To live an extraordinary life, you must resist an ordinary approach. -Frank McKinney
Life isn’t fair. It’s harder these days to get ahead due to stagnant wages and rising inflation. You work just to pay the bills.
In the past a family could survive on one household income. Those days are long gone; the current generation has it harder than ever.
If you’re average and ordinary, you’re in trouble.
The times are different, for sure, but so too are attitudes.
Work ethic is an old-fashioned idea that routinely gets criticized––along with sacrifice, discipline, and frugality. Compared to past generations, there is less focus on earning, saving, and buying with cash.
These days people who work overtime or weekends are called workaholics. These days life is about balance. These days people live in outsized homes that were bought to satisfy outsized desires.
Maybe these days we need to be different than average. “The hardest struggle of all is to be something different from what the average man is,” said Charles Schwab.
Times may be different. But with more old-fashioned work ethic, sacrifice, discipline, and frugality. . . life is a game we can still win.
I don’t necessarily agree that a single income household is impossible but it certainly makes the sacrifices go a bit deeper. But this is another great reminder. My wife and I constantly get odd looks or comments because we live below our means. It’s easy to forget what the goal is when few others seem to be pursuing it. Thank you for your blog posts.
Completely agree, John. People always thought I was just getting by due to external appearances. You’re doing it right if they can’t see it!
I love all of your posts but this one is another stand out to me! There are giant homes going up all around us, and I marvel at the ‘need’ for such huge spaces that one would then have to fill up with tons of stuff.
On the flip side, living below your means is actually fun. Every time my husband and I cook at home we think about all the money we didn’t spend AND how nice it is to prep a meal together and sit down to talk at our own table.
Thanks again for putting out such a great newsletter!
P.S. – Sorry about the disappointing triathlon. It made me want to go get one of those stand-up desks after hearing your ‘why’ :o) I say that gently as I SIT here typing.
Love your name… happymoosegardenem… can’t read that without smiling!