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Is Happiness a Side Effect of Frugality?
08-08-2010, 05:32 PM
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#1
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Is Happiness a Side Effect of Frugality?
NYT: Happiness is side effect of new frugality - Business - The New York Times - msnbc.com
I think this is likely right on for many of us, certainly for me. I am not an extra-frugal expert like some here, but I do pay attention to what I want and what I decide to buy.
Ha
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08-08-2010, 06:30 PM
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#2
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Feb 2007
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I think part of it is the control factor of being frugal is liberating! Interesting article!
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Make no mistake, my friend, it takes more than money to make men rich. - A. P. Gouthey
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08-08-2010, 06:31 PM
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#3
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
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Some things I've purchased have given me a lot of comfort and pleasure. Most things have not as the joy is rather fleeting.
I still believe the best things in life are simple and free.
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There's no need to complicate, our time is short..
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08-08-2010, 06:57 PM
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#4
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Administrator
Join Date: Apr 2006
Posts: 23,041
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In my view, happiness is the freedom that comes from becoming financially independent. You don't get there being a spendthrift.
And in a related vein, I have sometimes regretted money I spent on stuff, but I never regretted money I have spent on experiences
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Living an analog life in the Digital Age.
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08-08-2010, 06:58 PM
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#5
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
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Things will have changed when we stop talking about the things or experiences we can buy to make us happy but what we do to make others happy.
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Sometimes death is not as tragic as not knowing how to live. This man knew how to live--and how to make others glad they were living. - Jack Benny at Nat King Cole's funeral
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08-08-2010, 07:06 PM
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#6
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
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 Quote:
Originally Posted by dex
Things will have changed when we stop talking about the things or experiences we can buy to make us happy but what we do to make others happy.
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Mmmm, hmmmm....I agree. 
Anybody want to make me happy? 
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There's no need to complicate, our time is short..
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08-08-2010, 07:12 PM
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#7
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
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Sometimes death is not as tragic as not knowing how to live. This man knew how to live--and how to make others glad they were living. - Jack Benny at Nat King Cole's funeral
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08-08-2010, 07:15 PM
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#8
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Confused about dryer sheets
Join Date: Feb 2010
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Don't know that it's frugality but I find the older I get, I find happiness in simplicity. The less stuff I own the better.
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08-08-2010, 07:21 PM
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#9
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
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There's no need to complicate, our time is short..
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08-08-2010, 11:46 PM
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#10
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Personally I find the less stuff I have, the less stressed I am. I hate the feeling of being surrounded by clutter. I don't know that having less stuff would be directly linked to being frugal for myself, whereas for the couple featured in the article it did. I do agree with the article in that I would rather pay more for an experience as that does seem to give me a bigger payback.
Let's face it, no matter what the situation, you can always turn your mind to your experiences, whereas stuff is just something else you have to move to clean around.
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I be a girl, he's a boy. Think I maybe FIRED since July 08. Mid 40s, no kidlets. Actually am totally clueless as to what is going on with DH.
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08-09-2010, 07:05 AM
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#11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Gordy
Don't know that it's frugality but I find the older I get, I find happiness in simplicity. The less stuff I own the better.
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Ditto!
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08-09-2010, 07:41 AM
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#12
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I think as long as the frugality is voluntary and not forced by tight financial circumstances, there is something to it. When you stop the relentless quest for more stuff (and a larger place to put it), it's strangely liberating. There's something therapeutic about realizing that you don't need much to be happy.
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"Hey, for every ten dollars, that's another hour that I have to be in the work place. That's an hour of my life. And my life is a very finite thing. I have only 'x' number of hours left before I'm dead. So how do I want to use these hours of my life? Do I want to use them just spending it on more crap and more stuff, or do I want to start getting a handle on it and using my life more intelligently?" -- Joe Dominguez (1938 - 1997)
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08-09-2010, 08:08 AM
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#13
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
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What didya have in mind? 
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Consult with your own advisor or representative. My thoughts should not be construed as investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results (love that one).......:)
This Thread is USELESS without pics.........:)
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08-09-2010, 08:28 AM
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#14
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
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Where's Unclemick when you need him? "Ahhh the joy of being a cheap old bastard."
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Retired 3/31/2007@52
Investing style: Full time wuss.
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08-09-2010, 10:23 AM
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#15
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Recycles dryer sheets
Join Date: Aug 2010
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Great article, too bad the comments under the article deteriorated into the typical left-wing/right-wing shenanigans, and eventually it seemed as if people missed the point.
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08-09-2010, 10:28 AM
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#16
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
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Great article. I loved the phrases "calculated consumption"
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“We’re moving from a conspicuous consumption — which is ‘buy without regard’ — to a calculated consumption”
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and "emotional efficiency"
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The latest round of research is, for lack of a better term, all about emotional efficiency: how to reap the most happiness for your dollar.
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Most stuff just sucks your soul.* I think frugality makes you happier by forcing you to focus on true sources happiness, and to banish the false sources, which are continually being pushed on us.
*Computers and bass boats excepted.
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And if I claim to be a wise man, it surely means that I don't know.
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08-09-2010, 10:29 AM
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#17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Carnage
Great article, too bad the comments under the article deteriorated into the typical left-wing/right-wing shenanigans, and eventually it seemed as if people missed the point.
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Most comments sections are at best entertaining, usually more like 9th graders trying to be cool. Only very occasionally does anyone say anything worthwhile.
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"Good judgment comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgement." - Anonymous (not Will Rogers or Sam Clemens)
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08-09-2010, 11:01 AM
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#18
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Interesting article. This illustrates how good things can come from bad times. I agree experiences provide more happiness than material goods.
I checked out Ms. Strobel's website mentioned in the article here:
"Ms. Strobel — our heroine who moved into the 400-square foot apartment — is now an advocate of simple living, writing in her spare time about her own life choices at Rowdykittens.com."
I'm going to have to try the baking soda shampoo!
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I purr therefore I am.
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08-09-2010, 11:06 AM
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#19
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Purron
I'm going to have to try the baking soda shampoo!
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True frugalestas shave their head, saving hair styling, shampoo, hair spray, combs, brushes and water.
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Sometimes death is not as tragic as not knowing how to live. This man knew how to live--and how to make others glad they were living. - Jack Benny at Nat King Cole's funeral
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08-09-2010, 11:11 AM
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#20
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by harley
Most comments sections are at best entertaining, usually more like 9th graders trying to be cool. Only very occasionally does anyone say anything worthwhile.
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An insult to ninth graders... 
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Have Funds, Will Retire
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