Budgeting

14 Reasons Why You Might be Broke

Posted on January 12, 2022

Have you ever looked at your financial happens to consider why you might be broke? Check out these 14 reasons you might be broke to get you started managing your personal finances now.

One of the reasons many of us are broke and don’t realise it, is because we’re all doing the same thing. We see friends, family and colleagues and those around us buying new cars, taking on large mortgages, buying the latest gadgets and accessories. When everyone else is doing it, it can be hard to admit the truth, that maybe you are broke?

Being broke will have a different definition for each person.

To me, being broke is not having enough money to pay for things in cash.

It’s the person with no Emergency Fund to cover unexpected emergencies like a car breakdown. It’s the person who spends every dollar they earn and saves none. It’s the person who has debt they can’t repay, or that they can only afford the minimum repayments. Or the person who is behind on their bills.

Maybe you’ve convinced yourself that you aren’t broke – that’s as long as your car doesn’t break down. Or you don’t lose your job. Or have to fork out for an unexpected insurance excess.

Maybe it’s easier to believe you aren’t broke whilst the times are good, but with one unplanned financial emergency you might be faced with some harsh truths about your finances.

The important thing to remember is not to give up hope! Being broke doesn’t have to be permanent. Although your “brokeness” won’t disappear overnight, every little effort you make is a step in the right direction.

These 14 reasons why you might be broke below might help give you a new perspective on your finances and help you take the necessary steps you need to take to leave your broke days behind you.

**This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase of a product from the links in this post I will receive a small commission, at no cost to you. This allows me to keep my blog advertisement free and support the running costs of my blog. I only recommend products I believe will add value to others and that I love myself.**

14 Reasons Why You Might Be Broke

You’re saddled with debt

You might be broke if you are snowed under by a large amount of debt. Are you the not-so-proud owner of a car loan, student debt & credit card with a balance? The repayments on those debts can quickly eat away a large chunk of your paycheck each pay period. Once you add a few subscriptions, dining out a few times, increasing grocery, utility & petrol bills and other expenses like child care you might find yourself struggling to keep your head above water.

It might be possible to afford the minimum repayments and use that as your justification to keep up current spending habits, but that doesn’t mean you won’t get to a point where it is going to be harder and harder to keep your head above water, financially speaking.

When you take into account interest rates increase, high cost of living, and stagnant wages if you haven’t curbed your excess spending and reliance on credit, that so-called manageable minimum repayment won’t stay manageable for long.

2. You have one or more car loans

When you see friends and family posting about their new wheels, it can be very tempting to get a new car and car loan to go with it. USA Today reports that Americans purchasing new cars in 2018 agreed to pay an average of $551 per month for 69 months according to car-buying advice site Edmunds. That is a lot of money going out the door not even taking into account food, utilities and housing costs!

Financial Expert Dave Ramsey’s ‘the car rule’ advises you should not invest more than half your household income into things with motors, that go down in value. If you are earning $60k and you have a vehicle that is worth $35k with a similar car repayment, it might be one of the reasons you might be broke and time to consider selling that car. If you are living above your means when it comes to your car, it might be time to consider selling your vehicle for a more affordable one. You can always buy that car of your dreams later on when you have the cash!

3. You still have cable

With subscription services like Netflix available and a vast array of digital channels coming onto the market, there is no need to keep paying expensive monthly cable bills. Swapping out the $50 a month Foxtel subscription for a $9.99 Netflix one will save you $480 annually or close to $5,000 over ten years! If you are paying for the top of the line Cable at $100 a month, double that figure! See what I mean? That’s some serious *cha-ching*!

Not to mention you will avoid wasting valuable time and attention listening to those never-ending ads that you don’t get with services like Netflix! (And here’s hoping it stays that way!)

So if you are still paying lots for your cable, why not cancel it and see if you even miss it? You can always get it back if you really feel it adds value to your life.

4. You try and keep up with the Jones’

If you constantly give in to pressure to buy the things that everyone else around you have, you are going to potentially end up living above your means.

Are you working in a high-paying field with other high earners and trying to keep up with the pressure to buy and drive only the best? And get every beauty treatment under the sun to “look as good” as everyone else?

Stop and think for a second before you rush out to buy the next ít’ thing. Consider:

Do you earn similar money to them? Are you trying to live the Kardashian lifestyle on an office assistants wage and making unreasonable expectations of your income?
Do you already have enough of what you are buying or something equivalent? Maybe you already have a sufficient makeup collection or wardrobe and you might need to shop more intentionally?
Is it possible, those around you are buying all their new awesome stuff with credit cards and are struggling to keep up with repayments?

