Frugality and abundance

[RT Wolf]

I've started to get the impression that frugality is actually a sort of scarcity mentality. Even frugality to save money to retire well in the future seems to be an idea rooted in scarcity, rather than abundance. Thoughts?

Anyhoo, I realize that seriously hamper or cancel my intentions for money when I think that I can't afford certain things, is there a more positive way to frame those thoughts? Or do I just have to give up being financially conscious, and just focus on whether I want something or not?

Thanks!

[Max Power]

The answers you seek seem to lie within your advertising links.

Maybe you should look within yourself to find the solutions

Max

PS: I could not get any of your links to open up.

[Pegasus]

Originally Posted by RT Wolf

Anyhoo, I realize that seriously hamper or cancel my intentions for money when I think that I can't afford certain things, is there a more positive way to frame those thoughts?

You could say to yourself, "I choose to spend my money on something else at this time."

or

"I have ENOUGH right now."

The book, Your Money or Your Life by (?) Joe Dominguez discusses the notions of having enough versus having too much. Now that I think of it, the idea of having "too much" imposes limits.


---

[Dan.Linehan]

I make myself rich by making my wants few.

- Thoreau.

I have lived through a great deal, and I think I have found what is needed for happiness: a quiet secluded life here in the depths of the country, with the possibility of doing good to people to whom it is easy to do good which they are not accustomed to receiving; then work - work which one hopes may be of some use; then leisure, nature, books, music, love for a kindred spirit - such is my idea of happiness, and I dreamed of none higher.

- Leo Tolstoy.

[Jill]

Feeling that you can't afford certain things isn't necessarily the same thing as frugality. You can be rich, but still frugal.

Personally, I feel that being frugal is actually the opposite of the scarcity mentality because frugal people rarely want for much. They are very happy with what they have, which is actually the abundance mentality.

<added>In reading Dan's post above, I think perhaps he was saying something similar?

[RT Wolf]

Well, its part frugality and part scarcity mentality for me. For example, I was thinking about buying a new pair of jeans the other day and I mentally said I didn't have enough money (I do, but its just earmarked for something else), so I was just wondering what would be a better thing to say to myslef that has a higher vibration than one of lack. Thanks for your help, Pegaseus, for that. I'll look into that book. That's not the first time that book's shown up in my awareness, might be time to hunt it down.

Thank you everyone for your replies.

Wolf

[RT Wolf]

Just a note on something that I just realized that amuses me. Since I put out my intention for abundance, I've received around 30 dollars in coupons and a bunch of free stuff (book and umbrella), I also randomly walked into a store, bought something that was on sale about 40%, that i had actually intended to buy, so not frivilous spending.

The amusing thing? I have a belief that a penny saved is a penny earned, and I'm "earning" quite a bit of money by saving it. I also changed to a belief that says its ok to get something for free, before I felt I had to, had to earn it.

[Honeywith4bees]

Perhaps just thinking about the jeans in a different way like " I could have those, but I'd rather have this" Does that make sense? Not saying, I can't afford the jeans because I'm saving for something else, simply saying "I could have the jeans but choose to have something else instead."

[Angela]

RT Wolf, everytime I buy something I ask for a discount, because it's fun! It almost always amuses the person when I say, "Can I have the single woman's discount?" or the "just-because-we're-in-love" discount, or an upgrade on anything from tickets to hotel rooms, just because they have the hot power in their hands to give it to me. It's fun to have that tiny little connection with a person, and more often than not, they get a little kick out of giving me some small consideration. When they say no, it's almost always with a little regret.

So, is this a lack mentality? I can afford and am willing to pay the full cost or I wouldn't have approached the purchase in the first place. But maybe it adds some small amount of value to the universe to generate a little bit of fun.

That's how I think of being frugal. It's fun and rewarding to live simply, to not clutter up my home with stuff, and to find efficient and aesthetic ways to use my smallish space (one of the most space-hogging things in my apartment is my collection of small-space decorating books!). If I were yearning for a pair of expensive jeans, I would amuse myself by asking myself what I'd be willing to give up space-wise in order to make room for them. Would I give up my children? Well, I don't have children, but it always makes me laugh long enough to realize how important a particular purchase is, which is not very.

I guess my point is that you could think of frugality as a game in which the object is to free up as much space and time from clutter as possible, and to fill up as much of that space and time as possible with your emerging, blossoming spirit.