ECONOMY LIVING

I must confess that sometimes I get bogged down with terminology and occasionally see blank stares when I’m giving a talk entitled “Planning a Simpler Lifestyle”. What is a simple lifestyle? Simple compared to what?

Some people imagine that I am advocating a hippy life style, living off their organic gardens, selling craft goods at the front gate and bartering for the commodities they cannot produce. I have a certain admiration for these hardy and innovative folk but that is not what I mean by a simple lifestyle.

Others think that it is driving a twenty year old bomb, going to the opportunity shop for clothes and salvaging anything that the might be useful someday. This again isn’t what I am on about either. I could go on because simplicity takes many shapes and forms. Baking instead of buying; turning the unused lights off; cycling instead of using the car. All these things are a part and parcel but it’s it’s not where I suggest starting. Simple lifestyle in these terms can become faddish, almost cultist.

Simple lifestyle is not a way to cop out of social relationships and responsibilities. Many of the specifics that mark simplicity might also be seen as selfishness or stinginess.

I prefer to talk about “Economy Living” rather than the simple lifestyle. When I see what people are frittering away on nonessentials and wasting precious commodities without a thought for the millions of starving people in third world countries, there has got to be something wrong somewhere. One small step taken towards economy living with the intention of sharing with those less fortunate could get our eyes off ourselves and open up exciting avenues for many who otherwise would only live for themselves. We seem to be getting oblivious to empty stomachs with the growing need for a few scraps off our well-laden tables.

I saw a statistic that really hit home to me, “If all the starving (not just the undernourished) children in the world were lined up, one behind the other, starting from your front door, the end of the queue would be 25,000 miles away. That should make us choke on our oysters and pate. But we cannot remedy other people’s problems until we have our own house in order. The right use of money includes using it properly for our own needs. Only when have done that can we turn to the aid of others. In fact it’s a balancing act and we walk a tightrope strung between our needs and the needs of others. To stand on either side is to neglect the other side. We need to be poised so that a delicate balance is maintained and that’s not easy.

So, if your attitude is, “ Yes, I'll give the hungry something to eat if you show me how” – great! -- may I suggest that you don’t go overboard but take a few small steps towards creative economy living.

First you need to establish a target or goal to aim for like sponsoring a child through the one of the aid organizations. Then to make consistent giving a habit you need to determine your capacity to fulfill the obligation. Establish your present financial situation then, if necessary, prune away extraneous expenditure until sufficient surplus can be maintained in your financial plan for the ensuing twelve months.

You can find a deep personal satisfaction in learning to live more simply that the poor may simply live .