My Philosopher's Stone

I have had a lifetime issue with financial good sense.  I’m not a complete loon; I do pay bills and prioritize electricity over shoes. However, my threshold for acceptable additions to wardrobes and collections is low and our cluttered house is proof of that.  This is the year that I’m going to change how we do things because it’s clear to me that the status quo isn’t great. We have a lot, we make a lot, and without fail we spend more than we should.

 

If you know how to spend less than you get,

you have the philosopher's stone.

~Benjamin Franklin

2013 is my Year of the Philosopher’s Stone (and if it’s my year then it is everyone else’s year too).

Why now? Because I’m sad. Because I’m tired. Because I find it impossible to be creative in a home cluttered with the accumulation of years of indulgence.  I want to paint. I want to make giant butterfly sculptures for the yard. I want to read good books. I want a kickass vegetable garden.  I want the world to be populated with stray thoughts and ideas not a new purse and dress. I want to learn more and spend less. We’re not in a hopeless pit of despair (as Reine pointed out); we are a loving family in a great house with all of our needs met so a little tweaking of our spending brain should be miraculous.

This isn’t an entirely new endeavor but here are the reasons this year will be the year we master these skills.

1)      I’ve been reading articles (a lot of articles, always a bad sign) on the connection between instant vs. delayed gratification and happiness—clearly happiness is on the side of patience.

2)      My previous foray into Weight Watchers gave me the revelation that food tracking, more activity and moderate consumption was a permanent lifestyle not a short period of miserable deprivation—this applies easily and completely to money.

3)      All the lessons learned from the past two years (meal planning, exercise, etc.) apply.

4)      Making this activity a shared one will get things done. Especially if we erase the culture of “want” with more active family time. Oxytocin is scientifically proven to be a good reward system and nothing is better for that than our style of togetherness.

5)      Free is the new mantra (the library is our friend) but also amortize. The memberships that we pay for we need to use the crap out of, Netflix be forewarned.

It is not how much we have,

but how much we enjoy,

 that makes happiness.

~ Charles Spurgeon

This for me is a year of being deliberate. The things that bring me joy can't be found in Target (no matter how lovely those things really are).