I can’t believe it is already Thanksgiving here, in Canada. As always, I do my best to practice gratitude on a regular basis, and not just on a particular day.
Recently, I have been thinking that, when I was younger, life was much simpler and cheaper.
I am probably dating myself but, back then:
- We didn’t have cell phones or Internet
- We didn’t have cable or Netflix
- We only had one TV
- We didn’t have a computer
- We didn’t have a dishwasher, at least for a good portion of my childhood
- We didn’t have a dryer for our clothes; we air-dried them
- We only had one bathroom for the whole family
- We only ate out for special occasions, such as birthdays
- We lived in the same house for decades
- We didn’t trade cars every other year
- We only replaced items when they could no longer be fixed or no longer worked at all
- We didn’t throw away clothes just because a button went missing or because they had a tiny hole; my Mother would mend them
- We only bought things that we could actually afford to pay for right away
And you know what the best part is? I am alive and well.
I have also kept quite a few of the above for my life as it is today. It wasn’t always that way.
It can be very challenging in these times of instant consumption and gratification, “must have & must be”, where bigger is perceived as better and each kid “needs” their own bathroom. I used to be in that line. Not anymore.
By doing most of the above, I have saved a lot of money over the last few years and I was able to do what really matters to me.
Perhaps, you can do so too. It can be a good starting point for anyone trying to get their finances back on track.
Happy Thanksgiving to all my Canadian friends and compatriots!
The Money Savvy Blog 