Quote Originally Posted by SteveinMN View Post
My nominations:

"There is enough." This ties into the non-comparison model. Your income; your dwelling; your possessions -- they may not be new, they may not be as nice as others', they may not be what you'd want if you had a blank check for all of it. But it is enough. The income (should) cover the necessities of life (which probably does not include The Disney Channel or a top-of-the-line smartphone or a Coach purse). The dwelling should keep you warm and dry and relatively safe from external danger and should contain objects you enjoy. Your pots and pans may be cheap and mismatched but they function even they're not the newest set from Calphalon. Your car may not be stylish or even undented but it gets you where you need to go in relative safety and it sure beats mass transit in many areas and the old horse-and-buggy from ages past. With this as a baseline, I think it's easier to not get wrapped around the axle of keeping up with the Joneses.

The Law of Attraction. The idea that the way to achieve a goal is to state the goal and then think about how people successful at that goal do things. "I live simply" -- and people who live simply try to not make a daily habit out of buying and drinking a "Vente" half-caf soy mint frappucino. "I live simply" -- and people who live simply have -- and prioritize -- time to do things they enjoy doing (with family, in hobbies, etc.). "I live simply" -- and people who live simply don't spend every dollar they make, finding ways to stretch their money or at least spend it on things of greater value.
And along with this, I would add that part of living simply for me is so that you have enough to do/own those things that are most important to you. Your house may have only one bathroom, but you spent the money on skiing trips with your kids, making memories for a lifetime, instead of remodeling. You live in a tiny house, but you travel to Europe yearly/every other year. You drive a beat-up old car, but you go to the theater whenever there's a show. You wear old clothes, but you have a house that has room for the people you love in it.

It's not about giving up everything. It's about making choices about what to have and what to not have. Says the woman with 35 year old Revere Ware pots and pans, a dented up 15 year old car, and money in the bank.