tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5437530886114278864.post6803365438648465141..comments2023-10-18T10:15:31.043-06:00Comments on MareBare Necessities: Living Green = Saving Some Green - Actually, A LOT of Green!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05827718321802434964noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5437530886114278864.post-78138702539538444782010-06-02T18:25:53.235-06:002010-06-02T18:25:53.235-06:00Holy Kazoli girl! That's incredible! Congratul...Holy Kazoli girl! That's incredible! Congratulations!<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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).<br /><br />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! <br /><br />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!<br /><br />Less really is more!<br /><br />xoxoxo<br />RebeccaAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com