Feeling rich while saving money, and a tip on cutting back on expenses

I found this great article while surfing life remix on the web today:

http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2009/05/22/ask-the-readers-what-makes-you-feel-rich-while-being-frugal/

The article is about feeling rich while living frugally.  What are your requirements for feeling like you are not going without while you are?  I can tell you my criteria: as long as my hair looks good, my clothes and shoes are decent, and I have a really nice purse, I feel fabulous – the amount of money that I can spend is immaterial.  Of course, this requires money upfront for the nice purse and maintenance costs to keep up with current fashions and have your hair trimmed regularly, but it is so worth it to me.  Yes, I’m appearance-oriented, aren’t you?  Isn’t everyone, regardless of how much we are told that appearances don’t matter?  Of course, you are a different person.

So what do you need in order to feel rich? 

Whatever it is, do it!  No matter what the requirements are for you, I recommend that you do your best to meet them.  What reason do you have to stay away from this state of happiness?  Restraining yourself?  What good does that do except kept you from feeling your happiest? 

In these tough economic and political times, it’s important for us to stay positive and continue to have fun every waking minute that we can!  Cut back where you can, but spend your money where it counts, on what is important to you and your family.  Set up a fun or happiness fund if you need to, and save up for your dreams while you cut back on what you can.

I recently watched an Oprah show that featured Suze Ormon, and one of the techniques that she recommended for cutting back on expenses was to try not eating food outside of the home for a month.  This seems like a tough challenge, but then if you think about it, even spending money on some deli items to fill your refrigerator each week is cheaper than eating out regularly, even twice a week.  My family and I are taking this challenge.  I can’t promise that we will be successful, but we are trying.  Of course, food is not the most important thing to each of us. If eating at restaurants is something that you must have in order to feel fulfilled, you might want to skimp on something else, such as your clothing, gas, or cable expenses.  Whatever they are, find a corner that you can cut – even eliminating a $5 cable expense will make you feel stronger.  Do it now!

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