Sunday Meditation

Frugality is one of the most beautiful and joyful words in the English language, and yet one that we are culturally cut off from understanding and enjoying. The consumption society has made us feel that happiness lies in having things, and has failed to teach us the happiness of not having things. 
-Elise Boulding

Guidelines #3: Money

Money is not as complicated as it would appear. We have enough. My overall goal is for us to be debt-free and have some money saved up for the proverbial rainy day. In addition, we want to be able to help the boys pay for whatever post-high school education they choose (more on that in some other post).

Another goal is to get the very most for what we spend. I am frugal, but not cheap. What's the difference, you ask? I see it like this: A cheap person is not going to pay attention to quality. They will shop by price alone. As a frugal person I am very concerned with quality. Buying twenty $1 doodads that last for a week apiece is not getting as much for my money as buying one $15 doodad that lasts for a year. I plan on searching out the best deals on the items we need (more on need vs. want in yet another post).

One more goal, and this one is more idealistic, I suppose, is to become financially independent. By that, I mean that I want to be able to support the family through avenues that are not my husband's job. I am a scientist by trade and decided to stay home when the pharmaceutical company I was doing research for closed my facility. I also do various arts and crafts. I am going to work toward being able to support the family with these skills in non-traditional ways. If I can get that established it won't matter what happens with my husband's job; we will be fine.

I think that's the end of the guidelines for now. I've covered what came to mind immediately. I can always revise or add more, but I want to get to the fun stuff. I'm going to post recipes, reviews, tips, craft ideas...whatever I can think of that helps to illustrate this journey into tradition. I hope you stick around for the ride!