I am using the envelopes just for discipline and to cut down on my natural tendancy towards impulsiveness., and to boost our savings in this time of financial uncertainty. I am fortunate that my husband and I are very comfortable and not in debt. I tried to get my
(less comfortable) friend to join me in the Jar mentality, sort of like getting a gym or diet partner, to help keep you honest. She, however, will not come clean with her debt and is content to pretend to live like the famous Joneses. I think she is embarassed for me when I go through envelopes for my coffee money.

It is a sad commentary on people’s need to maintain a veneer of wealth, whilst really scrambling underneath.
Why can’t everyone just be honest about life?
Ie: we’re all tired of keeping up appearances. We don’t need the biggest house, the fastest, newest car, our kids don’t need to be busy every second of the day in order for us to prove ourselves as mothers, etc…
We are all so bloody busy “doing” and pretending, it is just silly.

I thought peer pressure ended after high school, but it just continues on in different forms.

Thanks. Gail for all your sensible advice. It should be a manditory class prior to marriage, having children, etc….

I wish you well in all your new endeavours.

Gail, because of you, hubby and I were able to handle his layoff with a smooth transition. We were long overdue and ready to commit to jar life and I don’t feel deprived. I feel proud that I’m consciously thinking about the choices of where our money goes. Before January, we had no savings. We were fortunate in receiving a severance package, and we set aside savings from that, calculated what we needed for the jars for the duration of the severance and put the rest towards debt. We no longer have any consumer debt as a result. And we couldn’t have done it without you, because we never would have bothered to think that way before.

So thank you, for being you, for helping those of us who have watched from the sidelines, too nervous to commit, and for supporting those of us who have finally committed. All hail the Gail!

Gail,
I really hope that you still continue with this blog after your TV career ends. I find it very helpful to know that there are other people out there who think like me regarding the over consumerism that is going on. And I find your blogs interesting and educational.

After reading the blog I always want to make some profound comment – but by the time I finish reading through the comments all of my thoughts have been said. (I guess I just need to read the blog earlier in the day).

Amen, thank you, merci beaucoup, whatever works is still not enough to give you my most deepest and humblest gratitude Gail. Now go reach some other people will ya?!!

Deprivation always makes me feel deprived – and cranky. That is why for most of my life I never lasted long on any diet – food or fiscal – and have always resented any restrictions. Tell me no and I laugh in the face of oppression. What I have learned over the past few years is that things are not always as tragic as you make them out to be. It is all in how you decide to look at things and you are only ever as happy as you make up your mind to be. Sometimes settling for less is gaining much more than you ever dreamed possible.

Whenever we feel like we may be slipping back into our old consumer ways and sense of entitlement we play the LESS is MORE game. Seeing what doing with less can give us in exchange. These are some of the things we have come up with—less pollution, more life—less waste, more conservation—less possessions, more space—less self pity, more happiness—less presents, more appreciation—less TV, more conversation—less technology, more companionship—less car trips, more exercise—less junk food, more nutrients—less sweets, more weight loss—less debt, more security—less spending, more savings—less materialism, more spirituality—less envy, more peace of mind—less chemicals, more health.

Less is more and something is better than nothing. To change our financial situation -which was awful – we had to stop pouting and give ourselves an attitude adjustment. Give up the all or nothing religion we had always embraced (and actually it was mostly the ALL until we ended up with the NOTHING) and learn to be happy with the SOMETHING.

I love Swiss Chocolate. Could eat a whole bar by myself in a day. Well, actually in about 10 minutes but that sounds really, really bad. This of course always made me very ill with a migraine but to me it was worth the pain. Ditto for red wine. I love red wine. I spent fourteen years in the Okanagan Valley watching the grapes grow and when I was fifteen I lived in Switzerland and every Sunday my Godfather and I and the dog would walk into the village to go to worship the vines at the local cellar. After a couple of hours all three of us would walk home again with soppy grins on our faces and undulating just a little bit.

When we first did our budget it looked like I could never, ever have chocolate or wine again. I was quite literally devastated and went into deep mourning. Wanted to buy a simple black dress and matching veil but couldn’t afford them either. Thought I was even going to die from the shock and made plans to retreat to a Nunnery if I survived. Heard they have wine there.

After a few months on the budget I was given a reprieve and figured out a way that I could have chocolate and red wine but only a little bit at a time. I felt like life was worth living again and the cats never even noticed that they were only getting sardines once a week. This is the something rather than the all or nothing principle and I have my little something every day with dinner and after dinner with tea. And now that we are a lot smarter and spending less on chocolate and wine the cats are getting more sardines – on Sunday and Wednesday.

You’re absolutely right – we give way too much airtime to money. What else is important to us? Relationships, beauty, adventure, exploration of self and the world, intellectual curiosity and personal satisfaction. My personal quest is to infuse my life with a certain mindfulness that will quench these desires, while maintaining my frugality. Money is not the only gateway to a fulfilling life, I am certain.

Does anyone else here love the book “on the road” by Jack Kerouac? That book epitomizes, for me, a zest for life – a passion for the beauty found in simple moments – a person’s spirit or the light at dusk. We don’t need to have a lot of money or “stuff” to have this passion.