Do Less (12 page)

Be intentional about when and how you spend money. Remind yourself that you have a choice. Making this small habit of not spending one day of the week will help you be more mindful of all the other times you open your wallet.

Debt complicates your life. Debt makes your life more challenging and it prevents you from doing the things you want to do: changing careers, working less, or taking that dream vacation. If you have any debts beyond a mortgage, work quickly and methodically to pay them off. Debt holds you back, and the goal of adopting a more minimalist life is to move forward.

First, let go of your guilt about bad financial decisions and money you've wasted in the past. If you followed the guide to decluttering your home in the earlier section of this book, you probably got rid of a lot of things that you paid good money for. You may have even donated things that you are still paying for or sold them for a fraction of the original price. When you have a moment of sadness or guilt about your financial past, remember this: The money is already gone. The one positive thing you can do now is to start spending and saving wisely.

One trick to getting out of debt without being miserable is to know what your rice and beans are. This means, if you can live off repetitive and inexpensive meals and it won't make you greatly unhappy, do it. If, however, you know that cutting your grocery budget will make you miserable, that a ham sandwich and an apple for lunch seven days a week might make you lose your will to live, find another area of your life that you can painlessly trim. That may mean walking to work instead of taking the bus or switching to a no-data cell phone or moving back in with your parents for a year. Find that cost-cutting measure that, though not easy, won't make you feel so deprived and unhappy that you'll start increasing your spending in other areas to compensate.

Keep a few small luxuries. It could be your Friday lunch out with coworkers or your yoga classes. Actually call them luxuries so that you remember they aren't necessities. Keep them on a list in your wallet and look at them when you're feeling like you want to spend money.

Be bold in your debt-reduction plans. This could mean moving, selling your car, or getting an extra job for a little while. Some short-term discomfort is well worth the long-term freedom of being debt-free. You can also take a look at your discretionary and nondiscretionary bills again and review what you can really live without. Don't think too far ahead on some of your get-out-of-debt plans. It's true, you might want to rejoin that gym at some point or have a landline phone again, but right now, saving that extra money each month to pay down your debt is worth it.

Find a confidant to keep you honest and motivated when it gets tough. This could be a friend, a sibling, your spouse, or even virtual friends. Join an online forum for personal finance or start a blog to track and write about your debt-reduction plans. Paying off debt is a marathon, not a sprint, and it helps to have a support network when you feel your resolve slipping or you need more ideas for cutting costs.

Sometimes it is hard to see all the fun that can be had without spending a dime. As you scale back your spending, make a list of the no-cost fun in your life. Books from the library, hosting a potluck dinner, pick-up basketball at the local courts, and a long bath are all mostly free activities. Keep adding to your list as you remember more things that you enjoy that don't require money. When you're tempted to hit the movies for the latest blockbuster and jumbo popcorn, ask a friend over for a movie night. If your friends are all spenders and in a habit of buying expensive concert tickets or do a lot of casual dining out, try to gently steer them into more wallet-friendly fun.

Here's a statistic that will shock you: Renters are actually happier than homeowners. A study published in 2009 from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School showed that homeowners are no happier than renters in life satisfaction, overall mood, and overall feeling and actually derive more pain from their homes. Another interesting comparison between homeowners and renters: the owners were on average twelve pounds heavier than the renters. Perhaps this increase in weight is because owners also had less active leisure time than the renters. So renting could actually be better for your health.

Friends and the bank may try to convince you owning a home is a necessity, but it certainly isn't a requirement for a happy life. The dream of home ownership isn't all it's cracked up to be. The renter simply makes a call when the stove breaks or the sink backs up; the homeowner deals with the stress and cost of repairs. Many of us stretch our finances as far as the bank allows so we can buy a home. The burden of a large mortgage, constant repairs, and nonstop responsibility affects your quality of life. Owning a home might not be the right path for you if you want flexibility in your work, if you want to change careers, if you work in a fulfilling but not well-paying job, or if you simply want weekends free to go rock climbing. Not everyone needs to own a home.

A minimalist approach means not only buying less but spending less too. A great way to spend less is to buy secondhand. There are a few things you would never purchase secondhand, of course, but most things in a home can be easily sourced lightly used for a fraction of what they originally cost. Secondhand is for the savvy shopper, the wannabe minimalist, the environmentally conscious, anyone getting out of debt, and anyone who wants to save his money for things that bring more value into his life.

If you're new to buying secondhand, start slowly, getting to know where you can buy good-condition preowned clothing and goods for a fraction of their retail price. eBay.com is a wonderful resource for buying secondhand and allows you to quickly and efficiently search for exactly what you need. Get familiar with local buy-and-sell websites and boards. Thrift stores are also great for secondhand items but require an eye for value, patience, and focus. Plus, it's easy to get distracted by all the interesting junk in thrift stores and forget about what you originally came in to look for! If you've struggled to rein in your casual shopping habits, thrift stores may not be for you.

It takes more time to buy secondhand and you'll need to be patient if there is something you specifically need. Instead of hitting refresh on the local buy-and-sell online forum, make an appointment with yourself to just check once a week for that desk/lamp/bike. Just like your Thirty-Day Buy List, this barrier to spending can actually help you see that you either don't need the item or could get by with something smaller or less expensive.

