Conscious lifestyle choices: how much is enough?

Thought I'd dip into the well of what other people are doing and talk a bit about frugality today.

Frugality is something I'm not very good at. Some people are great at it--so great that they publish newsletters on how to turn those rubber bands you're saving into, oh, car tires or something. They, as the saying goes, pinch pennies until Lincoln screams.

Why?

Some people, I think, do it for the ego boost, but that's not us. People living a consciously sane life might choose frugality to lighten their burden on Mother Earth--realizing that enough is, in fact, enough, and more than enough is harmful. They might do it in order to spend their money on other things of importance: perhaps making it go farther so they can do work that isn't repaid in cash, or so they can give more to others with less than enough. They might do it because they're trying to make the money they have actually go far enough to take care of their own obligations (if, for example, they weren't so good at frugality before).

They might practice frugality in order to not be frugal about something else, like travel.

Or, they might not aim for frugality at all. They might be seeking out simplicity.

Simplicity means spending your resources (money, time, energy, etc) on the things that matter most. It's choosing to spend less overall in order to get out of debt, because releasing that burden frees you to do other things without worrying about whether you're repaid in cash. It's choosing to spend less on a car, because you really want to focus on what you do when you get there, not what you look like arriving. It's choosing to put your money into yoga sessions instead of credit card payments, or hand-crafted anything or organic foods from local farmers (or even your own garden, if gardening simplifies your life). It's about focusing on the accoutrements of your path (the flowers along the way, perhaps) rather than wandering down the path someone said you should be taking, with the furniture someone else says you need, or the car that will make you sexier or more powerful.

Frugality does not necessarily equal simplicity. I know people who take frugality to the clutter-bug extreme (hoarding). I think some people take minimalism to an extreme (there, too, one should be seeking "enough," but perhaps the true minimalist simply "needs" less to create enough). Simplicity, though--well, maybe you can take that to an extreme, but then you take it out of the category again. Enough is enough, and only you know how much that is for you. More than enough? Might be time to ask what space you're trying to fill.