Voluntary Frugality

[Gardenarian]

There is an excellent blog post from the Permaculture Research Institute on Voluntary Frugality (http://permaculturenews.org/2016/02/12/voluntary-frugality/).
It is about a young man and his wife who have spent the past few years moving about and volunteering on farms.
Though few of us are going to live as close to the edge as these two, the article is filled with insights that apply to how anyone live.

From the post: "And, I also don’t want to be misconstrued in some way as to mean that being impoverished and voluntary frugality are the same thing. Impoverishment is not something that is chosen but rather, more often than not, foisted upon the less fortunate. In these circumstances, i.e. real poverty, cups of coffee and meals out are more akin to luxuries either unreachable or at a substantial price with regards to actual needs. Obviously, when, as with poverty, fiscal choices don’t exist, frugality is not voluntary. Poverty is not something to strive for, whereas I’m proposing that voluntary frugality is."

I plan on trying to live very simply this summer, camping out with my dog for the most part, exploring southern Oregon. Of course, this kind of simplicity is really a luxury - I can only do it because I have the money to afford a car, food, and campground fees for the summer. Who knows, maybe I'll try WWOOFing.

[razz]

What a wonderful adventure to start out one's life. There are realities that will impact the adventure over time such as children or does it exclude children? There is so much beauty to explore in the world around us this side of each ocean and beyond that to limit one's life seems self-defeating with time but that is for each to discover. I really like simple living better.

[Tiam]

I recently came up against the idea of voluntary frugality that wasn't very positive to my mind. I posted a question about what do live on a week away from payday on a different forum. I posted it to solicit frugal ideas. The universal answer in this "frugal thread" was that it wouldn't be an issue because careful planning would avoid it. What I came away with, in the end, was that the people in that thread were frugal by choice and really didn't have much sympathy or empathy for someone who has to be frugal by necessity. I thought it was interesting because, to my mind, being poor was the epitome of motivation to live a frugal life to better oneself and situation. I'm not really trying to hijack the OP, but the idea of what frugality is or isn't comes to mind when I read it. I think a number of people on this site came to frugality from necessity but then adopted it as a lifestyle.

[kally]

you raise an interesting point Tiam. Of course people learn to be frugal often because they need to be. But, on the other hand, I think a lot of people have done very well by not wasting their time and resources by being frugal.

[Williamsmith]

Voluntary frugality is probably at war with consumerism on a daily basis for me. My father and mother were born in 1927 and 1933 respectively. As The Great Depression began in 1929 and continued through the mid 1930s forced frugality through poverty was a necessary practice. Even as the economy recovered and by the late 1950s and early 1960s my parents as young adults with kids taught us voluntary frugality as a necessary way of life. We still shared food and clothing with cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents. Nothing was discarded nod spending was only on necessities. I never thought of myself as poor although we never vacationed, we repaired our clothes and got most second hand.

I raised my own kids during the peak of prosperity...1986 - 2007 but they are all voluntarily frugal. It's probably because of the seeds sown by their great grandparents.

[lessisbest]

The way I see it, doing without doesn't make you frugal. Don't confuse austerity with frugality. Do you live a monk's life of austerity because you are a monk, or because that's your choice? Doing more with less makes you frugal, and making better or different choices does as well. Frugal people live within their means, not beyond them. Being frugal should not impair your ability to generate more income - while voluntary austerity would.

After reading this most interesting thread of shared thoughts, my parents were poor their entire married life (55-years), and yet they were never frugal - voluntary or forced. Resourceful, yes, but they didn't know beans about being frugal; and they both went through the Great Depression and WWII. Even when they had large sums of money from insurance settlements or inheritance, it was gone in a blink of an eye with nothing to show for it.

Both were self-centered to the core, and not mindful of others NOR their adult responsibilities, especially their own family and their needs. Usually kept their bills paid, but not always.... The only thing that kept them from complete financial destruction, they didn't know they could get a credit card, and never had one. They borrowed from every living relative, and "showed up for dinner" (uninvited) far more times than they ever shared a meal with others. Our relatives were the "fast food restaurant" out in the country. They ALWAYS spent every cent as fast as they could - never saving or planning for the coming needs or the eventual "storm", let alone a rainy day.

