To expand upon my thoughts on paring down…after you get over the initial shock of being reduced to bare necessities, there’s a certain sense of, well, not exactly liberation, but–lightness.

I won’t lie, it’s not fun to have to decide between dental work, car maintenance, basic healthcare, food, and other essential expenses, and just hope that nothing goes terribly wrong in the meantime.  But there’s a weird kind of freedom in keeping it simple and cheap, and peeling back the layers of what you thought you needed to survive.

For example, I used to have a savings buffer for periodic major expenses that might come up, like dental, auto, insurance, quarterly taxes, travel, holiday gifts for the family, etc.  Now, we have to anticipate and save for costs months ahead, and/or sacrifice nonessential ones.  It teaches you self-discipline and keeps you honest.

We’re not in a position to pay large expenses in cash up front, but we don’t incur much debt either.  We only use credit cards to build and maintain our credit scores, in order to eventually qualify for a home loan, and pay the balance in full each month.  We are consistently strict about setting aside a percent of our meager income in savings to that end.  It’s not easy, but we’re still better off than many Americans.

Insecurity can take various forms, such as binge-eating, or frivolous shopping.  I used to indulge in some.  It was a temporary fix, not a solution.  Without that option, I’ve had to learn to be content with less, and make it work.  It forces you to think more resourcefully and creatively.

When I think of the horrible life of early American settlers on the frontier, how unprepared they were for the life they chose, and at what cost we’ve “progressed” to this current American lifestyle, I feel both fortunate and disturbed.  Native Americans had a much more civilized approach to the world around them, living in harmony with the natural world and taking no more than they needed. They perfected the art of living simply and using resources wisely and sustainably.  Greed and envy weren’t even a concept for them.

We can’t go back, nor should we, but we can learn to take less from our environment, and make the most of what we have.  Having not much choice in the matter does facilitate a radical change in attitude and behavior.  Would I prefer having more options, hell yeah!  But not having them forces me to focus on what’s important and essential.  The rest, you can’t take with you anyway.