All The Frugal Ladies Personal finance with a feminine touch
I recently wrote a post about minimalism, and since then, I’ve found myself straying quite a lot from the principals. The main reason being our recent move into our new home, and falling victim to the ‘I need to fill this with things’ mentality. Suddenly I find myself in a beautiful new home, feeling that all of our ‘old things’ simply don’t fit.
Now there were quite a few things that we definitely needed to buy (for example a new couch as our old one didn’t fit), but the buying becomes an addiction. I find myself reading design blogs and following interior design accounts on Instagram, and suddenly finding items that I simply have to have (which I definitely do not HAVE to have!)
As a young couple, buying everything we want for a big new home is simply unrealistic. But having to ‘settle’ suddenly seems really difficult. Now that my house is actually mine, all I want to do is spend my free time at homeware and furniture stores.
And so, the dangerous cycle begins, of wanting more and more, filling the house with ‘things’ that may bring happiness for a few weeks or even months, but at the end of the day, they are just that – things. And they can’t make you happy. In fact, that constant feeling of wanting more, and not feeling like you have enough is what makes the cycle dangerous.
Lately I’ve becoming much more aware of these thoughts and thought processes. The fact that I am recognizing that these constant feelings of wanting more are not healthy, is at least a step in the right direction.
It’s so easy to get caught up in this consumerist crazy world, and that’s okay – but it’s also important to come back down to life.
And that’s what I’ve been trying to do lately. Bringing my feet back down to the ground. I am blessed to live in a home that will one day be a safe haven for my family, and a place to make many special memories. And that’s what matters – not the shiny things inside.
We had friends over this weekend, and whilst sitting in the garden, I found myself completely in the moment, laughing, eating, listening to stories and making memories. Not once did I think about the almost-falling-apart wooden chairs we were sitting on, and how we need to buy new ones. And suddenly I found myself having an ‘a-ha’ moment. None of that materialistic shit can ever replace those priceless memories.
