It’s not about being frugal – it’s about making choices that align with your life.

For all of law school and for years after, I hired someone to clean my home. They came weekly for many years. Even as we were paying off our whopping $90,000 of debt, we continued to have them come clean our home. It was an expense that, when we looked at our budget, we wanted to keep, knowing it was a tradeoff for something else – which could have been any number of things: meals out, clothing, or we could have paid down our debt more quickly. I loved our cleaning person and their team and I loved the result. It was a task that, at the time, I was happy to outsource.

Having your home cleaned might seem like an extravagance. But, if it fits in your budget and aligns with your values and goals, then it might be something that you decide to use your resources for.  Everything we buy and do is a tradeoff for something else. Sometimes though, we make these tradeoffs without even realizing their true cost. We might be spending in a way that interferes with something important, and small tweaks might allow for more of what we really want.

Getting clear on where you spend your money gives insight to be deliberate – acknowledging that one thing affects your ability to do another. We don’t have to clip coupons (you can if you like!) or cut corners, we just have to be calculated on where we’re spending our money to ensure it goes towards the things we care most about. We get to make choices on how we use our money. We can choose what we allow into our lives and how we want them to end up. Money is just the vehicle we drive to get there.