Trying to keep up with the Jones’s is a race to the bottom and one of the reasons you might be broke. Consider spending your time and attention on people who make you feel good about yourself and accept you for who you are rather than making you feel inadequate based on what you can or can’t afford.

5. You don’t pay yourself first

You look forward to payday every week or month only to realise days later that you’ve spent all your money and have to scrounge what coins you can find in the bottom of your handbag or what notes you can locate your pants in the laundry hamper. If you don’t have a plan in place for your money from the moment it goes into your account, it is going to get frittered away before you even realise it’s all gone.

With one simple strategy, you can make living paycheck to paycheck a thing of the past.

By creating a Zero-based budget you can give your dollars a job before they are spent and make sure your spending is prioritised to not just your needs and wants, but your financial goals.

Setting up an automatic savings transfer to transfer your goal savings amount to a separate savings account each payday ensures you have funded your financial goals before the money is spent. Soon enough I promise, you won’t even miss it and will revel in watching it grow month to month!

6. Shopping is your hobby

One of the reasons you might be broke is if you use shopping as a hobby. If you shop when you are bored, sad, happy, for entertainment, or to be social, you might be heading for a life saddled with debt. Particularly if your shopping trips are happening more frequently. If you would describe shopping as your main hobby, it might be time for you to branch out and get some new ones.

One way to retrain your consumerist habits is to declutter your home so you know what you do and don’t have and create a Capsule Wardrobe of clothing you love to remove the temptation to be on the lookout for more clothes.

7. You don’t invest time to learn about finances

One of the reasons you might be broke is because you’ve never taken the time to learn about finances.

A common habit with millionaires is they read 1-2 books every month! And if you’re broke, reading the occasional finance book is a great place to start. Even just reading one is going to jump-start your financial knowledge. With apps like Audible you can easily listen to one on your morning commute to work.

You can read more about my favourite financial books here.

You might also consider investing in a financial coach to help your gain clarity around your finances and help you work towards your financial goals.

8. You don’t have a budget

One of the reasons you might be broke is if you don’t have a budget. This means that you can’t tell your money where to go and you’re probably going to spend more than you planned to, each pay. When you tell every dollar where to go, you can take back control of your money and make sure more of your hard-earned money is going where you want it to, whether that be to your retirement account, savings, investments, or even just spending your money more intentionally.

9. Your housing is unaffordable

Most financial experts suggest that you should keep your housing costs to 30-35% of your combined after-tax household income. If you are paying 30% or more of your after-tax household income to your rent or mortgage, it might be one of the reasons you are broke. It’s a term most refer to as ‘house poor’.

If you are living in a 4 bedroom home with rooms that are sitting unused most days of the week, and finding it hard to pay your mortgage or rent, it might be time to consider downsizing.

Even a $100 a week reduction in rent can add $5,000 to your annual savings total or could be used to help pay down your debts quicker. You may even need the extra space, but it might be time to consider temporarily downsizing for a year or so until you can get ahead financially.

If your home is pushing more than 30-35% of your after-tax household income, it might be time to at least consider your options when it comes to reducing your housing costs.

Selling a house comes with other costs such as stamp duty, so this might be more expensive and not so helpful. If that is the case, you could consider other options to save on housing costs such as renting out part of your home such as your garage or shed for storage, or your driveway, or even a spare room.

Check out these 13 benefits of a smaller home to help you understand how downsizing might not be such a bad thing.

10. You only pay the minimum repayment on your debts

If you are only paying the minimum repayments on your debts, it’s going to be hard to ever get on top of your debt. If you are roped into a 7-year car loan as well as credit cards that could take 10 years to pay off, that’s a lot of dollars that are not going to your financial future.

It can be easy to live in debt denial when you can meet the minimum repayments, but all it takes is a job loss, a medical emergency, or a car breakdown and it can throw a huge spanner into your finances and make it difficult to meet your repayments, even just the minimums.

Don’t live your life on the financial edge and try and convince yourself you are not broke. Break the debt cycle!

11. You surround yourself with other spenders

Do you spend the majority of time with people who encourage you to spend? Is there a friend that constantly wants you to go for expensive beauty days or to high-end restaurants? Or one that drags you shopping and then insists that you have to buy something because you can’t possibly leave empty-handed? Or maybe you just enjoy watching haul videos on YT?

Surrounding ourselves with people with different (or lacking) financial goals can impede the ability of your savings and keep you broke. It’s never fun being the one to say no to nights out, or a trip with friends, but it is a must if you are want to say goodbye to #thatbrokelife.

