Focus

Well, I had to take a little break from blogging due to illness, and while I was away I asked my friends on my Quality Frugality FaceBook page to give me their opinion on something. So, here was my question: How do you use money wisely, yet not dwell on it or think about it all the time? Is it possible? Should we be thinking about it at all?

The reason I am interested in this is because I started being concerned that the focus of my blog would be so centered around money issues (it is about being frugal after all) that it would seem I was saying money is the center of a quality life. That is not my intent at all! Handling finances and controlling spending are part of our life on this earth, and if not done well, we can end up in some very bad places, but if it is what we focus on all the time, we will be miserable. You don't need to look far down the Hollywood Walk of Fame to see names of people that prove money does not buy happiness. Broken marriages, broken lives and broken bank accounts after making millions are our proof.

So, back to the question. My friend, Savvy Kate, responded this way, "I don't know how everyone else handles this, but what helps me is to remember that the money I have is not really mine. As cheesy as it sounds, God gave me the money I have...it's not mine. When I view my expenditures as the spending of someone else's money, it changes the way I view the money, itself, and the things bought with it." I like this. We are to take good care of what is given to us, whether that be money, friends, family, nature, good looks, smarts, talent, etc. Some of us are given or blessed with more of some of these than others. How we use them becomes our focus.

I can be the most musically talented person on earth (yeah right), but if I never sing or write a song or pick up an instrument, the talent is wasted on me. If I go to the other extreme and eat, breath, and speak music all the time, I will miss out on other things in life and will probably ruin relationships along the way. Balance is called for in this situation, as in most.

I don't have all the answers here, maybe none of the answers, but I did want to take a few moments to make it clear that lots of money and things do not equal quality living. I don't believe money should be our focus, but I do believe it is our responsibility to use it wisely. Having fun all the time shouldn't be our focus either, but there is a time for it. Helping our children learn to love life is not always possible. Bad things happen to everyone. But, teaching them about joy is important.

As we walk, skip, run and jump together through this journey of seeking to live with quality while maintaining frugality, I just want us to remember our focus is not money, but living the life we are put here to live and blessing those around us as we can.