Going from a lifestyle of excessive consumption to a frugal lifestyle is a shock. Mostly because it’s very empty looking. Right now, my entertainment center is empty. I’m writing in the living room, and seeing a blank space. Why? Well, the TV is in the bedroom for the night. The A/C is on in there and my husband wanted to watch a movie. Rather than having two TVs, we simply pick up the one and move it to the other room.
Eliminating the expectation of rooms filled up with “stuff” can be percieved as weird, but it’s sure a lot easier to dust.
One area you may notice this especially is in the area of gift giving. Scaling back your gift-giving can be especially challenging. My best advice is to go in little increments rather than all in one.
A few years ago I hosted a bridal shower for a dear friend, and when I sent the invitations I sent an index card with instructions for guests to bring it back with a favorite heirloom family recipe. I compiled all of the index cards in a discounted wedding photo-album from a craft store as a “brides first cookbook.” Now when she goes to make her husband some cookies, she can use his mom’s favorite recipe and when she craves comfort food she can make her dad’s mac and cheese. We filled in the album later with snapshots taken at her bridal shower and additional recipes from loved ones that she requested for her collection. Sometimes buying more/bigger stuff doesn’t make for “better” stuff.
This post is part of a series I’ve entitled “Frugal August” and is inspired by (though not copied from) the book The Complete Tightwad Gazette