Re: Living Below Your Means

From: Brian D Williams (talon57@well.com)
Date: Tue Jun 06 2000 - 09:14:40 MDT


From: James Rogers <jamesr@best.com>

>Fine dining at expensive restaurants is something that I have
>minimized by eliminating all the mediocre experiences (I generally
>eat at home anyway). In other words, rather than going to a "very
>good" restaurant every two weeks, I've reduced it to going to only
>the best restaurants, but only once every month or two. I rarely
>go to restaurant twice (I am looking for a unique experience each
>time), so this also allows me to be more selective in a given
>metropolitan area.

I don't even drink anymore, but still maintain my subscription to
"Wine Spectator" magazine in addition to having excellent choices
at home for friends. Living below your means doesn't necessarily
mean depriving yourself, just making very smart choices, and
eliminating excesses. Once people look seriously at their
lifestyles, many people see changes they can make.

>If I optimized my life for maximal pleasure, I am quite certain
>that I could live on an order of magnitude less money than I
>currently earn. The downside is that doing so would create an
>unnecessary resource limitation. In fact, what you are describing
>is a resource stasis of sorts. My interest in money is only to
>the extent that I can fund cool projects that interest me in the
>future. I view simple living largely as a way to promote wealth
>and well-being -- a means rather than an end. My curiousity and
>ambition would never be satisfied unless I was involved in
>some type of hill-climbing behavior. I just pick my hills more
>carefully.

To each his own.

Brian

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