Because Dave Ramsey Said So

For anyone who has read Dave Ramsey's "Total Money Makeover," I'm sure that his oft-repeated phrase turned mantra will ring a bell.

If you'll live like no one else, later you can live like no one else.


For those not in the know, basically the gist of the message is this:  If you make sacrifices now, like keeping your clunker instead of trading it in for another more expensive vehicle, or even foregoing that expensive meal at a fancy restaurant, opting instead for a nice homemade meal, you will eventually be able to afford that flashy new car, and an occasional meal you wouldn't have to cook.  I was just struck however, by how my own concepts of "sacrifice" and "luxury" have evolved over the years, particularly after "living like no one else" for what seems at times like forever (I'm referring here to the former, rather than to the latter  meaning of the phrase).  Ultimately, I've come to see our family as privileged even to have a moving vehicle (even if our little beat-up car has earned the nickname of The Banshee, due to the ungodly sounds it makes), and while it would be nice to be able to afford to eat out more often, it's certainly not high up there on the list of luxuries in which we're dying to take part (well, come back and ask me about that when I'm having a bad day!).  Basically, "living like no one else" has had a very different effect on our family than the one I had initially thought it would.  Instead of making us more desirous of luxuries, it's made us more cynical of them.  While living this way will indeed allow us to afford more in the future, I'm thinking we probably won't skimp on the continued frugality.