Is There Such A Thing As Having Too Much?

Have you ever heard people say, "very little is needed to make my life happy." Does this apply to you?  Are you always striving to have more money, more house, more cars, more clothes, more, more, more?

How important are these things that we strive for in the big scheme of things?  If the thing we want the most is to provide for our children, and to enjoy our time with them, why do we keep looking for the higher paying job, and the stress filled management position that require longer hours, being on call 24 hours a day, and dealing with the stress of other peoples lives?  I've been there, and I don't think I want to go back. There's something to be said about working a job that you love, versus working a job that you hate.  Spending your life working, breathing, raising a family...It's all your life, and you should find joy and satisfaction every day of your life...not just on weekends.

Many of us could actually live off of 50% less than what we have right now. Of course there is something to be said when you really don't have enough to make it.

MAKE A CHANGE

• How many articles of clothing do you have? Count the number of clothes you have and divide it by 7. That should give you the answer of how many pieces of clothing that you would have to wear each week to use everything that you own.  How much more that seven days worth of clothing does a person need?

• How many people eat in your house?  Count up your utensils and divide them by 7. Do you really need 100 forks for 4 people?

• Count your apps, games, songs, CDs, DVDS, and divide it by 7.  Can you actually listen, play, watch everything you own in a week? My kids would say YES...I say...NO.

• How many TV stations do you have?  Do you pay for cable or have a free antenna? My TV is free.  I have over 100 free channels to choose from.  They might not be the movie channels, but if I paid extra for them every month, how many would I actually watch anyway?

Always longing for more "things" doesn't make people happy, typically.  It might seem like "the thing everybody is doing," but I've found that when I've had less financially, I've had less stress, and more time to spend with kids, and do things that require little or no money.

REDEFINE YOURSELF

• Give more.
• Worry less.
• Put people before things.
• Stop trying to measure up to everyone else's standards.
• Stop using credit cards.
• Figure out what REALLY makes you happy.
• Don't stock up on everything. You're actually spending more because you're constantly stocking up.
• Write things down.
• Figure out what really matters to you.
• Learn to say NO.