This is the question posed by Pat Vereto as part of her article on living frugally on about.com. She writes, in part:
"When did owning a vehicle outright and not needing a credit card to go shopping become wrong? When did supplying at least some of our own needs with our own hands become unnatural?
"This attitude has developed only recently, within the last few decades, anyway. Not so long ago, it was a good thing to sew your own clothing, have a garden, and cook from scratch. Now it's "quaint" or "alternative," or just plain weird.
"Egads. When making sense becomes "alternative," it's scary.
"Making sense takes a lot of commitment. You can't be frugal once or twice a week and expect to gain anything. You can't be dollarwise and penny foolish. You have to train your mind to look at the whole picture, and not the one painted for you by the salesman, either!"
This is a great read when you're needed some encouragement. We all do.
2 comments:
Spending less than you earn. Not buying things on time. How horrible! ;)
We own our cars outright. Some people have car payments larger than our mortgage! Ridiculous.
According to the government statistics, we live at or just below the Poverty Line. Yet we live very well indeed. I like nice things as much as the next person; can't recall feeling poor or deprived or hard-done-by.
This "poverty line" thing -- one had to wonder, how much is it determined by a strange modern sense of entitlement, and/or that "he who dies with the most toys wins" attitude?
If we cut out the impulse-driven consumption, what's left is an affordable quality of life that is, indeed, both of high quality and a genuine Life!
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