Simplify

I may or may not like money and I may or may not talk about it too much. Which is the reason you shouldn't be entirely surprised that my thoughts are once again, related to money.


Recently I have been thinking a lot about how complicated our lives are. Not because we live in a complicated world, but simply because we fill our lives with so many things. I am a frugal person for the most part, but somehow, my house has filled up with junk. This has left me pondering those two fun words that are frequently defined differently depending on who you talk to: need and want. This week Jason and I decided we need to make a list of needs and wants. However, most of the items he tried to shove in the need column weren't exactly needs. "Remember Honey" I told him, "a need is something that is basically necessary to sustain life." I suggested we make three columns: need, priority want and want. I think we would both benefit from such a list.

I've been thinking about how Americans (I don't know enough to know if it's the entire world or just our Country) live an over-indulgent lifestyle. I buy and buy things I will use, things that are handy and things that I want. But how much of that is stuff I really need? Probably very little. The sad part is, I haven't decided if I have enough will power to stop. So perhaps it will be baby steps. First, I'd really like to rid my house of lots of stuff. Clothes, books, toys, etc. Then, I would like to cut back on unnecessary spending a lot. As I explained to Jason, I am not trying to never spend a dime on anything but a necessity (food and clothing). I'm just saying, my house would be cleaner, life would be more pleasant and our savings would be bigger if I did a better job of staying away from wants more often.