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Frugality (Is that even a word?)
Two events in the same month have caused me to have moments where I suddenly found myself wanting better stuff, a bigger house, etc.
1) My wife totalled her car. We drive two used cars (spent a grand total of $6,000 on both!). Hers was an old, beat up 1997 Ford Expedition with 165,000 miles. When it was deemed a total, I was suprisingly tempted to go buy a new car for her…she deserves it, right? After all we have never bought a new car and this was a justifiable time to do so. Instead, we used the insurance money to buy another 1997 Ford Expedition.
2) Yesterday, we woke up to a “slab leak” in our house. In California, most builders lay the water pipes below the concrete slab of the house which results in an almost-impossible-to-detect scenario when one of the pipes springs a leak. By the time you notice the lead, your house is usually an inch deep in water. Yesterday, as we were pulling up our entire first-floor flooring and wondering if/how/when insurance would cover the damage, I found myself wishing for a bigger and newer home. We bought our 1,400 square foot house about 11 years ago and have always resisted the urge to “move up”. But this seemed like a justifiable time to begin thinking about the possibility. Heck, it would probably sell quickly with new floors!
I have always seen contintment as something to aim for….something that seems to make life a WHOLE lot easier. In our culture, it is a tough quality to embrace, but I’m trying. I miss the mark from time to time (couldn’t resist the urge to buy a new iPad….) but have determined to keep trying. I certainly have no beef with people who buy new cars and bigger homes….I may do both some day, but not now.
Not sure why I’m writing this…maybe it’s just to remind myself of what really matters. Probably also because I saw this article that I found rather interesting.
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Yes, it really matters. It really, really does.