WendyMcElroy.com
Building Freedom: Voluntary SimplicityAre you tired of feeding the State your tax dollars? Tired of contributing to the War in Iraq, or the War on Drugs, or welfare, or earmarks, or stupid laws, or fat Congressional paychecks? I can tell you a simple and totally legal way to reduce the amount of tax you pay.
Earn, and spend, less money.
Having to earn more money than you really need enslaves you in two ways. First, your most precious and irreplaceable asset -- your time -- is diverted, not to achieve your goals, but to achieve someone else's goals. (This may be the case either if you're a "wage slave," or if you're self-employed.) Second, a huge slice of your earned income is taxed away from you, and goes to fuel the State.
So if you want more freedom in your life, start by asking: what things that you spend money on are essential to your happiness, or to achieve your personal goals; and what things are not? The process of reducing your life to the essentials has been called "voluntary simplicity."
Earn, and spend, less money.
Having to earn more money than you really need enslaves you in two ways. First, your most precious and irreplaceable asset -- your time -- is diverted, not to achieve your goals, but to achieve someone else's goals. (This may be the case either if you're a "wage slave," or if you're self-employed.) Second, a huge slice of your earned income is taxed away from you, and goes to fuel the State.
So if you want more freedom in your life, start by asking: what things that you spend money on are essential to your happiness, or to achieve your personal goals; and what things are not? The process of reducing your life to the essentials has been called "voluntary simplicity."
I hesitate to use this popular phrase, because "voluntary simplicity" means so many different things to different people. "Simplicity" is a personal judgment; and how one person chooses to simplify may not agree with others. This leads to a number of misconceptions:
Voluntary simplicity is not frugality. These are two complementary concepts, and many people who practice voluntary simplicity -- us included! -- also practice a frugal lifestyle. But the point of simplicity is not to save every possible penny, or to get the best bargain on every purchase. The point is to ensure that your hard-earned dollars are spent to accomplish your ends.
It is not self-sufficiency. Nor is it "back to basics" or "back to nature" or neo-Luddism. It doesn't mean living in a one-room cabin, burning wood for heat, and throwing out the TV. (Unless, of course, that's what you really want to do.) You can practice a simple lifestyle anywhere, even in a city apartment.
It does not mean "doing without." We live a simple lifestyle which includes satellite TV and high-speed Internet. We have discovered that these make a significant difference in our quality of life, so we include them in our budget. But I tossed the cell phone years ago.
A budget doesn't mean you're poor. A budget isn't about saving money. It's about controlling your money...knowing where your money is going. When we first adopted a budget, we were astonished to learn that we were spending several hundred dollars a month without knowing where it was going. A workable budget will include a category for luxuries -- such as travel or live theatre, if that's your fancy -- but will not include a category for "impulse buys."
It is not living from paycheck to paycheck. As Wendy has already posted, a budget should include saving -- for specific goals, for emergencies, and for retirement.
Indeed, a lot of what we practice as voluntary simplicity is similar to what good businesses do. You might think of it as a "business plan" for your life. Where are you going, and what do you need to get there....and more to the point, what do you not need to get there?
Voluntary simplicity is not frugality. These are two complementary concepts, and many people who practice voluntary simplicity -- us included! -- also practice a frugal lifestyle. But the point of simplicity is not to save every possible penny, or to get the best bargain on every purchase. The point is to ensure that your hard-earned dollars are spent to accomplish your ends.
It is not self-sufficiency. Nor is it "back to basics" or "back to nature" or neo-Luddism. It doesn't mean living in a one-room cabin, burning wood for heat, and throwing out the TV. (Unless, of course, that's what you really want to do.) You can practice a simple lifestyle anywhere, even in a city apartment.
It does not mean "doing without." We live a simple lifestyle which includes satellite TV and high-speed Internet. We have discovered that these make a significant difference in our quality of life, so we include them in our budget. But I tossed the cell phone years ago.
A budget doesn't mean you're poor. A budget isn't about saving money. It's about controlling your money...knowing where your money is going. When we first adopted a budget, we were astonished to learn that we were spending several hundred dollars a month without knowing where it was going. A workable budget will include a category for luxuries -- such as travel or live theatre, if that's your fancy -- but will not include a category for "impulse buys."
It is not living from paycheck to paycheck. As Wendy has already posted, a budget should include saving -- for specific goals, for emergencies, and for retirement.
Indeed, a lot of what we practice as voluntary simplicity is similar to what good businesses do. You might think of it as a "business plan" for your life. Where are you going, and what do you need to get there....and more to the point, what do you not need to get there?
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