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Minds Without Borders

A thoughtful look at how culture, society, politics, media and economics affect us all.

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Economics and lifestyle

The One Luxury You Need To Be Happy

And it’s probably not what you’re thinking

4 min readDec 10, 2022

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The first time I came across the concept “Live simply so others may simply live,” I felt a little click in my soul.

I knew that was how I wanted to live. And I’d spent most of my childhood living in a trailer, so it wasn’t like I had some vast personal fortune to renounce.

Moreover, I felt a calling to be a journalist, and I was unfazed by the notion of working hard for low wages. Many forms of luxury felt too wasteful and decadent for me to actually enjoy, and I liked making mostly simple choices.

I was one part hippie, one part Amish and one part ascetic.

I didn’t need money to be happy, I decided.

Oh, to be so young and confident and clueless!

As I’ve often commented since then, I didn’t realize to what extent my plumber, mechanic, doctor and dentist did need money to be happy.

It has never been a problem for me to live in an inexpensive home, drive an inexpensive car, keep a simple wardrobe and cook my meals from scratch.

I have never once in my entire life had a money issue come from

Minds Without Borders
Minds Without Borders

Published in Minds Without Borders

A thoughtful look at how culture, society, politics, media and economics affect us all.

Michelle Teheux
Michelle Teheux

Written by Michelle Teheux

Lover of literature. Former newspaper editor. Fascinated by everything. Contact: [email protected]. To buy me a coffee:

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