Yes, you can be rich without a lot of money. Sure, we all need some income, but there are riches to be had beyond your stock portfolio. A key tenet to minimalism is to maximize what you do have for the greatest effect. If you have your health, great friends, and burning creative aspirations, use them as your barometer of wealth instead of money.

Every great evening laughing with your closest friends is money in the coffers of a rich life. Every leisurely walk you take with your dog or a friend or on your own, enjoying nature, shows you your wealth of time and health. Every hour spent on work you find value in, be it a creative outlet like sewing, a fulfilling hobby like auto repair, or your job, fills the coffers of a life well lived. You can feel wealthy no matter what your income bracket is.

It has never been easier to stay in touch with friends and family, make social plans, and pursue a wide variety of sports, activities, and hobbies, sometimes at any hour of the day. We have so much competing for our attention, money, and time. There are no limits to the hours you can spend updating your online status, researching anything and everything on the Internet, and checking your e-mail multiple times an hour. The once-a-month book-club dinner, the school council meeting, and the recreational volleyball team fill up nights. All the chores required to maintain your home take up the remaining hours of the week. There are so many ways to spend our time we're often overwhelmed with too many options vying for our nonwork hours. Too many choices leave us in a perpetual state of busy.

We're so busy that the causes, people, and activities we really love, the ones that we find most rewarding, often get the least amount of our time. We're so busy running from one thing to the next, saying yes to every invitation, every request for our precious time, reading every update from every acquaintance, that we don't have the focus or wherewithal to use our time wisely and with intention.

The minimalist approach to life outside of work frees up your time and energy so you can spend it on things that really matter to you. As you apply the minimalist concept to household chores, your television and Internet habits, and even your friends, you will not only create more time but get more enjoyment from those things you hold most dear. As you discovered in the Money section, removing the clutter in your schedule and obligations will more closely align your time with your values.

Count the hours in your day and consider what you did with them. Be as detailed as you can. If you zoned out in front of the television for three hours, half-watching a few television shows and half-surfing the Internet, include that description in your hour count. Try to remember the ten minutes standing in line at the coffee shop and the thirty minutes you spent on what was supposed to be a quick grocery shop. Now, go through and determine what was leisure and what was work. Include household chores and driving in the work category. If you look at the hours, does your list align with how you think you spend your time? Does it align with your values? Do you value time with your spouse, but between your commute, making dinner, last-minute evening errands, and television, you only make time for fifteen minutes of distracted conversation each day? Your time is too valuable to give away that carelessly.

Take back those hours that you're losing to things that don't align with your values. Minimalism offers many ideas for big and small ways to get more time:

• Declutter your home so it's easier to clean and to find things.
  
• Shop less, not only to take back those hours lost to the mall or grocery store, but also to reduce your income needs.
  
• Limit social media and your phone interruptions so you can get those big and small things done and enjoy your sleep and leisure time to the fullest.
  
• Think about bigger changes, like moving closer to work to reduce a commute or moving into a smaller home so that you can work part-time.
  
• Try out a few minimalist lifestyle changes, like cutting cable television or only using the Internet once in the morning, and see if they give you more time for those things you want more of.
  

When an opportunity arises that requires your time, determine if it fits into your values before committing to it. It is so easy to get swept up by the tide of other peoples' desires and wants when it's not truly a cause or activity that feeds your soul and fits into your own plan. You really can't do everything, so you must be discerning about whom and what you give your time to.

Time is finite. We only have so many hours in our days, really in our lives, to spend. It can be easy to think each moment doesn't count, that a weekend lost to cleaning out the garage for the second time that year isn't a big deal, but it all adds up. Soon the trivial and the self-inflicted work take all your time, and it's not only challenging to find the hours for your own passions—it's hard to even remember what they are! If you say yes to everything, you'll end up saying no to things you actually want.

A key to keeping that clutter in your home and life gone for good: habits. Good habits make for an easy life. Good habits make hard things effortless:

• Your daily run becomes automatic when it's a habit.
  
• The counters and sink are clear when you put your dirty dishes in the dishwasher directly after meals instead of letting them sit.
  
• When you always go to bed before eleven o'clock, you don't need to hit snooze on your alarm and you always catch the early bus for work.
  

If you want to use minimalism for an organized, happy, and uncluttered life, it's important to have a few cornerstone habits to keep you on track.

One skill you need to master to take advantage of a minimalist lifestyle: single-tasking. Our world is focused on the opposite—doing many things at once. We take phone calls while on the treadmill and have text-message conversations during movies. Focusing on one thing at a time allows you to engage deeply in your interactions. It helps you finish an unpleasant chore faster and gives you more value for your ticket price at a movie or event. Single-tasking also helps you manage your time more efficiently by allowing you to easily see what is most important to you.

You don't need to get more things done faster; you need to do fewer things better. Multitasking is overrated. Sure, a bit of music playing in the background while you complete some repetitive chores is fine, but cooking dinner while you're having a conversation by Instant Messenger and watching a television show and keeping an eye on the sick dog—it's too much for anyone. Multitasking leads to errors, big and small. You might multitask and end up burning dinner, or even worse, get in a car accident. You also miss the small beautiful moments when you multitask. The great conversation is interrupted by a phone call from the drycleaner and the spectacle of a gorgeous sunrise is lost to taking a photo of it so you can share it online.