Be honest with your friends and let them know that you are trying to improve your finances and pay off debt and that you would love to come out and see them, but suggest some more frugal ideas that won’t hurt your budget. You might even find that some of them are happy to help you participate in more budget-friendly catch-ups and you might even inspire them to have a look into their finances.

12. You don’t have Financial Goals

If you are just coasting through life without giving any thought to your financial goals you might be broke. No one saves money, invests in their retirement funds, or pays off their debt by accident. These things all take thought, intention and action.

Start setting yourself some financial goals and take control of your finances and say no to being broke!

Some of your financial goals might be:

To review your retirement account performance
to create a budget
to sell your stuff to help you save up an Emergency Fund
to pay off your debt faster
pay off your mortgage or save up a house deposit
save for a holiday to be paid in cash
save up for your next semester of college

It doesn’t matter how big or small your financial goals, the key is deciding on them, writing them down, and making plans to achieve them within your chosen time frame.

13. You don’t have an Emergency Fund

If you don’t have a rainy day fund, you are opening yourself to unnecessary stress and financial hardship.

When you are going through a stressful event such as a car accident, injury, or another emergency, you don’t want to have that added stress of worrying about how you are going to pay for things. Emergencies are going to happen. Instead of just hoping for the best, take action and plan ahead. Put away an Emergency Fund of 3-6 months of expenses to give you peace of mind.

I guarantee you, at some point, it might not be next month or even this year, but you will feel a lot better knowing that you have that extra cash there ready to go to cover any unexpected emergencies.

14. You don’t earn enough

Sometimes you have to face the elephant in the room, that you don’t earn enough money to cover your lifestyle. But don’t feel defeated, it doesn’t have to stay that way. Here you have two options. You can earn more income or cut your expenditure.

Consider the following options if you are struggling to make ends meet:

Decrease expenses so the pressure to earn more is reduced I.e. sell the second car if you can do without it, cook more at home, cut the cable, tell your kids they can only choose one after school activity this year – you get the idea.
Pick up a Side Hustle, here is a list of 40 Side Hustles to get you started in addition to your current job
Ask for a raise. If you have been going above and beyond at work and your pay review period is coming up it might be a good time to try and request a raise.
Get a better paying job – if you are not earning much in your current job, it might be time to broaden your pay horizons and get a better paying job.
Do overtime at your current job – if possible, ask your current employer for overtime or extra hours so you can boost your income.

Minimise With Me Financial Coaching

If you want learn how to spend with intention and take the stress and anxiety out of your money, book in for a free Q&A call to see how financial coaching can help you gain clarity around your finances! You can learn more about Minimise With Me Financial Coaching here.

What does a debt-free future look like for you? Let me know in the comments how your future would change if you could pay off your debt?

[Photo by Michael Longmire @ Unsplash.com]

Budgeting

5 ways to simplify your finances in 2022

Posted on January 2, 2022

If you find your finances stressful or too time-consuming, there are ways that you can simplify your finances to save you time and eliminate stress and anxiety around your money. Your finances don’t need to be complicated and a little pre-planning and thought can go a long way to helping you simplify how you manage your money.

Here are 5 Ways to Simplify Your Finances in 2022.

5 Ways to Simplify Your Finances in 2022

1. Have An Emergency Fund

One of the most straightforward ways to simplify your finances is to save up an Emergency Fund. If you find yourself constantly reaching for your credit card to cover unexpected expenses, this can create a constant stream of guilt and stress, where you feel like you are failing with your budget or frustrated when you just can’t get ahead.

Avoid having a reactionary approach to your money and instead take a proactive approach and plan for financial emergencies with an Emergency Fund. A good place to start is with a starter Emergency Fund of $2,000 and ideally build that up to 3-6 months of expenses as soon as that is possible.

The next time a financial emergency comes up, you can feel a sense of relief knowing that you have at least $2,000 ready to go in your Emergency Fund which helps take the stress out of stressful situations.

2. Utilise a Sinking Funds Tracker

Utilising Sinking Fund Trackers like this can help you simplify your finances and stay on budget. Often banks will limit how many accounts you can open so options are limited when it comes to having separate accounts for different expenses.

Rather than having a separate account for each expense category you want to set money aside for (I.e. Holidays, Clothing, Christmas Fund), a Sinking Fund Tracker, let’s you use just a single bank account and track each expense within the worksheet. This tracker will let you keep track of how much you have sent aside for a particular expense throughout the year so you don’t end up overspending and eat into your Christmas fund for other expenses.

You can learn more about the benefits of setting up Sinking Funds here.

