BEING GRATEFUL FOR THE HOME YOU HAVE

GRATITUDE & CONTENTMENT

Gratitude and contentment are one of the most useful practices for leading a frugal life. When we are grateful for what we have, we more naturally will be content with what we have. By being grateful and content with all that we already have we can avoid always being on the search for the next best thing. This allows us to conserve our financial resources to put them towards what we most value.

For most of us, our homes are one of the largest assets we have. They are also an asset they can get us into a financial situation that stretches us too thin. So today I wanted to share some thoughts about being grateful for the home that you currently have. This doesn’t mean that you should never upgrade your home if that is what you really want. But, when we take the time to be grateful for the home we currently have it can change our perspective and give us better clarity on what we really want. You may realize that you really don’t need more than what you already have.

THINK ABOUT THE PURPOSE YOUR HOME SERVES

The most basic purpose of a home is to give us shelter and climate control. But even beyond that, there are other basic purposes that the home serves that we might not think about that often. Your home gives you somewhere to be yourself and be comfortable. I mean you are not going to go get into pajamas and sit down to relax while at work! It gives you a place to store food and cook meals for yourself and your family.

Your home gives you somewhere to feel secure and get away from the outside world if you are having a bad day or going through a challenging time. It’s a place you can rest and recover when you get sick. There are so many basic needs that our homes cover in our lives. We might not often think of all of these things that we get out of our homes.

DON’T COMPARE YOUR HOME TO OTHERS

No matter what we have or how much we have of it, there is always someone with something bigger and better. I was thinking how much more happy many people would be with their homes if there were no other homes to compare to. If there was no knowledge of anything being better than what you currently have, would you even be thinking about the next upgrade? Just like with cars and vacations and everything else, sometimes we catch ourselves feeling like we want something more. We can be totally happy with what we have until we see the new bigger better thing. By really being mindful of this we can be much more happy and grateful for what we have.

DECLUTTER

When we have lived in a home for a while we often start to accumulate some excess stuff. The feel of a cluttered room can make us feel unhappy about the space. It can make us think we need more space because then everything would fit nicely. No matter how much space we have, there is always the potential to continue to add more stuff to the space. Try to spend a little time decluttering a room that is feeling a little messy or doesn’t feel very comfortable to you. Just simply getting rid of a few things and neatening things up can make a big difference. You may have a whole different view of a space after doing a little decluttering. While you might have been feeling like you need a bigger space, you will often see that the space you have is perfectly fine for what you need.

CONSIDER A LITTLE NEW PAINT

Having someone paint for you can be a bit on the expensive side. But, if you are up for doing the work yourself painting a room can make a huge difference. Painting is a real pain in the neck, but you can always do it a little bit at a time if you are ok with your room looking a little bit crazy for a while until you are done. I recently repainted our Living room and Hallway.

There really wasn’t time for me to dedicate the days it would take to get the job one in all one shot. So, I painted in little bits of time when I could.  I did some work for a 1/2 hour on my lunch break when I could. Some weekends I would get an hour or two straight.  But, I just did what I could when I had the time. It took a while for it to finally get done, but once it was done, it was so worth it. Now I really love the way our Living Room and Hallway look. Before repainting I was getting really sick of the colors that I had picked so many years ago.

DEEP CLEAN SOMETHING THAT YOU HAVE BEEN MEANING TO GET TO

Sometimes we can get a negative or anxious feeling about our home if there is something that we really would like to take care of but we keep putting it off. It could be an organization project that you really want to get on. Maybe it’s a repair that needs to get made. If the task is something you can make progress on relatively easily if you just devote some time to it then make it a priority to get it done. This could be something like deep cleaning a neglected area of your home or simply wiping down a basement laundry room that has gotten a bit too dusty. If it’s something that will cost money to get done that you don’t have the budget for, try to make a plan to save up to resolve the problem.

Having a plan to save up for a project and get it taken care of can turn the negative feeling into a positive one by taking action to work toward resolving the problem. This could be something like replacing a broken closet door or having grout redone. If you acknowledge the things that might be making you not feel so great about your home, you can often do something about it, even if it’s not an immediate solution.

FOCUS ON WHAT YOU LOVE

What area of your home do you love the most? Or what area of your home might you love the most if you did some minor upgrades? Do you love to cook?  Maybe you can do something to make the kitchen serve your needs better. You don’t need to have a complete kitchen renovation to make an improvement. Even something as small as rearranging how you store things can make things more functional and allow you to enjoy the space more.

Maybe you love to spend time outside. Can you buy a couple of new cushions for the outside chairs to brighten things up a little bit? Maybe a new umbrella if you have a patio table?  Or a fire pit to have a place to gather around on a nice summer night? There are many small things you can do to bring focus or improve what you love most about your home.

CONSIDER THE FINANCIAL IMPACT OF AN UPGRADE

One thing that has always kept me loving our home and being really grateful for it is the fact that we can afford it. It feels really great to live in a home that serves all of your basic needs and that you don’t feel financially stressed about. I’m not saying that I have never considered looking at the possibility of upgrading where we live. But, even when I have, I have never gotten to the point where I actually wanted to move forward more than looking at some pictures online.

There is nothing wrong with upgrading a home when you can afford it and really want certain things out of your living space. But, often people stretch themselves too thin financially when it comes to upgrading a home. I never feel like it is worth the stress just to have a larger home, or a home with better features if you cannot easily fit it into your budget.

Thanks so much for checking in! If you would like to hear the podcast version of this topic to check out Lola’s Frugal Life Podcast! Also, be sure to check out my other blog posts on this site!

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