While it’s true that having to live on less can be stressful, learning to live on less can be very freeing and give one a sense of financial independence.
Get Control of Life
In 1992, Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin co-authored Your Money or Your Life, a book that garnered national attention, but whose lessons seem to have been forgotten during the ensuing years of gluttony and excess.
Dominguez and Robin essentially encouraged people to reassess whether they needed the 60-hour work week required to support a lifestyle in the fast lane of the rich and famous. For many, scaling down meant an incredible amount of increased freedom and peace. They ask a simple, basic question: What do you value more...your money or your life?
The authors recommend that one begin a transition to an independent life by taking stock of expenditures and time spent trying to make the money necessary to pay for those expenditures. Most people find they are on a treadmill of labor simply to pay for lattes, fancy cars and over-sized homes.
Financial Independence Takes Time
Many individuals believe they must be wealthy to have financial independence. Financial Independence, according to Dominguez and Robin, is a nine-step process that forces one to focus on placing a value on one’s time and energy. The process requires that one keep strict track of one’s daily expenditures and minimize spending.
Of course, for many who attempt this, it will readily be seen that mortgages and the resulting household related expenses are way too high. Many opt to sell their over-sized homes and downsize. This step alone often frees one to cut work hours to half-time. The goal of financial independence is to be able to spend one’s time and energy as one wants…in ways that are pleasing.
Ways to Save Money
Dominguez and Robin offer many ideas for saving money, such as:
- Don’t go shopping
- Live within your means
- Take care of what you have
- Wear it out
- Do it yourself
- Anticipate your needs (this way you can take advantage of any sales)
- Research value, quality, durability and multiple use
- Get it for less
- Buy it used
Care about the Quality of Life, Not the Quality of “Things”
Perhaps the most important piece of advice given by the authors is to “Stop trying to impress other people.”
Paying off credit cards is essential, as is paying down one’s mortgage (or selling and downsizing). Paying cash for everything will keep one solvent and aware of money spent.
Ultimately one must decide if one wants to spend years working to pay for “things” deemed essential that are really not essential at all, or if one wants to spend one’s life enjoying life more fully.
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