3. Give Yourself a Spending Allowance

Having boundaries for your finances is a great way to simplify your finances and keep your spending in check without any work on your part.

By setting up a separate ‘Spending’ account with a spending allowance you can easily see how much money you have left until payday to spend on discretionary purchases.

Set your budgeted spending allowance to transfer to your ‘Spending’ Account every payday. Once your account balance gets down towards zero, you know you’ve hit your spending limit for that period.

This is a super low effort budget boundary you can implement to simplify your finances and help keep you on budget!

4. Pay Your Bills by Direct Debit

If you want to simplify your finances, the best way to do that is to eliminate as many manual, non-value-adding tasks as possible. For me, one of those is manually paying my bills. I’m a busy gal, and although I love budgeting and all things finances, paying my bills is nowhere to be seen on my list of things that bring me joy!

It’s easier than ever to set up direct debit billing, simply call your service provider or log into your online account and set up direct debit billing. You only have to do this once (other than updating your credit or debit card details as necessary). Your service provider will email your invoice to you with the amount and due date so you will know ahead of time when the payment will be coming out. My utility company also sends me a text message a few days before they make the withdrawal which is also helpful as a reminder.

The key to making this work is to make sure you set aside enough money from each paycheck in a separate ‘Bills’ account to cover your bills. Having a Bill’s Buffer, which is a minimum you will let your bills account get to (such as one month of bills) will help you to ensure that you always have enough in your bills account to cover any direct debits as they fall due.

And another bonus, on top of saving me time (and my sanity) each month, I used to find I would forget to pay bills such as my credit card and I would be hit with hefty late fees. That is now a thing of the past. Not to mention I cash in on some nice pay-on-time discounts with my utility providers by making sure my bills are paid on time.

5. Automate Savings

As I mentioned earlier, if there is something I can automate when it comes to my finances, I will, and for me, one of my favourite time savers is to automate my savings. Simplify your finances by setting up automatic savings transfers to take the leg work out of saving your money.

Once you set up your budget, work out how much you want to go to your savings account and set up a bank transfer to automatically transfer that amount each payday.

The benefit of this is:

You have taken the manual work out of savings. When you automate your savings you don’t have to remember to do it – it just happens in the background. This removes a huge barrier to saving money and reaching your savings goals.
You pay yourself first. Have you ever noticed how little you have left to save when you spend your paycheck first and plan to save what is left? Don’t let your savings goals be an afterthought. Pay yourself first, then you can spend what is left after totally guilt-free!
You’ll feel amazing! When you see your savings balance you will feel a sense of pride in yourself for achieving that savings goal. As you watch your savings increase it’ll make you more motivated over time to keep saving and build your savings muscle.
How much does it hurt to go into your savings account and withdrawal money? It feels icky right? Once you have saved your money via your automated transfer, it creates a barrier to you mentally where you see two types of money: money that I can spend, and money that I can’t spend.

By separating your savings out into a separate account you now have that barrier in place, so if you wanted to spend money on something that wasn’t in your budget, you’d have to manually transfer that money out of your savings. This will help you stick to your budget and minimise any impulse spending you might have made had that money been sitting in your spending account waiting to be transferred to savings at the end of the month.

Want To Learn How To Spend Your Money With Intention?

You can learn more about Minimise With Me Financial Coaching services via the link below.

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Minimalism

10 Benefits of a Minimalist Inspired Life

Posted on December 24, 2021

When I first discovered the ‘minimalist lifestyle’ five years ago now, I was keen to learn everything I could about this idea of living a more meaningful life. After reading everything I could possibly find on the subject, I started making small gradual changes and found very quickly that this was having a positive effect on many areas of my life.

By reflecting on what my experiences were on this minimalism path and the benefits I experienced I hope it might help inspire others to discover the benefits of living a more intentional life. Keep in mind that there are no set rules for minimalism. My version of minimalism will be different from your version and so on. It is different for everyone but is a useful tool to help you create a more intentional and meaningful life.

Here are 10 Benefits of a Minimalist Inspired Life that I have found over my journey.

10 Benefits of a Minimalist Inspired Life

You’ll Feel Less Stressed

A minimalist-inspired lifestyle has helped me to feel the least stressed I have felt in a long time.

Minimalism is all about living a more meaningful life and in turn, empowers you to be more comfortable saying no to things that you don’t enjoy and yes to the things you do enjoy.

It will allow you to reassess the relationships in your life, which could entail leaving a bad relationship or setting new boundaries with a friend or family member to ensure those close relationships aren’t detrimental to your well-being. It might give you the courage to leave a job that is negatively impacting your health or consuming all your time.

