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I found this at www.freecreditfixes.com and thought you might like it: Article: I’ve had ENOUGH Enough: Lifestyle and financial panning for a simpler life. Betty Jane Wylie Published in 1998 this book covers many subjects and is a fairly easy read. While it’s over all theme focus is on simplifying our increasingly chaotic lifestyles, it offers some sound budgeting and money saving strategies for every lifestyle. While discussing consumption there is one quote she uses that sticks with me the most. “Nothing that costs only a dollar is worth having’—Elizabeth Arden. How many of use truly believe this? Maybe without even realizing that we do? Probably the majority. And that’s a great place to start. Our attitude towards life in general and our relationship with money. Where did the idea that bigger, more expensive products equaled better? Advertisements. The subtle and not so subtle message are aimed at us practically from the time we are born. Telling us that brand name is better. Trying to make us feel inferior or deprived if we don’t buy their often over priced items that we don’t really need and in far too many cases don’t’ even use after the first month or so. Advertisers spend big money thinking up new and subtle ways to try and make us believe we need their product and their brand. Breaking their hold on us and our idea that more is better is essential to simplifying our lives, and our expenses as well. Once we begin to learn and believe that we are not deprived because we don’t have the newest most expensive products, that we aren’t bad or abusive parents if we don’t provide our children with so much stuff that they can’t appreciate any of it, let alone learn the value of a dollar, everything else will fall into place. Life is not a competition. It’s time for use to slow down and stop living as if it is. It takes time to come to that conclusion. And maybe a little longer to believe it completely. I’ve been taught to “Act as if” until it is. And so far that has worked for me. Perhaps if we put actions first, the belief that “less is more” will follow. Eventually we will be happier with less stuff. If we start consuming and spending less it may not be long before we aren’t just faking happy with our new lifestyle. Fake it till you make, a saying that works in almost ever situation. Confused about where to start? Betty Jane Wylie offers some practical tips on how to not only consume less resources, but spend less money as well. One will almost always lead to the other so where you start doesn’t matter. Just that you start. Packed with advice on everything from saving on funeral arrangements to ethical investing to easing into a simpler more frugal lifestyle, this book offers some baby steps to get us going. There are also a few sample work sheets for working out budgets and household expenses. I will share my very favorite tip. It’s from the house cleaning section. Household organization and day to day cleaning of the little things is something I still struggle with, and probably always will. Here’s one tip I think I will try today. “take off your glasses so you can’t see the dust” And another tip we should all practice all the time, remember to laugh a little bit. For getting started on the journey of simplicity the book Enough : Lifestyle and financial planning for a simpler life by Betty Jane Wylie is a good starting point. http://www.freecreditfixes.com/index.php/hypnobudgets/comments/ive_had_enough/