After my wife died, I intentionally chose to live frugally and simply. My initial motivation was to conserve money since I was unemployed and living off of savings at the time.
I grew to appreciate and fully embrace this minimalistic, anti-consumerist way of life. I’ve grown accustomed to questioning every purchase. I watch every dollar I spend. I return items that don’t meet my needs. When I am tempted to buy something I’m not 100% certain I need, I’ll put it on a list. If I still want it a month later, I’ll buy it. More often than not, I delete most of the items on my list because my want/need disappears in a few days.
I like not spending money. I like seeing my investments grow. I like living below my means so that I have emergency funds available when unexpected expenses arise- like hernia surgeries, root canals and hot water heaters.
Spending money makes my stomach hurt when I think about it. Not spending money brings me peace.
I’m pretty hardcore and committed to this.
The I heard the author of Die With Zero on a podcast and asked myself, “Am I making a mistake saving money vs. spending more now? Am I missing out on experiences, happiness and pleasure so there will be more money left over when I’m old and unable to enjoy it or even dead? “
My answer was, “I don’t know.”
But I was willing to experiment to find out.
In addition to signing the contract for new doors and windows, I spent money on a few other purchases I thought would improve my life.
- Several new pairs of shoes since my old “perfectly fine” ones were run down.
- A replacement iPhone after I cracked the screen on my old one that was only 5 years old and also “perfectly fine” up until the moment I dropped it.
- A better dog jacket for Wiggles that attaches with buckles (her old jacket used Velcro which would come loose during walks).
- A rip saw, an oscillating tool, a workbench and other home repair/DIY tools and supplies.
- A package of heavy duty clothes hangers to replace my “perfectly fine” craptastic hangers I’d been using for 6 years.
Every one of these purchases improved my life.
So now, I’m learning how to intentionally spend money.
I still spend far less than I ever did when married. First, my wife wasn’t frugal like me. She liked nice things and had no qualms spending money.
Second, I wasn’t as frugal when I was working long hours in high-stress sales jobs. I didn’t have the time or energy to do lawn maintenance, cleaning, home repair and often, even, make dinner. I paid others to do these for me instead.
I’ll likely never become someone who spends money thoughtlessly. I had enough experience living paycheck to paycheck, saddled with debt and unable to handle events smallest financial setback for far too long. I don’t ever want to go back to that.
That being said, it hasn’t been so bad making a few additional intentional purchases.