By identifying your core values, and understanding what is most important to you and your happiness, you can reduce stress when you eliminate non-essential things, such as going out more than you want to or working more hours than you might need to.

You’ll Have More Free Time

On your minimalism journey, you will start to identify which aspects of life bring you joy and which don’t. Once you start saying no to things that don’t bring you joy, you can start freeing up more time to say yes to things that do.

I managed to swap out a lot of activities that didn’t add any value to my life for ones that did. For example, I watched TV less so I had more time to exercise. I only bought things I needed so I didn’t waste my weekend shopping for things that added no value to my life. And I chose the people I spent my time with more selectively. These small changes freed up time I wouldn’t have otherwise had.

You’ll Have More Spare Cash

Adopting a minimalist inspired lifestyle frees up money to spend on things that are truly adding value to your life.

Consider this example. Removing the excess in your home means you might reduce the need for a larger home now that you have fewer things to store in it. If you reassess what you actually use you might find that you don’t need a big two-story house after all. This awareness could give you the opportunity to:

Downsize your home saving you money on your rent or mortgage
Allow you to potentially work less hours as your smaller home takes up less of your paycheck and frees up money for other things you love
A smaller home costs less to heat, cool and clean again saving you more money

Removing the excess in your life can free up cash in your budget that can go to things that you didn’t think you could afford before, such as taking up a new hobby you have always wanted to or enabling you to see more of the world.

Shows You Experiences > Things

Minimalism has helped me to realise the joy of experiences over material possessions. Buying material possessions may bring a temporary increase in happiness, but that disappears over time once we adapt to having that item. Having that item, and the temporary dopamine effect it gives wears off much quicker than experiences.

When you prioritise experiences over material possessions it provides you with joy that no physical purchase can really come close to, particularly if that experience is shared with someone.

My husband and I often talk about all the trips to different countries we have done or gigs we have gone to and it brings us so much happiness to think back on these occasions! I can’t say that talking about an outfit I bought years ago or an eyeshadow pallet does the same. I grew up in a family that didn’t prioritise experience over things and it took me until my mid-20s to change my mindset around this and realise how much experiences added to my life.

These experiences give us memories that we can talk about for years to come with loved ones. Although they may not provide us with a physical thing to place in our homes, the memories are with us for life.

For more ideas on giving more intentional gifts check out 10 Minimalist Gift Ideas that Add Value, Not Stuff!

You’ll Get to Live Your Life For You, Not Others

There is so much pressure placed on everyone to have an impressive-sounding career, the newest car, biggest home, and the focus has shifted away from what makes us happy to what we can do to impress others.

A minimalist-inspired lifestyle helps us to shift the focus, from being defined by others’ expectations helping us put our needs first. If it is important to you to be debt-free and drive a reliable, affordable car instead of a new more impressive vehicle do that. If it is more important to you to have more free time to follow other passions than having a high-stress managerial position with long hours, go for it!

When we spend less time worrying about what other people’s expectations are of us we can focus on living a more meaningful life and being true to ourselves. Stop listening to what others expect your life or lifestyle to look like and start living the lifestyle YOU want.

You’ll Focus More on Your Health

Minimalism helps you to prioritise the essential things in life, one of the most important being your health.

It can be easy to get caught up in day-to-day life. There are bills, chores, work, and so on. Over the long term, your health is going to suffer if your well-being takes a backseat to those other priorities.

Minimalism can help redirect your focus away from what you might be spending your time on, to your detriment, to more productive and positive habits. These changes will feel like a huge weight has been lifted off your shoulders, a weight you might not have even realised was there.

You might pay off your debt and reduce your stress and anxiety around your finances. You might realise that you don’t need a six-figure salary and the stress that comes with working 80 hours and choose to downsize your workload. You might try and minimize habits that don’t add much value, like scrolling on Tik Tok or watching too many hours of TV and replace them with ones that do add value, like exercising more.

You’ll Be More Intentional In All Areas of Your Life

When you clear the excess clutter and get down to what truly adds value to you, you’ll start applying the minimalist-inspired lifestyle to other aspects of your life – not just the stuff.

You might find yourself asking: Does this house bring me joy or does it just take up my spare time cleaning it? Am I really that passionate about this degree or career? Could I have my dream job if I could take a pay cut? Do I want to be in debt for the next 30 years?

Minimalism seeps into all areas of life and can open you up to a new way of thinking about all areas of your life. It helps us to regularly reassess where we are in life and over time, trains us to apply our thinking of small decisions such as do I need this kitchen gadget to the bigger decisions that have a larger impact on our life.

