Mind the Gap - It's where the magic happens

Yes! Great advice! Listing what to get into and how is an excellent idea.

I never really  realized it until I read this, but my natural level of high curiosity had me doing this without even thinking about it.
I remember how excited I got when online search engines appeared.
Fewer 20 mile trips to the library required.

Came across this interesting article, when I was asking myself existential questions as it relates to money and livelihood.

http://www.thehealersjournal.com/2013/05/26/metaphysics-of-money-mind-and-spirit-flow-of-wealth/

All the best in finding your ideal balance.

Coming from "the old world", my mindset has always been on "setting money aside". I thank my parents for teaching me to be a squirrel. Perhaps it's because when they lived under the Occupation in France, they had to make do with not much, so my mentality has always been that of a miser: I can live on "not much", so I've been able to manage fairly easily and never feel deprived:
Maybe that's what happiness is...
My tastes are not extravagant, especially now that I'm retired and in my late 70s.
I hate numbers, so I've never made a budget, but except for my first car, I never bought on layaway or installments. I think of layaway as a scam: It is a luxury, a convenience that we pay dearly for
Perhaps it's a cultural glitch in this country where we are constantly tempted to buy this or buy that: these commercials are a veritable assault on us (and on our wallets).
You know the "Never a lender or a borrower be"? Well, that's my mentality, and it has served me very well. I'm almost physically ill at the idea of owing money.
Not every decision of mine was good: I remember my twenties and how I felt it was "cool" to smoke cigarettes. For a couple of years, there, I smoked close to a pack a day. When I learned that the tobacco companies had been aware of the connection between cigarettes and lung cancer, I got really upset and felt that the only way to "punish" them was to not purchase their products. I quit cold turkey. (Well, in all honesty, my fiancé at the time helped. He said he really loved me, but kissing a chimney stack did not appeal to him..) That was an easy decision.
The most important expenses go to my health: fixing my teeth, my knees etc., that's priority #1.
I've bought cars and motorcycles, (maybe just shy of a dozen of each over the years) never on credit. As soon as I bought one, I'd start a fund for the next one, and I didn't buy until I could just buy cash.
Even for my homes, I was parsimonious in how I used credit: I put up front all the money I could and made sure I repaid the principal first. The home I bought in between 2 marriages all by myself cost $120,000. I put $60,000 up front, which lowered my payments (a lot) and paid the other $60,000 in 2.5 years. It was work, (don't buy much, no restaurants or cinemas, no travel). But for those couple of years, I worried. "What ifs" were on my mind constantly. I celebrated with cake the month after I paid my final installment.
I made mistakes too. I was young and in love when I bought my first timeshare. I tried to cancel it. It was very hard. but the second time I fell in love, I did it again. I ended up getting rid of the second one but I was hooked pretty hard on that first one and they didn't make it easy to cancel that share (It's a real sinecure for these crooks!). I ended up walking away from it. I still get bills and I throw them regularly in the circular file: I told them I felt hoodwinked and I gave it all back to them (They refused to hear me, so now, I refuse to hear them).
My advice, if you can call it that , is to examine what you are getting for all these "conveniences". You may be appalled at what you pay for it

When I was still in my late teens I went to buy a truck from a man who worked out of his back yard.
He was a bit of a philosopher, stating it's not what you earn it's what you spend. Look at me here I just come out here and fix up trucks, what's that cost me.
We had a difference of opinion about getting the truck inspected, so I drove and the engine unexpectedly seized on my vehicle. So I never forget what he said.

I found out years later he established three successful dealerships.

I have lived by:
It's not what you earn it's what you spend, it's done me good for many years. You have to be careful to not worry to much about spending money otherwise you don't enjoy life but there is a whole load of stuff you don't need. What you can grow, swop and  find, makes a difference. Also, sell stuff as soon as you don't need it, can keep you close too or below tax thresholds.

Some really good, sound advice based on experience in this thread. My two cents worth:
The "gap" for me is the difference between staying below the  tax threshold and having to pay the taxman if I go over the threshold. I'm fortunate to work part of the year (3  and a half months) where I earn enough to stay just under the threshold. One year I was offered 6 weeks more work and thought, "at that rate of pay I'll have so much more to do things that need doing". However, I lost 30% in taxes as I live in one country and work in another and my country of residence taxed me at a higher rate on a lower threshold. On top of that I had travel expenses, we had 2 household expence budgets as my husband does not accompany me. So yes, I earned more, but we didn't reap any major benefits.There were more downsides actually, I didn't see my husband for nigh on half the year, didn't spend time with my dogs eather. When I was at home, it was a race to get things done and I couldn't focus on growing more of what we eat and developing income streams.

Every year we have the same discussion about him going off to work as he feels he should be the one bringing in the money. And every year I have to explain the additional costs in storage, significant travel expences (we would need to take the dogs with us), possible damage due to break ins, natural events etc. He struggles to see that his contribution in staying behind saves us money. Even though he isn't paid, his work on the property has value - more than he could earn and it cuts my workload down as I'm the one who would have to organise everything!

On a contraversial note, I think having a good credit history (especially in europe) is a good thing. I think it's misunderstood by many. Just because you have a CC that you can spend £2000 on, doesn't mean you should spend it on things you can't afford. I use my credit card to build a good credit history. I pay all my monthly expenses with it BUT I pay it in full whern it's due. The trap of CCs is the whacking interest (currently about 23%) compounded monthly, that has to be paid if you don't pay off in full. Showing that I can manage credit allowed us to get an unsecured loan ( at 4.5%) interest so that we could buy our own piece of land without the mandatory bank evaluation. If we had tried to get a mortgage on our piece of rural land with no "livable" house, no bank would have considered us. We would have had to spend considerably more, and therefore earn considerably more in order to be approved. And it would have taken considerably longer than 5 frugal years to pay it off it off. I'm no number cruncher, but 5 years loan @ 4.5%, no insurance  is better than 20+ years mortgage at 4% variable with compulsory insurance.
Good credit means we have removed a mortgage and the mandatory insurance from our monthly outgoings. Also, if we have an emergency that requires a sizeable amount we don't have, I can use the credit card and I have 30 days to apply for another unsecured loan- which I will get because of my good credit score.

We should beat the banks at their own game, use their "easy credit " offerings to secure manageable credit at more lucrative rates without indenturing ourselves and being forced to pay mandatory insurance- often provided by the banks themselves.