I Ain't Got No Money!

Let’s face it. The number one reason (or excuse) that most of us use to avoid even thinking about making a major change in our family’s lifestyle is fear about our financial situation.
Especially in today’s unstable economic environment most folks are holding their breath and hoping that they can simply hold it all together.
With that in mind this might seem like a bad time to be planning a major lifestyle change but the opposite is true. For one thing the process of reconsidering your lifestyle starts with taking inventory of the lifestyle that you are living now.
Many of us have been living a lifestyle of “conspicuous consumption.” We don’t realize that we are putting ourselves under considerable pressure to meet the financial demands that this lifestyle has put on us and yet such a lifestyle rarely leads to happiness.
We don’t want to think about “lowering” our lifestyle standards when during times of great stress we need more than ever the relief that comes from indulging in these expensive habits.
But perhaps we are approaching life all wrong. What if we didn’t have all of the stress that our shopping sprees now serve to allay? Maybe our current lifestyle creates a self perpetuating cycle of stress and temporary relief that simply cannot be sustained financially in the long term? Perhaps a time like today is exactly the proper time to reconsider the way you and your family live? I don’t propose lowering your lifestyle standards. I propose that you raise them; substantially! You just don’t need as much money as you think you do to live a great life. What you save on meaningless things can serve to pay for treats of more meaningful experiences.
So don’t let your knee-jerk reactions make you avoid bringing real change to your family’s lifestyle. Stop running in fear. Stop the runaway train. Take stock of yourself. Then take stock of your family’s lifestyle.