Living below your means is something I’ve heard a few successful entrepreneurs did, before becoming successful. But what is it, is it worth it to live below your means? Or would you just prefer to live life like it could be your last as each day comes by? How do you feel about living below your means?
My main purpose for choosing to write on this topic is not solely because of what I’ve heard others speak about, but also because I have been practicing living below my means and this topic relates to my lifestyle.
I am slow-lee embracing speaking about, (what I consider to be), my personal life experiences. Most likely I do not know who you are but I think some of my life experiences are relatable to others, and that might be you.
I never understood the concept of living below my means until I decided to become an at-home mother. I am convinced I was always somewhat of a frugal spender, which made adjusting to living below my means less stressful.
And yes, I use the word stressful because it can become stressful at times.
Here is what living below my means looks like for me.
Eliminating the use of certain food products such as highly processed foods. I’ve become more of a conscious eater since adjusting to living below my means. Before I would use a lot of canned foods for example, but now I’ve completely removed those from my shopping list. I now option for foods that are in their raw form, focusing on the health benefits as opposed to what’s convenient.
Removing commercial skin care products and household cleaning items. Before I used store-bought deodorants, creams, body washes, (Dove was my go-to), and those sweet-smelling household cleaning products. I no longer care for these, to be honest, instead, I make my deodorants. For the skin and hair, I mainly use Olive or Avocado oil, and I also periodically whip butters. For scents, I use essential oils.
Preparing meals at home instead of eating out. This falls in my garden and was not too hard for me, due to the fact that I have always been someone who’s conscious about what I eat. Preparing my meals was always a better choice.
P.S. I might have a change of mind later on though, because motherhood and just wondering what next to prepare kicks my butt at times, I’m not even going to sit here and pretend for the blog. This makes me wish I had a personal chef or something convenient, so who knows. Preparing my own meals may not be something I enjoy for much longer, I don’t know, but we’ll see.
Not buying the clothes I desire to buy. Hmmm… this is tough because I have grown into a whole new person, so my taste in clothing choices has definitely changed. However, this makes me appreciate what I do have. It has also given me the perspective on buying quality clothing over quantity. Something I never thought about when I was the old me lol.
Not taking the kids out as much as I like to. Who wants to be in the house all day? I am more on the introverted side, but balance is key, I enjoy being outdoors just as much as indoors.
I’ve realized when you are living below your means every sacrifice would not be a favorable one. Something needs to be uncomfortable to remind you that your current situation is not your final destination and you need to be uncomfortable in order to grow.
There are a few more points, but I will stop here for now.
“So, is it worth it to live below my means?“
When you have goals in mind to achieve, I believe it is worth it.
I am not just living below my means because that is what is advised. But because I have goals I desire to achieve. I can either live life carelessly not considering my goals and just hope for the best.
Or, I can make the necessary sacrifices that will bring me to my goals sooner.
But as I write this, I am having a reality check because one of my goals in life was, as a matter of fact, is to live a cleaner lifestyle, and if you notice, looking back at those points I’ve listed, of what living below my means looks like for me.
I was able to remove the products I used in the past for what I use now, which, in my opinion, is cleaner. You get what I’m saying?
So circumstances in your life may look unfavorable to you, (I use unfavorable because this is how I feel at times). But if you sit and analyze the situation, it’s all working in your favor.
If I weren’t living below my means, I probably would have been using the same old products and eating highly processed foods, as well as not being the mother I desire to be.
Whatever your goals are in life, if you desire to achieve them, you have to temporarily give up something to gain something, (which is your goal).
That temporary sacrifice may lead to you achieving a more fulfilling lifestyle resulting in you not going back to what you’ve given up.
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That’s all for this post and I hope you find value.
