live below my means and within my needs

My need is to rent another dumpster to take the place of the one leaving on Friday, but I won’t have the money. So I am shifting my need to finish primer painting the back of my house – which is cheaper and needs to be done before the monsoon comes. I wish I could get the dumpster, but I realize that painting should be the priority anyway, including painting over the primer. I need to get it done before the monsoon starts in July.

I am paying off small debts that add up each month to a big total of payments, paying them off with part of my IRS return. I still must let go of some equines to bring down my outlay. Sigh.

The 80-20 rule seems to be appropriate for so many things. The newest one I learned about was to live on 80% of one’s income and save 20%. That is definitely living below one’s means. Currently I am living on 92% of my income (and struggling) and saving 8%.

Plan A is a frugal, solid and doable plan that I have been straying from, dabbling in other behaviors that undermine Plan A. On Sunday I had a minor epiphany, that I allow myself to be seduced away from my plan by people who are offering experiences and things that are inappropriate for where I want to be in the next 10 years. In short, I allow them to take me from Plan A.

Plan A is not sexy or exciting or romantic or even sometimes it isn’t fun at all! But it is reasonable and smart and leads me to where I want to be a decade from now. If I stick to Plan A, even with unforeseen events, my life will be in a good place and I will have built good habits for the future. It’s up to me.

I’m still trying to get a handle on this. I still live above my means and beyond my needs.

This is so hard to do! I get sucked into to buying things just like everyone else. I want to believe I am immune, but I am not. So I am learning, again, that money in savings is a lot more exciting than yet another halter and lead rope, or another backpack, or another skirt.

Anyone who lives within their means has a serious lack of imagination!

Paraphrased, but a great excuse for being overextended.

I have a lot of imagination. And I intend to live within my means. I used to be a romantic, but now I am a realist. And since romance has turned to realism, I feel more in love with life than ever!

I am paring down my life so it can be below my means. My needs will simplify as I pare down. Money is still going out, but it’s worth it to fix my house. In one year from now I am going to be in good shape financially, as long as my financial plan stays in place.

I’m going through a box of receipts, some of which are four years old, to keep what I need and burn the rest. It’s a good exercise to see where I spent money. Too much eating out, too much buying things I don’t need (only desire) that are being decluttered, and I realize that I need to be a better steward of my money. When will I get it?

I’m finding that as I pare down my possessions, the “needs” are becoming more clear as wants. Sure I would love to have everything I want, but my house would be crammed, my finances would be ruined, my relationship would be strained to the bursting point, and my self-esteem would be in the pits. Self-restraint builds one’s life and enhances the environment. It is one of the most difficult of all actions for me to take, but as I take it, it becomes so easy to continue. What is superfluous and what is required? What contributes to an authentic life, and what clouds it? Only I can decide for myself, but thankfully there are many others who have gone before me who have left signs to follow.