Less Bark....More Wag!: 2009

I liked this post so much, I copied the whole thing from FrugalDad.com.
10 Commandments For Frugal Living
April 27, 2009

The Ten Commandments are widely recognized in the Christian faith as a list of moral imperatives that believers follow. As someone who also follows the concept of frugal living, I thought I would attempt to generate ten similar imperatives, loosely based on the original commandments.

1. You shall not put money before happiness. So many of us make the mistake of putting money ahead of happiness. Whether it is declaring a major in college because of the promises of a high salary upon graduation, or accepting (or putting up with) a dead end job we hate simply because we make a lot of money.

We all have to suck it up occasionally and work through something we don’t want to do, but for the most part, look at the opportunities in life as chances to increase your happiness factor.

2. You shall not idolize things. By things I mean inanimate objects. These things have no inherent value. They are only worth the value you assign to them. Do not worship these things and be consumed by them. When I was 16 I had a picture of a Ford Mustang on my wall because it was “the car” I desperately wanted. Though I never got that particular car, “car idolatry” followed me for a while until I did finally make a new car buying mistake around twenty years-old.

3. You shall not take the name of Dave Ramsey in vain. Alright, so that’s a bit of a joke. But seriously, if you do not agree with something you hear from a “financial guru” there is no need to endlessly bash them. Simply take the good with the bad. No one says you have to adopt every piece of advice these financial personalities share.

There are many things I like about Dave Ramsey’s personal finance advice, and a couple areas where we differ. The bottom line is, develop your own plan after doing a little critical thinking over the idea of others.

4. Remember to rest, occasionally taking breaks from ultra-frugality. My grandfather wrote a letter to me when I turned 20 years-old, and it is something that I still treasure today. He said, “Stop and smell the roses. Life is to be enjoyed.” What great advice! I’ve used it over the years as a reminder that while living frugal, saving money and reducing debt have been my top financial priorities these last few years, I also have to make time to enjoy life. Take vacations; enjoy a football game with your family; take your wife out to dinner. But do it all with cash!

5. Don’t blame your parents for your financial problems. I hear a lot of people today blaming parents for financial problems, or their lack of financial education. Personally, I find that a lazy excuse. There are too many libraries, radio and television shows, blogs, and similar resources on the subject of personal finance to not be able to educate yourself.

If you ran up credit card debt because your parents never taught you about debt, guess what, you just learned a painful lesson. Consider it tuition to The School of Frugal Living, because after you work for two years at night five days a week part-time to pay off credit card debt, you will have a new respect for debt, and for the struggles your own parents went through.

6. You shall not kill your dream of financial independence. Tell someone at work you dream of retiring at 45 and watch their reaction. They will give you ten reasons why your idea is crazy. What about health insurance? How can you afford it? What if you live to be 80? What it social security isn’t there in your sixties? On and on and on.

So, many of us hear those objections, believe them, and subconsciously find ways to scuttle our plan for retiring early. Ignore those people. They have already given up on their dream, but you don’t have to. Never let anyone kill your dreams.

7. You shall not commit financial adultery by hiding money issues from your spouse. For a long time, my wife knew little about the credit card debt I had accumulated while trying to finish my online degree. I thought I was doing a good thing by not burdening her with the worries of mounting debt. I was wrong. I resented her for spending money when I was trying to pay off debt, and she didn’t understand my reluctance to spend because she thought we were living with more than we had. It was a recipe for financial, and relational, disaster.

Thankfully, I wised up and came clean about all of our finances, and together we developed a plan to attack our debts together to realize our dream of debt freedom. I’m proud to say we are nearly there, and I never could have done it without her help.

8. You shall not steal money that doesn’t belong to you. No matter how desperate you get, resist the temptation to steal money. I’m a big fan of the film Cinderella Man. One moving scene depicts the aftermath of a son’s decision to steal meat from a local butcher shop to help feed his starving family. His father discovers what his son has done and makes him return the meat. He tells his son that no matter how desperate things get, he is not to steal something that does not belong to him. It was a powerful lesson about an agonizing decision - the decision to steal to feed your family.

When I worked for a bank, I saw several employees get in trouble for stealing money. Later, we found out they were having financial problems of their own, and stole the money to help pay their debts. If you find yourself in a serious financial bind, resist the temptation to steal in an effort to get out. It will undoubtedly cause many more problems.

9. You shall not attempt to swindle your neighbor. Much news has been made of the recent Ponzi scheme busts around the country. These things have been around for a while, but with the help of technology they seem to be more prevalent than ever. But you don’t have to be running a Ponzi scheme to violate this commandment. Letting your neighbor in on a “can’t miss real estate investment opportunity” you know to be garbage violates this same commandment. Falsely pumping up a stock to neighbors to solicit their investments so your own shares increase in value is also violation.

10. You shall not covet your neighbor’s BMW. Be happy for others. Don’t be overly judgmental of the purchasing decision of others. And whatever you do, don’t be jealous of their possessions.

We once lived across the street from a guy who bought a new car every other year. He also had a huge RV, and all the toys a guy could want - jet skis, an ATV, a huge, plasma television, etc. For all I know, he could have been $100,000 in debt! Who could be envious of that?