I really identify with the first point about spending less time being poor... if you focus on it every minute of every day, you are bound to be depressed and depressed people shop more at least IMO and then you have less money than you started with or higher credit card bills.

DH and I are always in a constant battle with his side of the family when we can't afford to do something that they are all doing, and they say well why not and look what you are missing, and money and prestige in a company are everything to them. Our philosophy is that our family comes first and as long as we have each other and our DD then we are the richest people in the world; we make sure we have enough to meet our needs and yes we have gotten into some debt but we are working toward getting out of it and improving our lives. To us focusing on money is a need when you are budgeting and maintaining your own quality of life, but money doesn't equal happiness or whether you are rich or not. If you remember that then you won't need to go out and buy something to make yourself feel better or to feel rich!

Another one that I just found to be true. A sleepover of a couple of your children's friends. They just want to play and will eat pb&j if that is what you have. Kids truley are what we teach them to be.

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A Family of 5's quest to forget the Joneses.

Good article, but it doesn't help much in reality. Taking walks in the park and feeling good about yourself won't feed the kids.

Thanks for sharing. I love #4: choose your extravagances. We don't have cable, and sacrifice some things we may think we want, so that we can take nice vacations together, and splurge on fun things once in a planned, well-budgeted while.

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It's not what you make; it's what you spend.