corkym:
Hey, I am probably going to be old and poor too. And my job does not even pay into social security. :/
I am 36 and just got into frugality/simple living about 2 or 3 years ago. And it has been a process. I wasn't perfect when I started. I am much, much better now, but still not perfect.
from Jane:
"No need to beat myself or others over the head (figuratively) or judge them for making decisions different from mine. That's the part of simple living I can't embrace--the smugness of it."
Beautifully stated, Jane! I agree completely, and that's the road I'm trying to take, too. And I agree, too, that smugness creeps in really fast!
rodeosweetheart or Jane:
Please give me a handful of examples of SLers being smug. I have not witnessed this.
I think there is a perception that some SLers might consider themselves "enlightened" concerning lifestyle choices thus it comes off as smug. Our society programs us to strive and acquire from an early age so when one discovers a simpler way, it feels like a treasure (if you are so incllined) that you want to explain to others who might benefit from it. I don't pretend to understand others motivations for just about anything they do and don't intend to judge. However, my co-worker complains daily about how poor she is and yet refuses to consider not shopping quite so often.
You haven't been around long. We have epidemics of smug.Originally Posted by UltraliteAngler
Jane: True, I am new to these forums.
bae: Is that a salad spinner? haha
Oh no! He said salad spinner...
I am getting the feeling I've been set up! hahaha
You have been!Salad spinners were a long-running thread here a couple of years ago, with some people declaring them fairly indispensable multiple-use tools and some considering them unnecessary since there were so many other ways to dry greens and other items. Good times....
I do think some SLers can be smug. There was a comment earlier in this thread about why anyone would want to have so much "stuff". Some people like "stuff". It's experiences, it's status, it's possessions one enjoys using. Maybe those folks really like their work and continuing past minimum retirement age is nothing they even think about. If that's their choice, great for them. I can feel sad for the ones who are buying themselves out of what they say they really want in their lives (retiring early, quitting for health reasons, etc.), but most of these folks have had the chances again and again to choose differently and they don't, so I guess they're choosing what they really want.
I also think there's a line to be drawn between voluntary and involuntary simplicity. I know people who live just above grinding poverty and who don't have much because they can't do any differently given their situation (grandparents caring for grandchildren, people who never got much of an education or have not been able to land a decent job with their skills, etc.). They may live simply, but they're certainly not doing so in the same way as the apocryphal Silicon Valley exec who made a healthy 6-figure salary for years and decided to chuck it all and backpack around Borneo for a couple of years or to fund a medical clinic in an inner city. My perception is that at least American society views those two forms of simplicity quite differently.
Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome. - Booker T. Washington
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