|
It all started about 15 years ago when I found myself with $7 to buy a week's supply of groceries with. Since then I've made a study of voluntary simplicity and living frugally. I have less than $1000 a month coming in, but after years of study and "emotional adjustment" to accept my situation philosophically and with grace and equanimity, I find that that amount is more than I need. There are ways to live better with little or no money. The first lesson is to learn that self-worth should not be measured in dollars.
Then Google "voluntary simplicity".
I shop roughly every third month at a restaurant wholesale supply house and buy my supplies in bulk. I never buy factory food (boxed, frozen or canned ready-made food like boxed Mac-N-Cheese, canned spaghetti or beef stew, or frozen dinners, pizzas, etc.). Those are a huge waste of money. I don't eat out, which is fine with me because I've never really enjoyed eating out. (Restaurants are too much hustle-bustle. Not conducive to good digestion.) I buy staples like dry beans, rice, flour, bulk pasta, bulk bags of frozen chicken, bulk bags of frozen veggies, etc. In the summer I raise and freeze a lot of my own veggies. I also make all my own jams from my backyard strawberries, blackberries, concord grapes, and plums.
I drive an 18-year old car that I paid $100 cash for 6 years ago. My current computer was purchased second-hand for under $100. I have basic cable and a cheap NetFlix subscription. I pay $8 a month (on average) for a pay-as-you-go cell phone and I have no land line. I have an old-fashioned picture tube TV, non-HD, non-flat screen.
And I way happier now than I was when I was still playing that pointless game of chasing money.
Hang in there. It is possible to be happy and fulfilled with little or no money.
|