The Friday Feast ~ the 22nd of May

I love learning. Always have. So when I find a blog or writer that interests me I devour everything I can find. Every day I move countless amazing articles from an array of  frugal, simple living, FI-minded writers into my Amazing Reads folder to be read at my leisure. These articles inspire me and the Mr. to think about things in different ways, to keep open minds and to constantly keep learning so we can be the best possible us.

In this episode of Friday Feast: Mr. Money Mustache, Penniless Parenting, Money Mozart, Dharma Wanderlust, Mad Fientist, Even Steven Money.

Here are my picks for this week's Feast. I hope they inspire you to set financial goals and take control over your heart, mind and - yes, your pocketbook.  There is a fire lit within each and every one of us, and the sooner we find that flame, the quicker we can use it for the energy we need to master our own happiness.

Teaching Children:

We had two great articles this week about how to teach children about money. I can imagine this being quite difficult as a parent (as many parts of being a parent can be). How do you instill the financial know-how you know will help your children in the future without making it boring or having them feel deprived in the present? There are many other great articles written in the past but for this week take a look at Mr. Money Mustache's take and how Penniless Parenting tackles this problem.

Things!:

For many people the definition of success is having what you want: the latest phone, that newest car, the awesome vacation. That is not how we define success, but it is all too common. There were a number of articles this week which focused on this theme.

Money Mozart brought up a very interesting question this week asking "where did our rental obsession come from?" As he points out, our society can and will try to rent anything now-a-days. Why? Because success=things. So while someone may not be able to own something outright, they still don't have to wait! Instead, rent it. So what if they end up losing money in the long run. They get the best as quickly as possible.

Dharma Wanderlust shares the opposite side of the Things! dilemma. She doesn't own a TV, hasn't for a long time and is often marginalized in conversation or called out becuase of it. Why? I think again because the TV is a status symbol for many that she is choosing not to comply with.

Speaking of choosing: The Mad Fientist posted about how after taking a good look at his life, his expectations and even his definitions of success, he realized how to find happiness through subtraction. His story is a good one. We think we know what will make us happy. But do we really? We need to sit back and take a look at our lives the way he has done to see what's working and what is not. Subtract what's not, whether that be things, ideas, where you live, etc. We're all trying to be as happy as possible and sometimes (often) that doesn't mean having more - many times, it actually means less.

Sticking to your guns...:

If you haven't read Even Steven Money's post this week, please do so. This is my husband, and his father, and my father for that matter. They will get up to 'go to the bathroom' just to make sure they pay the check at the restaurant. While incredibly thoughtful, it can lead to a lot of questions of fairness. We are making the most money, but they also know our goals and how hard we're trying to keep our savings rate high. Meanwhile, they are both retired and while they have sizable nest eggs, both have a more fixed income then us and less chance to make up for things later. So who should pay?  When the families come visit us they let us treat more now, and when we go visit them, they treat. It's just when we go on vacation that the bill fight can happen. So we're learning how to insist but not too much so that everyone is happy. It's a good problem to have I know.

Happy Memorial Day to our US readers! We hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

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Did you read something inspiring this week? If so let us know in the comments below!

They have been at a great feast of learning, and stolen the scraps.
- William Shakespeare