Saver Queen is two years old!

It’s my two year blogiversary!

Thank you to the kind readers who have supported me in my journey with your kind comments and your creative participation in these discussions on frugality, simplicity and sustainability.  I’ve appreciated so much the thoughtful words that you all have shared with me throughout the last two years.

My writing has taken me in a different place than originally anticipated. When I first started writing the blog, I thought I would be giving money saving tips to people struggling to live on a low income or trying to get out of debt. The blog morphed into so much more than that. It became a place for me to develop my own personal philosophy on what life is all about and on what makes me happy. It’s become much more personal.  It’s been a bit scary; my approach to life goes against the grain, or at least is in sharp contrast to the consumer-driven messages that proliferate in so many areas of our society, and I’ve at times been weary of what outsiders might think.  But I’ve slowly admitted to more and more friends and family members that I write this blog. For the first year or more I kept it a secret, not wanting to be stigmatized for my frugal practices.  As my writing has become more of who I am, and as I’ve seen an interest in the blog from people of various backgrounds, I’ve gradually developed more confidence in sharing my words with people beyond the niche frugal online subculture, the nest in which most of my readers reside.

I’ve ventured more and more into the practice of mindfulness, and I appreciate that I have so many readers who also share my passion for living mindfully in the present.  Many financial blogs out there tend to focus on more utilitarian or practical subjects, but mine has meandered into more abstract territory.  I’ve written a lot about mindfulness. In fact, I’ve added a new category called Mindfulness, to make these posts easier to find.

I get the feeling that my consistent readers share in the belief that at the root of the discussion around frugality is a conversation about what is important in life, and how to cultivate and nurture those things that are so important to us.  My readers seem to reiterate time and time again, that it is their families, their animals, the natural world around them, and simple habits or pleasures, that make life a joy to live.

There have been many conversations about the benefits of living simply. I’ve always maintained that a simple life can be a joyous one.  I’ve never said that money is sinful, or that rich people are unhappy or evil, or that money is irrelevant, because I don’t believe any of that.  I believe that money can provide choices and opportunities and freedoms.  I want to have money in my life, like all of us do.  What I have attempted to show in this blog instead, is that no matter where we are in life – whether we are rich, poor, alone or in good company, sick, healthy, content or restless, there is always, always, goodness to be found.  This journey in the last two years has been about seeking that goodness out, despite hardship and heart-break.  To ask, what good is in my world today? What beauty can be discovered?  Is there mystery, joy, excitement, pleasure to be found in this very day, this very moment?  The answer is always yes.

We spend a lot of time wanting, hoping, wishing, planning, setting goals.  A lot of those wants and wishes and goals have to do with money. In the blog, I try not to dismiss goal setting or planning or even wanting, but rather I attempt to place the attention back on today, back on the opportunity that presents itself for a rich, full life, with whatever we have today, whatever life has thrown at us, whatever money is in our pockets.

I also believe, like my readers, that frugality and environmental sustainability go hand in hand. I believe that conscious attention, placed on one’s habits and routines, can initiate more gentle, less harmful, ways of living.  Frugality is a perspective that values the earth by discouraging waste and honouring all resources as though they are precious.

How does one create a sustainable, joyous, frugal life? I believe that community-building is part of the process. I believe being creative is part of that process. I believe that being resourceful, re-purposing, DIY, bartering, and engaging with community organizations is all part of that process. Equally, gratitude is part of that process. And so is love.

Thank you, my readers! I look forward to continuing this journey with you.