By Victoria Rolfe
Well, it’s been quite a year, to say the least. I think that how much it affected us individually and how we came through it had a lot to do with how we had been going about our lives before this year. How prepared were you for something like this?
I think this year many people have come face to face with question posed by Aesop’s classic fable, “The Grasshopper and the Ant”: Which kind of critter are you? The grasshopper will ignore the future and just live for today, only to be surprised when winter comes and he has nothing put aside to get him through the cold snowy months. Meanwhile, the ant has been working throughout the summer to build up a stash to sustain him throughout those food-barren months. Does this mean that the ant has no fun while he is preparing for the future? Absolutely not! There are a great many ways that that little ant can have fun while also taking the time to put those resources away for that rainy day. But the wise little ant always keeps in mind that winter is coming and does what he needs to do to be prepared.
So, yes, enjoy yourself for today. There are any number of ways that you can enjoy life for very little cost or for free. But if you are a wise little ant you will always be stocking up for the future so that (unlike that silly irresponsible grasshopper) when times such as this come along, you will have an abundance to enjoy and your winter will be more like a gorgeous phantasmagorical riot of spring blossoms. Because you, my little friend, prepared for it.
Victoria Rolfe is a family budget coach who has had a lifetime of experience in the art and joy of frugal living and its resulting financial freedom. She spent many years as a stay-at-home mom and home economist and rose successfully to the challenge of raising a family of four kids on a modest income without incurring debt. She did crazy things like paying for all their cars with cash, paying off their mortgage in ten years, buying their next house for cash, and sending all her kids to college with no student loans, while building a comfortable retirement nest egg for their own bright future.
She is now passionate about helping others to enter this beautiful world of peaceful and simple frugality and to achieve their own financial goals with the knowledge and personal finance skills that she has acquired. She writes a monthly blog, teaches via a series of light-hearted group presentations that she created, and sees clients in one-on-one personal meetings.
Visit her website and blog at brightfuture2budget4.weebly.com, or email her at brightfuture2budget4@gmail.com.