ourselves as gifts throughout the years, as needed, and so, there's no need to overdo or outdo each other each December in giving more stuff.

I enjoy my simple friendships that only require an e-card, a traditional holiday card, or an email to let each other know that we care during this season. Since we succeeded in our efforts to see each other throughout the year, there's no anxiety about seeing them before the new year starts. We don't have crazy expectations that we must spend time together in November/December if it isn't a win-win for each of us. Calm, relaxing relationships give me more than any of them could go out and buy in a superstore. Our friendships are far more precious than stuff.

I have an 11 year old "millenial" in my life whom I've had the daunting/exhilarating task of mentoring and tutoring for almost 2 years and I am happy to do so free of charge. What I didn't expect was the joy I have in teaching him about giving throughout the year and how to manage December in spite of the intruding commercials he consumes at home: We have had several cheap or free experiences intermixed with costly outings as I attempt to share a balanced frugal life with him. He is starting to understand that being frugal doesn't mean you never spend money but you spend less on many things so that you can enjoy a few expensive things/experiences every now and then. Living extravagantly is never the goal of my frugal life but I am not against enjoying a few of the things that money can buy as long as I can safely pay cash for them. Of course, I will purchase a couple of items on his wish list and he really enjoys them because he doesn't get them all year long...and those wish list items aren't cheap!

I've learned to give more of my time to co-workers in angst or lend an ear to hurting hearts. I've learned to give myself more naps and all play Saturdays so that I can give more of my existence to others on weekdays. I've written more checks to charities working in 3rd world settings - including a few found in America - throughout this year and I've been able to give more cash away when I felt moved to do so and I don't care about not being able to write it off of my taxes. God is keeping count :D. The best gift I've given myself is the choice to eliminate debt from my life (9 years left on my mortgage contract but I will shoot for 7) and the simplicity of paying cash for everything and saving for tomorrow. Freedom!

Happy Thanksgiving and the Sky Isn't Falling!

Most of my adult life, I have either cooked an entire Thanksgiving meal or contributed to a gathering. NOT THIS YEAR! I neither asked anyone to join me today, nor did I accept any invitations simply because I really needed to rest. Since I don't eat out much throughout the year and cook/prepare all 3 of my meals each day at home (I always take my lunch to work), I allowed myself to enjoy a prepared meal from a local restaurant and it was really yummy! I kept thanking God that I could both afford the meal financially (paying cash for it, of course) and am now delivered from ever cooking on this holiday again. That's why I had the time to go work out at the gym early this morning, kick back, and read throughout the day. I went to bed very early last night because I was exhausted from working and enjoying my life during this short work week.

As I sat and waited for my order to take home, I watched so many families arrive to eat in the restaurant and take out that I really wondered if we are in the deep recession that the media/banks/government insist we're in as a nation. I saw several people come in and take out HUGE family orders in HUGE boxes while I had a nice and easy bag. These meals start at $23 for each adult so I know those folks with the big boxes must have spent well over $100-$200. Ohhhhhh...so the sky really isn't falling all over America. Let's continue to research our own news stories and not rely on the networks to tell us what to think. Freedom!

Frugal Living Includes Much More Than Money

Frugal living liberates me in all areas of my life. Since I seriously began the debt free quest in May of 2005, I've not only paid off significant amounts of debt (including mortgage debt but not debt free yet), I've been able to totally makeover all areas of my life! It hasn't been easy but totally worthwhile. I can honestly say that I've taken at least 1000 baby steps over the past 42 months but I am in a far better place in life - mind, soul, and spirit, than I was before. My Christian walk with God has grown deeper, I am currently 14 pounds lighter, I manage my time more effectively and I live in less clutter.

I have the same car and TV that I bought 13 years ago and I have no desire to use my savings to replace them. I am freer at this point in my life than I've ever been. I just feel lighter since I decided that living within my means is the best way for me to really enjoy my life and that I don't have to work, work, work to buy more stuff. I enjoy what I have and I am grateful! Freedom!