Joyfully Frugal/ Frugally Joyful

I have a piece of wood hanging over my back door in the kitchen.  The wood was free and I painted it myself.  I painted pretty things on it myself.  Finally I printed a “note to self” on it just to remind me of an important message not often valued in this world, when I need reminding.   With as much time as I spend in my little kitchen I see this message each day; several times each day actually.  I also want my children to grow up seeing its message and hopefully they come away with an important understanding of why we live the way we do… and how.  It would be one of the more important lessons my children could learn from me.  My little wooden sign or plaque reads “Living Joyfully… within our means” and frankly sometimes I need a reminder.  Like when I yell at the top of my lungs how “I love my (1940) kitchen” or when we pour over the budget one more time trying to decide where we can pull and squeeze from.  But seriously it’s a reminder that I have “enough” even if I don’t have everything and even if we struggle a bit.  I know that I am very blessed with “enough” and maybe I need another plaque for that thought, but in fact I have been promised with “enough” in some very personal ways from my Heavenly Father and so now, many times, I don’t even stress about it anymore.  I just make sure I’m working my hardest, looking for all of the beauty and goodness that there is in life and I am content.  
So I loved coming across a little bit of inspiration today that says “The happiest people don’t have the best of everything… They just make the best of everything they have.”  I really liked this quote though I don’t know whose quote it originally is.
My goal is to enjoy a beautiful life living and appreciating what really matters while staying within my means.  I do not feel down or left out simply because I can’t “afford” to live it up.  For example, my home can be clean and beautiful even though it is simple and modest.  We can still have fun, eat good food and lead a cultured life if we choose carefully, plan ahead and have the right attitude.  This quote sums it up for me.
Some thoughts on living within our means always brings me to the idea of “frugality”.  I found a great quote that says “without frugality non can become rich, and with it few would be poor”.  I like this thought.  I like it a lot.  There is a saying “He seldom lives frugally that lives by chance” which is where careful planning comes in.  There have been times when we have had to live very frugally and we did it with careful planning in advance sometimes knowing that there would be three months between paychecks and sometimes not knowing in advance of the particular time that resources would be needed elsewhere for a while.  We were, during those times, very careful as we managed the resources that were ours.
My Mom once told me that I always could make something out of nothing (though sometimes this was not a good thing).  It was sort of a gift.  I think I amazed her sometimes with what I could create out of nothing… or at least I like to think I did.  Later, as I was preparing to marry my husband, my Mom looked at me and told me it would take every skill I had gained to make ends meet for a family whose single primary income would be a teacher’s salary.  I have come to believe both statements.
Frugality is NOT equivalent to parsimony which is the excess of frugality and is therefore a fault.  Frugality itself is always a virtue.  Frugality is also NOT synonymous with thrift; thrift is the effect of frugality.
We also ought to be frugal not only in the expenditure of money and of goods but also in the employment of time. 
I strive to live by this.  I’m not perfect at it and sometimes I’m not even good at it but most days I’m trying really hard.  Frugality is the equivalent of managing our resources responsibly, in my mind, whether those resources are large or small.
Really, living joyfully within our means is such an important lesson to learn, has purpose no matter how much money we do or do not make and is one I hope my children learn at home and carry with them throughout their lives.  This is how we strive to live.