That said, I want to relay what what I just heard at the laundromat:

A well dressed young man was picking up some drycleaning and laundry and he just blurted out to the laundress when she asked how he was ‘I’m going to get a gun. I’m having a can of soup for lunch’. Whoa.

This too shall pass. I hope. In the meantime, I’m thinking about this guy and how I can continue to stay afloat and do better. Thanks.

For most people in the debting lifestyle, they are spending 110% of any increase of income.

After a few years of setting financial goals, tracking spending, and budgeting and being frugal to some degree or another, when you get an increase of income, it may be that you only spend 20-50% of that increase and save the rest. That additional 10-50% may amount to an appreciable increase in quality of life if spent wisely, while still allowing significant increased savings (money put aside for future goals and spending).

I limit myself to spending 30% of marginal income increases at this time. It makes a significant, noticable difference in my quality of life, while still allowing me to devote the majority of the cash to important long term goals. If my income increased by more than 25,000 per year, I would probably stop increasing my spending beyond that point and save it all. After a certain point, if my income increased (say, beyond $120,000 a year) I would just spend the extra, to tell you the truth, as I would have enough to meet all of my short and long term goals and there would be little point in saving the extra money.

My point is, be aware of your “spending elasticity” and actively manage how much you increase the spending that tends to come with increases of income.

Personally I think that it comes down to your life. You said you buy free range birds, I would never buy free range since I find it a marketing term (American chickens are allowed to roam free but inside of buildings.) On the other side I refuse to make my own laundry detergent and I will actually pay my parents to do it for me.

It’s all about priorities I guess.

Stop reading books/websites about how to get out of debt, declutter your office/home/life, or find your dream job. None of these conditions exist.

At some point, after a long struggle, you have to declare Success!

Does this mean you stop whatever behaviors got you to this place of attainment (i.e. frugality)? No. It means redefining your vision, mission and objectives. Growth. Process. Enjoy!

I need to say though that at lest for me frugality has two parts, the money part and the environment part. I will never change my frugality standards when it comes to the environment which means I will not buy unnecessary items and will always try to buy used items when possible and re-use much we already have. However when it comes to how far I will go to save an extra dollar that might change over time….

Currently me in my wife live of one salary and save the other one, we think that this at least in theory will make us financially independent within 15-20 years when we will still be less than 50 years old. Although we live frugally we have a nice house, a good 3 year old car (‘only’ one) and we go for one long (a month) vacation every year. To keep the saving interesting short term we only use passive income for our vacations, this means for us right now dividends and interest, then we tailor the vacation after the money available…so far the vacations have been great and spanning in cost from 1500 to 5000 dollars.

@kristine re: “…and the exchange rate can fluctuate as life’s priorites change.” SO TRUE!!!

The fact is, one of the things many people crave is the freedom that they regain when they are out of debt and can begin to make wider choices for themselves. Paradoxically, one of the choices people pick for themselves once they are not constrained by their debt payments may be other forms of work that more closely express their interests, or which offer them more personal leeway or agency. I know that for myself, if I were financially independent tomorrow I would probably be looking at interesting business possibilities. Something that is ofteh forgotten is that work is not always a yoke and a burden–it can be an arena where we express ourselves and have an opportunity to interact with others in a mutually satisfying way. All of the pressing problems we face and opportunities we have entail….WORK!

Thanks for the excellent post!

Time and money are interchangeable. You can always save on one by spending more of the other.

I would add: …and the exchange rate can fluctuate as life’s priorites change.

If you think of it that way, you are just being cost effective!

Surely you should be using at least some of your savings to pay off some of your debt? Your mortgage will have a higher interest rate than your savings account, so you’re making your financial situation worse by keeping money instead of reducing debt.

Of course it’s always a good idea to keep some money saved for emergencies, but “healthy” savings sounds like you’re keeping much more than that.