A Lot of people are poor simply because they cannot adapt to frugality. They either choose not to, or do not know how to live cheap when occasion calls. For women, frugality is a blessing when times are hard and the home must keep moving.

We get used to lifestyles reflected by our earnings. The more the merrier. The more also, the more extravagance sets in. When you have grown knowing or exposed to living frugally, you are well able to cut costs even drastically, when occasion demands. I know people who have raised sharply from extreme poverty, indeed a life lacking in even bare basics, to be “thrown” into wealth and abundance almost overnight. This too is dangerous. Such people just have no clue about living normal. Thus, if they were thrust back to a lower level of abundance, they might just drop right back to zero because they would not know how to make do.

This is because; spending money wisely is comparable to reading and understanding manuals. It takes time to learn, and this means that you cover various topics step by step. You cannot learn your ABCs and then jump to a level where you can read and understand a medical journal. It is the same with money, before you grasp the nitty gritty of small time budgeting and shopping, you will not understand the intricacies involved in managing a multi million unit account, let alone acquisition or handling of investments of similar grandiose.

So what is frugality?

A vast majority of us lead a frugal life not out of choice, but because it is the better way to survive. Everywhere we have options. The options we elect to follow concerning financial decisions, is a determining factor on to how we later fare in life. Read the rest of this entry →

Whoever came up with the marital vows must have been a very ignorant person. He must have been so absolutely oblivious of the entire world, including the person he must have written them for, to come up with such stark nonsense.

I admit, the words could get to you, if you’re twelve and you don’t know anything about what the world is about. A poet like me could appreciate them too I suppose…but am not that blind. There must be meaning in my poetry, life experience so to speak. Write what I know is the one motto I follow to this day.

From the beginning of time, well at least after the first family (Eve, Adam and their twin sons), it is a well known fact that marriages were about money. Your clan could only betroth you to someone who brought something to the family, be it money or a good name. So who the hell was this bugger pretending to be self righteous enough to come up with those words? My only other conclusion could be that he was a big fat liar. That poor girl being lied to!! I feel sorry for her when I think of it. Read the rest of this entry →

Myths exist in a given culture because they are necessary to veil the underlying truths that they pertain to. In order to deal with these myths in an effective way they must be confronted directly with a balanced mind and wise insight, disregarding the fear and rationalization that brought them into being in the first place.  Here are some myths that are still strongly embedded among many relationships and married couples, therefore as you read them try to scrutinize and determine if they have impacted some of your own attitudes.

1. Money is an important component in marriage, families and relationships mainly for what it symbolizes. Arguments on financial issues between married couples result as an expression of conflict as related to incompatible goals, competitiveness or due to an inner struggle for control and dominance – the struggle is in no way related to money. Read the rest of this entry →