How to live the frugal life and not feel deprived
I’ve lived for many years now the minimalist life which, from the outside looking in, might appear to some as otherwise a synonym for miser, thrifty, or frugal.
Well, I will plead guilty on one of those.
Let’s begin with a few fundamentals of what frugality isn’t:
Practice
Impulse buying. If you find yourself buying something on impulse or unthinkingly, you can be sure that some advertiser has drilled down into your head and found your ‘buy’ hot button.
“Keeping up with the Joneses”. Envious of the glittering baubles your neighbor or social peer group so shamelessly displays? Ask yourself how they got there. Likely, it wasn’t by practicing an ethical lifestyle. There will be people who have been stomped upon and exploited along the path, made paupers, physically and psychologically crippled. Yes, you can be sure there was human ‘collateral damage’.
Philosophical / Political
Deep belief in neoliberalism. Still believe in the trickle-down effect? That there is an endless supply of natural resources to be exploited, with no environmental consequences? Or don’t care, even if there are?
Throw-away mentality. Of course, as there is an endless supply of commodities, if it’s a little worn or is lacking the latest bells and whistles, just get rid of it and buy the latest model. Millions of others do just the same, and besides, you are doing a good thing as it keeps workers in their jobs.
So a little on what frugality is (my definition). Next purchase think ‘do I really need this new thing or can I creatively re-use or re-cycle something else I currently have?’. Is my television / movie / social media/ print consumption fuelling my envy for wealthy lifestyles? Analyse and then get rid of that crap. Delete that from your life. You don’t need it. It is just another form of advertising encouraged to trap you into working longer hours, accumulating more debt, worrying 24/7 how to clone yet another mindless unquestioning shallow faddist consumer lifestyle. And mindlessly accepting there is no other possible alternative.
How not to feel deprived
To finish. Make reduce, recycle, reuse a core practice. Not just a pretty slogan. And add ‘refuse’ to it. Refuse the propaganda of the system. Think frugality, resilience, independence. To that I would add anti-capitalism. Promote peace of mind and good health. Keep close to nature. Endeavour to live a life of moral integrity. Feeling deprived, and understanding why. That is just the beginning.