You’ll Have to Make Fewer Decisions

Making decisions takes more brainpower than you may realize. Every time you make a decision on something you are using up mental energy.

When you think about your day and what decisions you have to make: what to have for breakfast, what to wear today, what watch to wear, what bag will you grab, what route will you take to work, what will you have for dinner and so on – it’s no wonder we are at decision overload and have little attention span left to do much else with our time. For me the worst part is standing in the shopping aisle trying to pick one item from a section of 20. It all gets a bit much!

Minimalism helps us find ways to reduce everyday decision making which takes mental energy away from more valuable uses of energy and creativity. This frees up mental energy to do more value-adding activities like writing that book you’ve always wanted to or learning a new language. It’s why people like Steve Jobs and Matt D’Avella wear the same outfit every day!

Here are a few ideas to get you started to help minimize your decision-making overload.

Create a capsule wardrobe like Courtney Carver’s Project 333 as a curated selection of your favourite clothing, shoes and accessories that can be mixed and matched and save decision overload.

Meal planning once a week can save you time each day thinking about what to cook and save you from having to hit the grocery store with its 20 options for each item.

Life can be simplified so much more by limiting everyday decisions so we can focus on more important things.

You’ll Spend Less Time Cleaning

Nothing has sped up the cleaning process in my home like adopting a minimalist-inspired lifestyle has. Less is definitely more here.

Clearing the excess from your home allows you to spend less time cleaning it. Fewer things on the floor make for quicker vacuuming and mopping. Limited stuff on the countertops and tabletops allows you to use those surfaces for what they are intended and makes them much easier to keep tidy. Less decor saves you on dusting extra stuff. You get the idea.

I now see things in stores I am tempted to buy and ask myself – would I be willing to dust that? The answer is no 99% of the time!

A minimalist-inspired lifestyle has allowed me to have a more intentional wardrobe, which has made it so much easier to get on top of our laundry instead of attempting to try and tackle baskets of unwashed clothing, we now have manageable loads.

And with all the money I saved from spending with intention, I invested in a robovac that vacuums and mops my house for me!

You Are More Appreciative

After realising how much I don’t need to be happy I’ve developed a greater appreciation for what I do have.

I don’t feel the need to have the best of everything and am so grateful that I have the knowledge at this age of how important experiences and relationships are over things. Minimalism has helped me to acknowledge the small joys in every day, whether that be time spent with a close friend, a walk-in nature, or a lovely home-cooked meal. The emphasis is not on what you buy or accomplish to impress others but on what truly makes you happy.

I am excited to see where minimalism and intentional living take me in the future and hope to see even more benefits over time.

Do You Want to Learn How to Spend Your Money With Intention?

If you want to take control of your financial future, stop stressing about money, and learn how to spend your money with intention, book in for your free Q&A call to see how Minimise With Me Financial Coaching can help you gain clarity around your finances!

You can learn more about Minimise With Me Financial Coaching services here.

If you have adopted a minimalist inspired lifestyle comment below with what benefits you have found and how minimalism has helped you.

Budgeting

11 Everyday Tips to Help You Save Money

Posted on December 23, 2021

Sometimes finding more ways to save money can seem too hard, especially with the rising cost of living, it seems like everything is going up!

You research tips and think to yourself how is saving $12 a month on bank fees or a few dollars on a coffee really going to have any impact on my savings? How will that help me get on top of my debt or save for a holiday?

It may all seems like too much effort with limited results, but it is important to stay focused on the bigger picture.

Savings can be found anywhere you spend your money.

In order to find savings, you need to look at where you currently spend your money and get creative about ways to reduce that expenditure.

It could be as simple as a phone call to ask for a better deal, or taking ten minutes to research something a little bit more before hitting the buy button.

Becoming complacent about spending can end up costing you more than you may realise. And with most expenses being something you fork out for each year, saving more money sooner than later really pays off!

Here are 11 Everyday Tips to Help You Save Money. Each one alone may only give you a small increase in your savings, but together they can make a big difference over the space of a year, and the less money that comes out of your pocket day to day – the better for your savings goals!

11 Everyday Tips to Help You Save Money

1. Review insurance annually

Shop around for all insurance bills annually. Insurance can increase significantly year to year and most companies will take advantage of loyal customers who don’t put the time in to compare what they are being charged.

Most insurance companies offer quick online quotes and allow you to adjust the market value and excess coverage in order to get a true comparison and potentially save on your premium. Within minutes you can have a few price comparisons for the insurance you are renewing and be well on your way to saving money. I’ve often saved hundreds of dollars each year reviewing my insurance before renewing it.

