The temptation to spend

Travelling around as we have this past year, we're met hundreds of people and thoroughly enjoyed the experienced. Many of the conversations we've had have been filed away and some I'm still thinking about. Having contact with people we don't know has been such a stimulus for me because I'm hearing the thoughts of people of all ages who crave simple life and want to talk about it. Most of the questions are along the lines of starting the process of simple life, many are about the practicalities of recipes or producing vegetables, bread, soap and other household commodities. However, sometimes a statement or question surprises me and I keep thinking about it.

One recent statement surprised me but when I thought about it later, I wondered why it had. It fits perfectly into how we live now. Like it or not, we live in a materialistic culture and frugality is usually only spoken about by those living it. I had a conversation with a delightful woman who is well and truly on her way to an enriching and wholesome rural life, but she didn't start out that way. She told me: "We had never thought about saving before I read your book. We didn't think it was important."

It is. It is the key.

I have no doubt that this woman was taught the value of a saved dollar by her parents but the trouble is that even though many of us learn thrift when we're children, we unlearn it when we're in our teens and twenties. Then, although we think we're rebellious and pioneering our own trail, we're actually conforming to what our peers are doing - and mostly, that is spending.

Here is a quick list that would be a good starting point on your road to financial freedom:

• Stop spending on non-essentials.
• Use cash only - it feels like real spending as you have less and less cash in your purse.
• Make your own cleaning products. It's cheaper, you'll get better products and it's much healthier. Make your own laundry liquid. It works! Many people have told me on my travels that they had thought about using it for a long time before they made their first batch but the results were great and they wished they hadn't waited so long. Make your own laundry liquid.
• Stop buying food and buy ingredients instead. Cooking from scratch will save money and help you reduce the amount of artificial additives you eat.
• Draw up a budget so you know how much you have to spend on living expenses such as food, rent/mortgage, transport, health, entertainment, grooming and clothing at the level expected in your job.   Thrift and The Plan
• Stop using disposables. Read about it here.
• Shop at secondhand shops and garage sales.
• Check if you can lower the cost of your phone, internet, insurance and any other recurring costs. Do a review of these now and repeat it every 12 months.
• Make a conscious effort to cut down your usage of electricity and water.

I would be very interested in reading your ideas about saving too.

So yes, saving is important. It can help give you a life free from the anxiety that goes along with over-spending and the debt that results from it. Always remember that a saved dollar is better than an earned dollar. You won't pay tax on a saved dollar. Also, if you're tempted to buy something you know you don't need but really want, think of how many hours you'd have to work to earn the money to buy it. Are those new shoes worth four of your life hours?

The temptation to spend is always in the background ready to spring on you. I'm still temped to spend occasionally and I have to fight it. And even when you've paid off your debt and have a few spare dollars, instead of spending, think about cutting back on the amount of paid work you do. Gaining a good work-life balance, where you have more time to do what you love, will enrich your life more than any trip to the mall.