imple Living is not living in a house with dirt floors and depriving yourself of basic needs with no money. None of these apply to simple living unless you want them to. People often think that living simply is synonymous with living impoverished.

On the contrary, simple living is not about deprivation, in any way.

"Oh good," people say, "now we can go shopping!" Wait! Here is what simple living is about. It's about freedom to choose the kind of life you want; the freedom to enjoy what is important to you.

In order to have freedom, you need money. The simple living trick, however, is about hanging on to your money, rather than giving it away to department stores, automotive dealers or credit card companies. This applies to people of all income levels. Studies show that the more people earn, the more they spend. They all wind up in the same leaky boat in the end. Those with more money to spend simply have more exotic junk to show for it. The treadmill, however, keeps rolling.

We can't have freedom if we keep spending. We'll have nothing to fall back on. With nothing saved or invested, we have to keep on working whether we want to or not. So, while simplicity can at first glance look like deprivation, a further look reveals that it's just the opposite. Simplicity buys back your life. If you continue earning at your present rate but you begin saving the money instead of spending it, your friends may think you're deprived because you don't have as many gadgets to show for it. The reality, however, is you are anything but deprived because you're making your money work for you instead of against you. You actually wind up with a lot more money.

Granted, it's not easy to save money in our consumer culture. We're constantly bombarded with advertising which seduces us into thinking life will be better just as soon as we buy a new, improved product. To counteract the seduction, I created this equation: whenever I'm ready to part with money for some item I want (different than need), I ask myself if it's worth giving up a little more freedom in order to have the item. Every $40 sweater, $5 gadget and $200 high tech gizmo adds up to a lot of lost freedom. Sometimes the voice of desire drowns out my little rational equation and I'll buy the thing, and take it home. But I have another trick waiting. I leave tags and stickers on for a week. Nine times out of 10 the "gotta-have-it" feeling passes, and I return the item.

My equation doesn't mean that I never buy anything except absolute necessities and that aesthetics aren't important. I like pictures on the wall, flowers in a vase, decent looking furniture and clothes that don't make me look like I just stepped out of an old movie. While I may like these things, I also need to know my limits. I need to continually remind myself when enough is enough. To do this, I need to be aware of what I am doing throughout the day. It is that awareness that keeps people off treadmills.

My equation gets easier to use when the item is larger. For instance, I drive a used car that cost me $2,500. That $2,500 car buys me a heck of a lot of freedom because I'm not in debt making car payments, or using up all of my savings in order to purchase a more shiny arrangement of metal.

If you feel you must drive around in a fancier car, just be sure you're aware of the choice you just made. You'll need to work more hours to pay for it and you'll have less in savings. If it's worth it, buy the car, but don't buy it without evaluating your choices.

My kids asked me one time why I didn't drive a more exotic car and I said, "Well, I suppose I could do that. But, it will mean that I'll have to spend more hours away from you while I work to pay for it. What do you think? Should we go out and buy a nicer car?"