Do your best to review these insurance prices every year to save:

Car insurance
Greenslip (medical vehicle insurance)
Home and Contents Insurance
Health Insurance
Death and Permanent Disability Insurance
Income Protection Insurance
Mobile Insurance

Another option, once you have some online quotes for reference is to call your insurance provider to ask if they can make you a better deal on your insurance premium.

Whilst you are there, consider if you even need the insurance you are paying.

Insurance is highly recommended when it comes to things that can ‘change your life’ such as home insurance or health insurance. If you own a car that is only worth $1,000, you might save some money on insurance premiums by buying Third Party Fire and Theft insurance cover, rather than comprehensive insurance (so you are covered if you hit someone or something, but you aren’t paying to cover your car if it gets totaled).

If you are paying for insurance premiums like mobile insurance or extended warranties, you might be able to just cancel those as they aren’t going to “change your life” if they break. You are probably better off just setting some money in a savings account in the event that you need to replace those items.

2. Only shop when you have something specific in mind

Avoid going to the shops unless you specifically need something, particularly if the only reason you are shopping is that you are bored.

Make an ongoing list in your phone or planner of what you need as you think of it (I use Trello + it’s free! *Not sponsored just something I love) and take your list with you on your next trip to the shops.

Sticking to a list will allow you to limit your shopping to specific stores and aisles, helping you avoid the temptations of items not on your list. Not only will this help you save money but also save time, allowing you to use your time more wisely such as on a side hustle to help you pay off debt.

3. Shop around for mobile phone plans regularly

Phone bills can add a significant cost to your annual budget. To save money shop around for phone plans, particularly if you are on a no-lock-in contract arrangement and have the flexibility to move around.

Phone companies are always updating offers to attract new customers and if you haven’t researched in the past twelve months what offers are available to you, you may be losing out on some amazing savings.

By changing my phone provider, I was able to take up a phone plan for new customers that was half the price I was paying to my current provider for the same inclusions. This added up to a saving of $210 in the first year. It may not sound like a lot but that saving alone covers my gym membership for the next four months and that is definitely money better spent on my health.

4. Limit dining out

Limit eating out where possible. With food delivery options at our disposal, it can be very tempting to just order food out more often than we should when it comes to our budget.

If you do want to go out, buy the meal you most prefer to eat out whether that is breakfast, lunch, dinner, or dessert. For me personally, I can easily make toast or pancakes at home so I would rather use my dining out budget to pay for dinner which is something much more time-consuming for me to create. I often opt for take away now, over dining in so I can drink my preferred drinks at home at a fraction of the cost (Coke’s are now $5 AUD at restaurants and I’m not loving it) and save more on dining out.

For dessert, often instead of paying $30 on top of our dinner bill at a restaurant, I’ll opt for ice cream at the movies or occasionally have some store-bought waffles on hand in the pantry which comes out much cheaper and certainly doesn’t seem like a sacrifice to me!

If you have a dinner outing that you don’t want to miss, opt for one of the cheaper menu items so you can socialise whilst avoiding blowing your budget. Alternatively, staying home and making dinner with friends or your partner is always a good compromise.

5. Start with reducing one of your regular expenses

What do you buy regularly? Is it coffee? Chocolate? A soft drink at lunch? Pick one expense you buy regularly and try and reduce your spending on that one item. If you love coffee, buy a good quality coffee to have at home and bring your reusable coffee cup out with you.

Can you bring in a bottle and have water at lunch instead of spending $4 daily on a coke? Or just bring a can from home at a cost of $0.50 saving you $3.50 for each drink.

Could you cut back on buying the pricey vending machine chocolate on your afternoon tea and just bring some from home? Even if you just cut back slightly, or even make small reductions to a regular expense that will give your savings a kick start. Once you have swapped out one, try adding another!

6. Create a wish list with a wait period

Sometimes we don’t even realise we are making impulse purchases and taking a step back, or waiting just 24 hours to think about a purchase can help us be more intentional with what we are buying and bringing into our homes.

Creating a wishlist is a great way to think about future purchases. When you come across something you want to buy, write it on your wishlist (again I use Trello for this!) and try and wait a period of time such as 30 days before buying the items you have listed. This will help you to avoid impulse purchases and make more informed decisions.

A wishlist allows you to truly assess whether this new purchase is a need or want if it will add value to your life and whether you want to part with your hard-earned cash in exchange for it. It also allows you time to consider other products, look into reviews, ask friends for recommendations and do price comparisons to make sure you are getting the best product for your needs at the best price.

