This post is part of our 21 Days to a Better Budget Series! To view all the posts in our series, please click here.
“Sacrifice comes in many different shapes and sizes – we can’t judge what others sacrifice because we think it’s silly. Chances are they will think our sacrifices are silly.”
The road to financial freedom looks different for everyone. Some folks give up and sell off so much stuff that the kids think they’re next. Others give up things that many consider frivolous and think that you “should give up” when on the road to financial freedom.
The problem here isn’t what we give up, it’s how we judge others for the sacrifices that they are making. My How We Dumped $18,000 of Debt in One Day post, often receives a lot a criticism because I truly struggled giving up my “dream car” in order to be one step closer to debt-freedom. I’ve received comments like “I don’t think anyone should be complaining about a Sequoia” and “Wow. Your car is nicer than mine is. You shouldn’t be complaining”.
Was my “dream car” nice? Yes. In fact, we called it Mac Daddy, because it was a fully loaded Tahoe. Is my Sequoia nice? Yes. It has leather interior, a sunroof, and it runs. Is it my version of nice? No, but that’s okay because it’s just a car.
You see, getting rid of my really nice car for one that was less than desirable in my opinion wasn’t easy. Sure, some folks care nothing about the car they drive. They’d be totally content with driving around in a beater forever, but those same folks do have something that they care about that I would probably find silly.
Example, some folks favor a massive house – one with lots of bedrooms, bathrooms, high ceilings, and more gadgets than I could ever understand. That person would find it incredibly challenging to go from living in their home to living in my home – that was built in 1979, has one bathtub, and the closets are far from being considered spacious. For them, making this change would be difficult. This would be a sacrifice for them. For me, I could live in an even smaller house than the one I live in now and be totally content.
Different strokes for different folks, y’all.
Sacrifice comes in many different shapes and sizes. There isn’t a “one size fits all” approach to this whole financial, debt-free journey. The only thing that is common among all of us on this journey is the fact that we will have to make sacrifices and they will be tough. They will be hard and we may even shed some tears over silly things like fancy cars, big houses, nice clothes, and boutique shopping.
That’s okay. Even though it’s hard, we’ll get through it and we’ll be better for it, but please, let’s not judge our brother or sister who is on this journey beside us for making different sacrifices, even if they do seem silly to us. Instead, let’s cheer one another on when we make those hard choices and offer up encouragement for the really tough sacrifices.
How can you encourage someone on the financially free journey today?
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Hi Jessi! What a great post!! You’re right, we all have different priorities and that’s why budgeting is so personal. For me, I like living in a big house LOL. But, I don’t care about cars nor do I car about shopping or spending money on entertainment. I can’t even tell you the last concert I went to or even the last haircut I had for that matter, which is really bad!! But I agree, we should all encourage each other in meeting our individual goals. That’s what makes us unique!
Hahahhaha – Sarah I’m right there with you with haircuts…I need to get mine cut asap! 🙂
Great post! My hubby and I have had some arguments about this. The types of things we value spending money on are completely different. He loves technology and always wants to get the newest gadget. I couldn’t care less about that (why does anyone NEED an Apple watch?!), but I would like to spend more money on haircuts, getting my hair colored, occasional manicures, and new clothes (things that seem silly to him). We are both working on acknowledging that we value different things and that we both are making big sacrifices as we work on paying off our student loan debt.
My hubs would agree with yours – that manicures and new clothes are silly. 🙂 I love how you point out that sacrifices can look different even in the same household.
This was humbling and truth for me at this time. I have had to rethink my home, as this month we sold the house we had lived in for 9 years. Not only did we live in it but I was in the process of making it a yard of my dreams as well.
We made some bad money choices and placed the house at risk. So as a husband and wife we made the choice too sell the house to ditch the debt. We found a manufactured home which we could pay for in full that was in a trailer park. Now I am sitting in the living room of this new home of mine eating a slice of humble pie.
There is needs that have to be met in this home, as it went uncared for three years before we moved in. But the condition of the home is great considering its age. SO I am now learning to love the house I am in.