Saving Money & Wasting Less

Lesson 8: Putting it together

This course is not just about saving money, it's about saving the Earth as well. This lesson looks at further ways to do both and takes a last look at the ethics of consumption. We look at voluntary simplicity, which is a growing movement in the West, and which embodies the ideas of saving the Earth, and in so doing, saving money.

We finish the course by looking at what to do if financial disaster strikes, such as through prolonged unemployment, or an extended recession, or even another depression. We also take a common sense look at preparing for disasters, which can save far more than saving money - it can save your life.

Voluntary simplicity

Voluntary simplicity is not the same thing as frugality, and is certainly not the same as voluntary poverty. It can be, and is, practiced by people who have no actual need to restrict their spending at all. The term was coined in 1936 by Gandhi, who said that voluntary simplicity included partial restraint in some areas of life to allow you to have more abundance in other ways.

By ridding ourselves of exterior clutter and organizing our lives so that we have less need to chase the holy dollar, we have more time and energy to concentrate on the things that will build our real riches. What makes a life rich and abundant is different for different people. You already know what will make your life inwardly richer. You already know what will really make you happy.

Voluntary simplicity is not a turning away from technology or progress either. It is simply choosing which of the available technologies is useful and can enrich our lives, and which do not. The common assumption that if it's new it must be better, has no place in a voluntary simple life. Some 'advancements' do not advance society at all, and others do.

As we have seen in earlier lessons, voluntary simplicity is simply a conscious decision to be less profligate, and to buy only the things we need or really want and to get rid of extraneous clutter we don't need, and mindless distractions that don't enrich our lives. It spells the end of mindless consumption.

As Duane Elgin explains in the excellent book, Voluntary Simplicity, it is a move towards a way of life that is outwardly simple and inwardly rich. It is a lifestyle that allows you to smell the roses and watch the sunsets, and is a rediscovery of the simple joys of life. It is also about thinking about the way you live and what you do, rather than running on 'auto-pilot' following the herd.

Last Easter Sunday, sitting on the patio in the evening after dinner, chatting with close friends, we were lit only by the rising moon. It was glorious to watch the moon in all its ripeness, and as we watched it rise, we were reminded that Easter Friday occurs on the first Friday after the full moon after the spring/autumn equinox (depending on which hemisphere you live in). This is why Easter moves around the calendar. While our neighbours were indoors watching their televisions, chatting on the Internet with people they'd have no time for if they lived next door, or playing video games, we were watching the moon rise. It was so bright and cloudless that the birds continued their chatter even as the garden spiders built their webs for their night's hunting. It was simple, and it was a beautiful way to spend the evening.

I have practiced voluntary simplicity for several years now, and have found myself more in tune with the natural world around me, less stressed than I used to be, and much less worried about the future. I have more time for family and friends, and for volunteering in the community, and I have time to try to paint, to learn to play piano, and even to try tap dancing! I am leaving a smaller ecological footprint than others around me, and in so doing, know that I am part of the solution and not part of the problem.

Voluntary simplicity means I can afford not to work full time because I spend much less money than I used to. My wants are simpler, and more in tune with the natural environment.

There are many websites and Internet rings on voluntary simplicity. Simple Living is a good starting point.

1  2  3  4  5