The Emotional Aspects of Frugality
There are many times that I wonder why we as a nation and a society work so hard. Do we work because we like it or do we work because we truly want more? Or do we just plain work for "things"? It is the things in our lives that me must take stock of. When you are working for something, do your ever think in terms of how much of your working life is used up by the thing that you want to buy. Do you ever ask yourself, what is the long-term cost of the thing that I am working for. When you get down to the guts of the matter, each and every day that we work, we are working for the things in life that we need for our basic survival. But what about those wants? Yes, the wants that we have, the quest for the larger home when the one that we have will suffice. What about wanting that new car while the older one is still running, but maybe not still sparkling like she did when new? When you come right down to it, how often do we let outsiders influence the way that we think we should spend our hard-earned money? In today's society living just a simple life has become a major challenge.
This is a question that we must all ask ourselves if we hope to accomplish the goal of having a comfortable lifestyle for our Lots of Kids families. Since we have more children, we have more expenses--or do we? When you look at the basic economics of how money is spent, we may actually not be spending just to be spending; maybe we are being more financially productive as we raise the next generation of workers. When we make accommodations for our families, is it really a lifesytle choice that we are making? It is fact that some of our families do not have all the "things", but we are teaching our children values that will carry them into a productive and hopefully satisfying future.
Back to the issue of the Madison Avenue. They want us to buy, buy, buy and spend spend, spend, but that is not something that our Lots of Kids families do. We think out our purchases. We are more prepared for larger expenses just because our families are larger. We also make more informed decisions with our money just because we do not have the extra money to waste. Our larger families make us think about what is really important. We know that we will not be able to afford every luxury out there for our children, but what we are teaching them about things is very important. We are teaching them that we value THEM and not THINGS. We let them know by the choices that we make financially that they are the reason that we work hard and strive for the best. They know and appreciate that when we do go out on a limb to buy that something special for them, we are doing it because we love them and are not just trying to impress our friends or colleagues. We always try to make our families comfortable while conforming just a bit with the status quo around us. We have in essence learned that we don't always "need" what the status quo states that we "need".
While there are some things that will always be a basic need, like food, shelter, transportation, we as parents make a huge statement when we shop wisely and avoid that attitude that "that we can have everything." In making the large and small sacrifices for our children we are teaching them a discipline that will make them more thoughtful and careful consumers. With our children armed with this information, they are the hope for the future that the things of this world are finite and that we must begin to act that way. In the end the strong family ties are what really count. We will always have the love of our children and families, but what is the point if we are never around to actually enjoy them?
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Article by: Sounjalynne Mata
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