Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Living Green = Saving Some Green - Actually, A LOT of Green!


Hmmm... on second thought, maybe the title should read: Saving Some Red, Green, Purple, Blue and Brown? (Silly Canadian money)

This week has been all about getting it 'done'.  I have tried to catch up on my housework, my paperwork, and my work-work.  I love actually getting to tick things off the never-ending 'list'.  In the process, I updated the database that charts our spending from month-to-month and year-to-year... and you'll never believe what I found out...

In four months: from January to April, we have managed to cut our spending in HALF compared to what we spent in the same timeframe last year...  To give you an indication of how significant this is: we spent $11,000 LESS than we spent in 2009!  While I knew that we were doing 'well' on this project, and managing to spend less, I didn't realize just how much less we were spending!  It is a very rewarding (and yet bewildering) feeling.

Most significantly though (even more significant than saving all of that money), is that fact that our lives are fuller, happier and better than ever.  I am living, walking proof that 'less truly can be more'.  Of course, it also inspires me to do EVEN MORE!  Now I wish that I had entered this project with a group of people and made it a real challenge (there's my competitive nature shining through!)

On that note, I would love to hear from some of my readers who have some lived experiences on the "Less is More" theme... Please share either in the comments section or send me an e-mail and I can post it on the blog.

“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” ~ Leonardo da Vinci

Have a wonderful day all!


Marebare xoxo

1 comment:

  1. Holy Kazoli girl! That's incredible! Congratulations!

    When I graduated from college, having opted for the "road less traveled" I made about $8000/year the first few years. Things were mighty lean (to put it mildly) but I learned the art of extreme frugality.

    As the years progressed and I built my little music school into a thriving arts non-profit, my salary grew too, but I managed to keep my spending at the peanuts level (ok... maybe walnuts). Anyhow, I was constantly amazed to find that I had triple the savings of people who made many, many times what I did, plus I had absolutely no debt (ok... well a tiny mortgage, but nothing compared to the ridiculous sums of money that my more "successful" friends owed).

    When I finally left my full time job in 2006, I made some comment about being slightly concerned about money to a friend at work, who had only known me during the latter days of my employment. All he knew about my finances was that I allocated the maximum percentage allowable of my still very modest salary to my retirement savings, and had never once complained about my salary or asked for an advance on my paycheck. He was literally dumbstruck and confided that he had always assumed that I was a wealthy "trust fund baby" since I never seemed to worry about money!

    I had a good long chuckle about that one! And to add some frosting on the cake, my income actually doubled once I quit my job and could devote all of my efforts to my "labors of love". It's still less than what most people would consider "healthy" but I feel wealthy beyond compare!

    Less really is more!

    xoxoxo
    Rebecca

    ReplyDelete