I recently discovered The Simple Living Network. As the name implies, it talks about living simply, including topics such as deciding when you have 'enough', frugality, the environment, etc. -- a whole bunch of things that really resonate with me.
In particular, I read one man's story that really impressed me. You can read the whole story in his own words, but I'll quickly summarize one aspect of it here.
Morally opposed to the war in Iraq, he abhorred the thought that his tax dollars would go towards fighting that war. So, in 2003, when it became clear that the US was going to go into war, he asked his company for a 75% pay cut, so he could be below the 'tax line' -- i.e. so that his income would become so low that he would not be obliged to pay taxes. His company could not grant him his request, citing how this would look suspicious in the books. So he quit. And since then, he has been self employed, doing some contract work, and writing books.
He discovered that he could be below the 'tax line' if he earned up to $30,000 a year and put $14,000 of that away in tax shelters (e.g. retirement, health savings accounts). This left him with $16,000 a year to live on--a far cry from his previous $100,000 salary at his former job.
The things he discovered through this drastic lifestyle change were insightful. For example, his lower income meant that he couldn't eat at restaurants as often as he used to. But he found that for the price of one fancy restaurant meal, he could make a whole week's worth of fancy meals at home. And since quitting his full time job, including its daily commute, he had the time and energy to buy the ingredients, learn the recipes, cook and enjoy these meals.
Although his choice to quit his job did not make him rich, it made his life so much richer.
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