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Share Your Best Ideas for a Frugal Lifestyle

August 12, 2008 RSS Feed Print

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In an interview that was cut from the final version of my story on the end of credit card consumerism, Simple Prosperity author David Wann explained how he sees a huge shift happening in our culture at the moment. He calls it a move to a "restoration economy," where people want to stop working 40-hour weeks and instead start focusing on what is most important to them. For example, more people are growing their own food, trading in their SUVs for bikes, and choosing to spend their time on activities that energize them.

So, how can one go about simplifying one's life? There are many resources online to help, from Frugal Village to Zen Habits. If you've developed your own techniques, please share them below, or E-mail photos demonstrating your newfound frugality to alphaconsumer@usnews.com. The best idea will receive a copy of David Blankenhorn's Thrift: A Cyclopedia. (And congratulations to Drea, the commenter who was randomly selected to receive a copy of David E. Shi's The Simple Life.)

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The best advice I can give is to decide what is important to you and focus your spending there. Then decide what isn't as important to you and focus your saving there.
If travel is important to you then look for ways to reduce your spending on dining out. If your wardrobe is important to you, look for ways to reduce your spending on entertainment.
We often spend on autopilot. If you can adopt the simple habit of thinking twice before pulling out your wallet, you will be ahead of the game.

Melissa Tosetti of CA 5:11PM August 18, 2008

Pay yourself first. Put a set amount of each paycheck into a savings or mutual fund account or a 401K or some account of some type that will earn money for you---and do not take it out until you retire or have a genuine emergency that you cannot fund any other way.
Then, make do with what's left. Prioritize your spending on genuine needs---not wants.
Do so without borrowing.
Yes, most people need to borrow to buy a house. But only buy one in a price range and with a mortgage you can afford---and make an extra payment as often as you possibly can. That will save (as in make) you literally thousands of dollars.
Credit cards are not to be used for loans. There are many available with no fees or charges of any kind---provided you pay the statement in full within the grace period every time it comes. Use it as a checkbook. Do not charge more than you have.

HillbillyBill of TN 11:48AM August 14, 2008

David Wann's use of the phrase "restoration economy" (which I coined in my 2002 book of the same name) is rather different from mine. In that usage, it referred to all of the disciplines and industries that are restoring the planet's natural and built environments. But it's not totally off the mark.
In my latest book, reWealth! (McGraw-Hill, 2008), I tell the stories of people who restore nature or revitalize human communities for a living. One of the interesting characteristics of such work is that it usually restores and revitalizes the folks who do it.
In this sense, it's far more restorative than the kind of renewal that comes from merely having more time for leisure. I used to live in Florida, and saw many folks destroyed and prematurely aged by having too much leisure time, and too little reason for existing.
Wann correctly points out that this leisure time is best used on activities that are personally important. But, if he's going to use the phrase "restoration economy", it might be best to focus even more precisely on the activities that restore us the most. I posit that those are the activities that leave our world healthier, wealthier, and more beautiful. Restorative activities, in other words.
What's especially important about this concept is that these aren't just volunteer activities that folks do in their personal time: millions of people are now actually restoring the world for a very rewarding living. It's their profession. Our world is so damaged already that it's beyond the capabilities of part-time or hobbyist restorers, as important as they are.
Our entire economy has to become primarily focused on renewing the places we've already developed, and on restoring the damage we did to our natural resources along the way. Now THAT'S a restoration economy. The good news is that the global restoration economy already accounts for some $2 trillion annually, and is tapping an inventory of restorable assets that's conservatively estimated at $100 trillion.
What's more, it's the fastest-growing sector of the world economy. This kind of wealth-creation is called "rewealth". We're shifting from development to redevelopment. From depletion of resources to replenishment. From destruction and degradation to restoration. From dewealth to rewealth.
Earning rewealth restores us both personally and globally.

Storm Cunningham of DC 2:10PM August 13, 2008

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