For example, we just got a Vitamix blender (refurbished, but still pricey). A few years ago we would have thought it crazy to pay nearly $400 for a BLENDER. We would have bought the cheapest thing we could find and then complain when it wasn't worth the counter space. But, then I think back to all the cheap crap we bought that we hardly cared about, not to mention all that really mediocre meals we ate out. We could easily spend $400 in a week and not know where it went (sort of how we got in debt). But we thought we were so frugal because most of the stuff we bought was cheap.

In contrast, this was a VERY well researched and planned purchase that was also in budget. And, yes, we are LOVING it. As strange as it may seem to some to get excited over a blender, we definitely feel that our lives and diets have been improved and that was well worth the cost.

But, of course, the things that really make us feel like we're living well aren't the things we own — it's being able to appreciate the non-material things like open space, not running around in shops, not worrying so much about what others think, enjoying long walks together, and so on.