Simple vs frugal

Homemade pizza

I've been a frugal soul since I was old enough to focus my eyes, first with my parents through their passion for car boot sales, charity shops and junk shops, and latterly when I was single and living alone. Then I met Martin and pulled him into it too so now he's a pretty frugal thing too.

But simple living has been a relatively new concept to me. I came across Janet Luhrs and her simple living philosophy about 10 years ago. I have many of her back issues of simple living magazine and also her book Simple Living. I can honestly say I read them all through periodically and nod as I do, thinking yes, this is the way I want my life to be.

The trouble is, I've found simple living and being frugal at the same time don't mix 100%. To a certain extent they do, but then they diverge. 

Wikipedia defines simple living as:

Simple living encompasses a number of different voluntary practices to simplify one's lifestyle. These may include, for example, reducing one's possessions, generally referred to as minimalism, or increasing self-sufficiency. Simple living may be characterized by individuals being satisfied with what they have rather than want. 

As far as I can work out from the conversations I've had over the years, everyone seems to agree on three principles:

Be satisfied with what you have
Reject consumerism
Put people above things

But for everything else, it's a grey area. For every argument for doing something one way, there will be another equally good argument for not. 

Take technology. I know of many people who do not consider technology to be compatible with simple living yet technology has enabled people to work from home and telecommute, cutting down the number of cars on the roads and the amount of emissions as well as reducing stress. I'm one of them. I work from home. There's no doubt that walking a few steps to my study to work is as simple as it gets. I am less stressed than working in the office and have more time for things I enjoy, all the things simple living is supposed to be about. Couldn't do this without the internet, a good laptop and my phone so I can teleconference instead of driving to meetings.

Advances in technology mean that instead of tapes, records and DVDs we now have digital recordings. Some people embrace this, as it allows them to declutter and reduce their possessions. Others cannot see the point of getting rid of things that are perfectly useful and still functional. I'm a bit in between on this - on the one hand I would love to reduce our DVD collection from its current behemoth proportions; on the other hand that will incur expense replacing them either with a streaming service like Netflix or buying them and downloading them onto (newly bought) storage devices, so not a frugal move. 

Then there's cars. They are a major expense and need a lot of considered thought as to their place in an simple and frugal life. Some people advocate a car-free life, opting for the bike, others maintain that it is better to keep a car for a long time and maintain it carefully until it reaches the end of its natural life. I know an extremely frugal person who only buys end-of-day food reductions and doesn't put the heating on in the winter. She despises consumerism, yet every three years she gets a new car on a lease deal. As a single woman, trouble-free motoring independence is high on her list of necessities and she'll do what she has to in order to achieve that. 

Over the years I've realised; there's no black and white answer as to what constitutes a simple life as we all lead such different lives and different priorities. The best we can do is consistently check in with ourselves to see if what we're spending and doing is aligned with our goals, and if not making a conscious choice to do something different. 

• Are we paying too much for something and can we get it cheaper?
• Should we get it cheaper or pay more to support a local business?
• Do we really need it or is it just for show? 
• If we do need it, is there another way of getting it besides just handing over cash?
• Can we do the job ourselves and save money?
• Is it all worth the time and effort, or are we making things more difficult for ourselves for very little gain? What is the simplest path?