Our Frugal Lifestyle

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Passionate about eco-frugality. I used to party hard, clubbing my way from pay-packet to pay-packet. Never getting ahead, just getting by. Then came our much wanted baby with no savings in the bank - only an old car. Changes were made to our lifestyle and we didn't turn back. In the past 6yrs we purchased a flat, found employment, lived below our means, built an emergency fund, purchased a reliable car and saw the financial benefits of our frugal lifestyle. Our only debt is our mortgage. Our aim is to manage our cash flow wisely, pay off our home quickly and eventually work for pleasure, not necessity. Join us on our journey, share insights, tips and tricks to help us and others to get ahead while having a good time.

Friday, January 4, 2013

Freedom or Financial Debt.

Hi Everyone,

I've been watching a bit of Ted lately and becoming inspired by people who are living or doing things I would like to try out. We don't have access to regular TV in our home so the net, blogs, You Tube and the likes are my relaxing evening entertainment. So while everyone else talks about the newest popular TV show and run out to buy the same lipstick as the main character, I'm watching something that is expanding my mind and encouraging me to not fall in those consumer traps.

Many of you living the frugal lifestyle will know of Adam Baker and the changes he made with his wife and baby for a simpler lifestyle - they aimed for freedom, to get off the financial debt round-a-bout. Well the exciting thing is you can watch him talking about his experiment or lifestyle change and how it worked out for them. So sit back and put your feet up for 20 minutes and enjoy!



Don't forget to let me know what you thought... Are you aiming for Freedom too?

Stephanie @ Frugal Down Under.

6 comments:

  1. I'll tell you what I think...

    AMEN!

    And gratitude to my parents for bringing me to value the experiences of life over the 'stuff'.

    I'm good at avoiding buying crap, but Adam has made me want to be even better.

    It all fits in with simple living/small house living. This speaks to me. BIG TIME!

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    1. Hi SFT, It's great isn't it. We already know it but it helps to reinforce it, celebrate it, put words to what we are doing and supports us. I've been decluttering a great deal lately so these type of inspiring talks helps me find one more thing to get rid of. Listing on Ebay, Gumtree and FB -swapping sites some of my stuff. All for the mortgage and iPad (That Dolly wants - means less DVD clutter at home).

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  2. Love the idea of collecting experiences not debt. I am lucky in one way, which is that I actually like my job. Though, being honest, we have had the "lets upgrade" talk before AND then went ahead and spent the money. Our consumer debt is the one area of our lives neither of us are happy with and have committed to cleaning up.

    What did you think of his talk?

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    Replies
    1. Hi Lisa, I loved his talk. It was very easy listening - nothing out of this world but just a good reinforcement to where I would like to get to. I was brought up with lots of experiences such as travel and some stuff - but not much. Once we settled down in my early teens we started to buy and keep stuff as we then only went away on school holidays. I had friends around me who thought I must be from a wealthy background. But no - a single mum on a very low income who just did not buy stuff.

      Stuff takes over and hold you back as you can't leave so easily when you have stuff to "pack and store." The problem living the eco-frugal life is that you think the stuff will be useful on another day. Or because you don't want to throw things away for ecological reasons you see a repurpose project for everything. Except many of those repose projects will just be more stuff in your life that is not really a need. And nowadays theres an abundance of op shops where stuff is inexpensive and tempting.

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  3. Is there a link for the Adam Baker video? I looked but did not see any.

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    Replies
    1. Here is is:
      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XRPbFIN4lk
      However I couldn't get it up. I couldn't get anything on You Tube up... Maybe it's down.

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Thanks for commenting - I love getting feedback, sharing experiences and learning from you.