Is it possible to be frugal and covet the good life?

[liveandchi]

Is it possible? Can you like and want expensive things and still be frugal?

[jmjj215]

Of course! I'm living proof. But I'd be careful coveting things. It can make you bitter. Finding joy where you're at in life - now that is something to strive for.

[34saving]

I suppose if you like and want used nice things. For example I'm a big Toyota Camry fan which isn't the most frugal car on the planet, but since I drive one that's ten years old and was totalled (and fixed) before I got it . . . I think that still counts

[jodi]

My frugality is a means to an end - enjoying the things that bring me happiness, some of which can be expensive (traveling, going out to nice restaurants). I scrimp on things that don't matter so that I can enjoy the things that my husband and I have set up for goals. It's all about choices.

[PrincessPerky]

I think it depends on your opinion of the good life, Fr me the good life is being here for my kids (here .) and traveling when I want (not there yet).

[lrjohnson]

I say Aye, one can be frugal and desire items that are costly....I adore travelling, as many others posting appear to, and love fine dining. I do a lot of frugal things to enable me to travel and dine.

[mom-from-missouri]

I think so, as long as it doesn't get out of hand. But, sometimes there is a really nice item we want, and it comes along as a once in a lifetime bargin...

[DivaJen]

I've posted now and then, including yesterday, on my journal about home improvements. DH and I plan on living here for a long, long time. We'd like to be able to afford to retire here, with our house being paid off in the next 18 years or so. So for us, part of being frugal is about being able to afford to fix up our home and make it really nice to live in. The kitchen works - it has a floor and counters and cupboards - but it isn't very nice to look at. So saving here and there means we can afford to think about ways to fix it up.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that you can want nice things and be frugal. Sometimes, being frugal is what allows you to have the nicer things down the road. It also means being able to do/have said things without going into debt to do it.

We aren't frugal because we're in debt and need to get out - we're frugal so that we can do the things we want to do (educate DD, travel, home improvements) without going into debt to do them.

[byusteeler]

Frugal basically means using your resources wisely. If you have the resources or make sacrifices of some luxuries, to get the luxury items important to you, you can still be called frugal. If you are buying luxury items you can not afford or are buying a lot on credit, that is when you lose the frugality.

[mom-from-missouri]

I think that each of us has different things that we want to do, so we are frugal in other areas so we can do those things.

I think that being frugal allows me to splurge once in a while on something nice. What I try to do is write down specifically what I want and the amount it costs. I save until I get that amount. Then if I still want the item, I buy it. If not, I put the money in savings. This avoids impulse buys too.

[baselle]

You have to define "the good life". What is a good life to you?

I know its philosophical, but if you define good life as good relationships, a life of meaning, community participation, and a certain amount of financial security, then I would think that frugality is not only possible, but mandatory.

If you define the good life as stuff, frugality is possible, but that's when the rule of "never buy retail" comes in, and you have to pick and choose your stuff.

You know that the most telling word in that question is "covet". Covet means envy, which means a get-it-no-matter-what-feeling, and that is anathema to frugality.