The Friday Feast ~ the 29th 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: Becoming Minimalist, Riskology, the Non-Consumer Advocate, Frugalwoods, Wealthy Winters.

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.

Our Life Our Way:

What do we want in life? To be happy? What does that mean? How about a life worth waking up for? I completely agree with Becoming Minimalist (as I often do) that what we really want is a life we want to live. At the moment our lives are a mixture of wanting to wake up and getting through the day but our goal of FI is to get the lives we want! Meanwhile as you know exercise and healthy habits are a big part of that for us. I'm also (along with Becoming Minimalist) going to recommend Sharpening the Saw: Why Productive People always have Time to Exercise by Riskology. We aren't runners or morning exercisers but we find time to go to the gym almost everyday and it makes a huge difference in not only our health but also our happiness.

Frugality for our Future!:

Mainstream culture often labels frugality as a horrible negative thing. Only those that NEED to be frugal are and nobody wants to NEED to be frugal. We all know that's not true but the stigma is there. The Non-Consumer Advocate this week takes on that stigma and explains how keeping a frugal mindset is a choice she is free to make, and because she chooses it, she doesn't feel deprived and therefore she is not. Great outlook. We aren't nearly as frugal but it is always smart to see the choices we make as enabling our future rather than limiting our present. Mrs. Frugalwoods would no doubt agree. They celebrated (though without noticing which is awesome) their one year anniversary of extreme frugality recently. Her thoughts: "Frugality is the gift you give yourself for a lifetime."

Money isn't everything:

We all know money isn't everything but somehow trying to reach FI ends up being A LOT about money. Most of us know the numbers we're trying to reach, and many can't help but wonder - if I somehow got that money right now, what would I do? Well sometimes that money comes with heartbreaking realities. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Wealthy Winters this week in condolences of losing her mother unexpectedly. Money certainly isn't everything.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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