A simple example: they would buy steaks for dinner the day they got groceries, but not give any thought to dividing that amount they spent for steaks for meat for the entire week - they could only afford steaks. Their thinking, if they had steak, that was a sign they were living the "good" life. Even as a child I knew this was stupid reasoning, especially since it was my sister and I who made most of the meals, but didn't have any input to the food purchases. We had to make-do with their choices.

From this poor financial training environment, my oldest brother is exactly like my parents - only worse since he's a sociopath; my sister is the lottery winner - rich one day, broke the next, expert "horse trader" with 3 failed marriages - and all three husbands had to keep her on a financial leash; I'm the frugal one - simply by learning NOT to repeat the things my parents did; and my younger brother is a total loser. So how does that happen? Environment, education, or example? I learned from others who were successful. Things like -- you can't borrow your way out of debt; use cash, not credit; plan for retirement; a penny saved IS a penny earned - so why not save your dollars as well; have an emergency fund - but running out of beer isn't an emergency - EVER; try never to pay retail for anything; don't use shopping as entertainment - even thrift stores and garage sales..... I've got a million of them!


Your life should have some balance when you are frugal, typically not extremes. You have money to spend for what you need - when you need to, you just try not to :~). As Art Buckwald said, "the best things in life aren't things." Or as Albert Einstein put it, "Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted." And the ever popular Eric Hoffer, "You can never get enough of what you don't need to make you happy." Somewhere in the midst of that is a frugal person.

[pinkytoe]

I am so grateful to read about younger people who espouse the frugality ideal -
a sense of self-reliance, confidence and freedom previously unimagined.
It is such an alien concept to those around me so it can feel like being a stranger in a strange world most times.

[iris lilies]

I am so grateful to read about younger people who espouse the frugality ideal -
It is such an alien concept to those around me so it can feel like being a stranger in a strange world most times.

Self reliance, confidence, and freedom

love that! That sums up voluntary simplicity for me. Maybe add something about stretching one's imagination.

[SteveinMN]

A simple example: they would buy steaks for dinner the day they got groceries, but not give any thought to dividing that amount they spent for steaks for meat for the entire week - they could only afford steaks. Their thinking, if they had steak, that was a sign they were living the "good" life. Even as a child I knew this was stupid reasoning, especially since it was my sister and I who made most of the meals, but didn't have any input to the food purchases. We had to make-do with their choices.
And you did make do. You're both around, years after the fact, living life (with self-chosen levels of success). In the meantime, your parents got to enjoy at least one meal out of the week.

I'm not defending living paycheck-to-paycheck or (worse) living on credit. But your parents' behavior is very common in chronically-poor families. Found money is not the seed for savings or a leg up on buying a necessity that is more permanent than would be chosen otherwise (for example, buying a good piece of used furniture rather than buying a new piece on chipboard furniture on credit or buying a more sound newer car rather than a beater). Found money is to be enjoyed because it will be gone soon enough anyway. If it's not spent on a manicure, it's spent on the heating bill or spent on bus fare because the noise under the hood of the car got serious enough to kill it. There is a mindset that money will find a way somehow for the most pressing needs and that money you didn't know you had should buy you something that your financial situation would never permit otherwise. It's an indulgence, a little luxury, among a daily grind of (near-)poverty that divides lots of people from what they see all around them.

I submit for your consideration this article: The Logic of Stupid Poor People (http://tressiemc.com/2013/10/29/the-logic-of-stupid-poor-people/)

[Meezer_Mom]

Read through the article you posted SteveinMN. Thank you for sharing.

Sadly, there are far too many people who sincerely believe they have to be something they're not to be invited to any table, even if that means going hungry to afford a silk shell.

I've known people who lived on the right side of the tracks. And they ate bulk rice 3x a day because they couldn't afford anything else. Long-term, they did no better with their status. Their choice.

My favorite quote, and the one that guides me when I feel those competitive stirrings, is, "Simplicity is the ultimate luxury."

It's a mindset.

[simplelife4me]

Their definition is too general and what most consider voluntary simplicity?

"Voluntary frugality. I define it simply as living thoughtfully (and comfortably) within our means as opposed to always maximizing our possible take."