Why Frugal Living Works For Me

A constant state of dissatisfaction is, I think, a pretty accurate description of today's quintessential sedentary 9-5 urban modern life. In Ireland, where we have freedom, opportunities and safe living, people are still not truly happy.  And you might be surprised to discover the kind of people who are happiest. In my experience, it is not wealth, social status, beauty or anything tangible that increases a person's happiness.

But we are all different and have to do the best with what we've got, so everybody's path to happiness will be different. For me, free time is my ultimate goal. That is time to do anything I want, whether that be to do nothing at all. I am lucky to work in a job that allows me to apply for unpaid leave so keeping my living costs down means I can afford to work less. I have been working a four day week for six months now. My expenses are still the same from when I was working five days (slightly greater in fact as I now have a child), and I am still saving money. My job is not a high paid job. I pay rent of €350 a month. I pay for part time child care. I have a car (which I bought for cash with savings).

I began to look at purchases in terms of time. I see a beautiful pair of boots in a shop window and I want them. I look at the price - €80 - or one day's work. So it's the boots or a day off work. The day off wins and I walk on.

I just don't buy things anymore. By things I mean non-perishable items (not food/medicine/cosmetics/cleaning products/fuel - of course you can make frugal choices with these life necessities too). It took me a while to get to this point. I built up my possessions for the first few years that I started working - long lasting pieces like a guitar, cooking appliances, reference books, a range of jewellery, good clothes and shoes. But once you get to a certain level of personal and household items, you just don't really have to buy much anymore. What I need was a reason. Becoming a mother was the driving force, but I had been thinking about paring down my lifestyle for a while. My time is everything to me now. When you wear the same clothes for years, they eventually come back into fashion!