Austerity & Frugal Living

A house or any living place which is very simple and undecorated is said to be austere. An austere person is one who lives a simple life, and is strict and serious. If a person lives a very simple life with the minimum comforts, their way of living is austere.

• Austerity is neither poverty nor self-denial. Austerity comes out of maturity. It is a sign of social health. 
• Austerity born out of compulsion results in resentment of richness and is a pitiable state. The true austerity born out of maturity has tolerance for richness and is never resentful.
• Austerity is not against celebration and just vanity is not celebration.
• One who is rich in spirit can practice austerity. One may be rich materially but if he is poor in spirit he can neither celebrate nor evolve. Poverty of spirit is vanity. Austerity brings freedom from the pride of vanity. But taking pride in austerity is again a vanity!
• Austerity comes out of abundance, and austerity brings abundance. If you feel a lack in any area of life, immediately start austerity. Austerity not only brings freedom but nurtures sharing and caring.
• Enjoy life without luxuries and severe simplicity from time to time. Austere living is not an extreme or harsh form of self-denial. Rather, it is a way of cutting costs and distractions, so as to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life. Follow the frugal living rules: know your money, live below your means, know the difference between spending and investing, buy for quality, avoid consumer debt, know the difference between want & need. Never leave an opportunity to walk. Follow frugal living tips.
• Austerity helps making the world a better place. Lavish consumption is about spending and buying things to feel good, frugal consumption is about feeling good by being smarter and spending less; it’s about finding alternatives to the expensive and wastefulness of old-style consumption. Our 'must-have, must-buy' economy is eating into the planet's resources like never before. 
• If ostentatious, excessively indulgent, extravagant living got our planet into the mess it is in right now, then self-control and simplicity is how we will get out of it. 
• Austerity helps to provide equality among all humans, heal the environment, and improve the quality of life for everyone. 
• It should not be such that the rich can take an even greater share of the wealth while pressing global problems continue to be ignored.

A 2012 survey found that 40 percent of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck, putting them one car repair or one medical bill away from financial catastrophe. The number of Americans living in poverty equals 16 percent of the population. As the economic crisis drags on, the shop-till-you-drop exuberance that drove the long boom has given way to caution. Americans are deleveraging to reduce their debts to manageable levels. 

Read Personal Austerity Plan

Thrift is my guiding principle ... Indira Gandhi 

That man is rich whose pleasures are cheapest ... Henry David Thoreau

My View:

Living simple is often looked upon as a mark of giving up your ambitions, but the reality is that austerity is a virtue that enriches our lives but also contributes in making this world a better place to live. Simple living ensures that unnecessary things are out of life and focus on factors that affect the quality of life. Money is factor for happiness up to a certain point. Simplicity allows you to see the positive side of life, things that one might never be able to realize when mind is full of clutter. Austerity allows you to stay grounded and prevents you to develop feelings of ego, jealousy, greediness, and negativity. You no longer feel the need of getting into unnecessary competition which is superficial and temporary. Opulent person enjoys riches in life, an austere person leads rich life.