Uber Frugal Month: Day 24

Hedonic adaptation is the real topic of today's UFM challenge.

Today’s mantra: The more we buy, the more we perceive we need. The inverse is also true: the less we buy, the less we think we need. We are content with whatever we teach ourselves we need.

Today’s action: Ponder this: When are you most content? Can you be content with fewer material possessions? With spending less money?

Over the year's we have adapted to all sorts of things, then had to break those adaptations. Once upon a time I could only get myself to work between 8am-12pm. It had to be at Starbucks and it required two venti ice chai teas. I was spending $50 a week. Then, my client list dried up and going somewhere to work was no longer an option. I switched to chai at home at first, then eventually just plain coffee.

Another example is our recent entertainment extravaganzas every weekend. We had adapted to it as normal, and felt deprived if we weren't spending $100+ every Saturday. Now less than $10 for a quiet evening feels extravagant and satisfies just as much, if not more.

The take-away from today's challenge for me is to continue to reverse the hedonic adaptation of our ridiculously wealthy first world lives!