Before you buy something that shrinks your daily life without making it better, pause. Your lifestyle is your habits, your values, your preferred way of living daily life within your means. Within your means is the key phrase, and it usually means something different for every household.
It’s the dinners out , the small things you enjoy every day. A daily Starbucks on your way to work. A Thai massage once a month. Doing things out on weekends with people you like. getting your nails done every two weeks. None of these are small if they are a part of your routine. These activities are your lifestyle, and they are important because they matter to you. Once you learn to appreciate your daily life, you stop wanting to sacrifice it. Why would you make your own life smaller? A luxurious life isn’t a life full of expensive things. It’s a life full of good feelings, the emotions, the comfort, the small pleasures you choose for yourself. That’s the real luxury.
Have you ever wondered why people who can buy anything choose simple? Zuckerberg wears the same gray t-shirt. Buffett still lives in the house he bought in 1958. Keanu Reeves takes the subway because he values feeling like a normal person. He prefers a grounded, simple lifestyle. People who can buy anything don’t feel the urge to make ego-driven purchases. They just enjoy their daily lives, and people admire them for it. Yet, many do the opposite. People often buy cars they can’t afford, jewelry, vacations, using credit cards or installment plans only to find themselves later running on a treadmill trying to pay off the debt. Many people give up the things they enjoy every day to pay for what they believe will make their lives better. The feeling soon fades away; the smaller daily life stays.
Don’t cut your daily pleasures to pay for big purchases. Your daily life is the movie you live in. The car, the trip, the bag, those are just trailers. The daily is the life. Everything else is a bonus.