Your wait period can start small and you can gradually increase it to what suits you. To begin with, set a goal to walk away from the shop, and say to yourself if I really want this I will come back to buy it before I leave. If you still want the item when you are ready to leave you’ll make the effort. I have saved so much from this method alone as it is a lot of effort to go back to a store.

Making educated purchases can help you avoid suffering any buyer’s remorse, having to go through the hassle of a return, and save you any disappointment in your purchase.

7. Review your utility plans

Have you been paying your utility bills on autopilot without reviewing what plan you are on? A quick call to your service provider or an online search for us Millenials who hate phone calls can save you hundreds in a matter of minutes. By contacting my utility provider I was able to switch to a new plan that offered a 16% discount for on-time or early payment. A quick ten-minute phone call has added up to hundreds of dollars of savings that have helped us to save money and significantly reduced our utility bills.

8. Unsubscribe from store mailing lists

We are constantly exposed to advertising whether it be on the radio, TV, Youtube, or when we are checking our email. I even get a little ad at the bottom of my new TV, these ads are unrelenting!

My inbox is constantly being populated with new sales and offers from stores and became an unnecessary distraction. Unsubscribe to your unwanted shopping email subscriptions as they come into your inbox. When you aren’t being informed on sales 24/7 you will reduce the desire to go shopping and buy unnecessary things as well as the fear of missing out. Instead of having advertisements telling you what you need to buy, you can be more intentional and only add to your wish list the things that you need.

No knowing about a holiday or store sale is so freeing and goes a long way to help you spend your money with intention.

9. Stop paying ATM and monthly bank fees

No one likes paying bank fees, there is no benefit to us for these costs which makes this expense a great place to start saving money. Learn where your bank’s local ATMs are and avoid withdrawing cash from other bank tellers.

Each withdrawal is at $2.50 or more which does add up, particularly if you are only withdrawing small amounts. Think ahead or pay by card where you can. Consider getting a card that gives a 100% ATM fee rebate. More and more banks are offering this now which is great to see!

I recently used my bank card overseas and saved $$$ on international transaction fees as they were reimbursed by my bank (do your research before travelling to see which bank card will be best for you when travelling).

Another expense that adds up is monthly bank fees. If you are being charged a monthly bank fee, contact your bank and ask them to waive fees on any bank account. Generally, they will if you deposit a certain amount or more into the account each month. If you are being charged monthly bank fees on your mortgage consider changing your home loan to a fee-free one (this always grinds my gears, I refuse to pay banks a fee for the privilege of paying them interest) or asking for those fees to be waived. These small banking fees add up month to month, year after year, and are much better in your bank account.

10. Review your super accounts

Do you have one superannuation account for every job you have had to date and have yet to consolidate them? Each superannuation account charges administration and investment fees, and insurance fees which you could be paying for twice, or more across multiple accounts. By having more than one superannuation account you are throwing away a large chunk of your retirement savings.

Consolidating your super is a lot easier than some might think. Most super funds just require you to fill in a Consolidate Your Super form and will contact your other superannuation fund to transfer your balance into your new account on your behalf. You can learn more about this process here. It may seem like your retirement is a lifetime away but every dollar you can save today is going to make your life a lot easier in the future.

11. Sign up to your local library

I recently joined my local library after hearing about the access to borrowing eBooks and audiobooks. I never go to the library, but could not pass up access to free ebooks and audiobooks on my phone. You only have to go to the library once to sign up and after downloading the OverDrive app you can borrow eBooks and audiobooks for free without having to leave your chair.

I’ve listened to and read countless audio and eBooks this way. If you aren’t too set on only reading physical copies this is a great way to read more and save money on buying books. They might not have every book you are after but you can go on a waitlist for your preferred one.

There you have it, 11 Everyday Tips to Help You Save Money. I hope these were helpful for you to save some extra cash this year.

Do You Want to Learn How to Spend Your Money With Intention?

If you want to learn how to spend your money with intention and in line with your values and take the stress and anxiety out of your money, book in for a free Q&A call to see how Minimise With Me financial coaching can help you gain clarity around your finances!

You can learn more about Minimise With Me Financial Coaching services via the link below.

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Which one of these are you going to take action on in the next 7 days? Comment below with your favourite you want to get started saving with!

Minimalism

85 CLUTTER-FREE GIFT IDEAS

Posted on December 12, 2021

Christmas gifts laying on a wood floor with a dark blue painted wall and green christmas tree cuttings placed around

How do you feel after Christmas day. Have you ever found yourself with a pile of gifts that you have no idea where you are going to put, and maybe even some that you have no use for? Now you have to ‘hoard’ said gift until you are able to regift it to someone else or have waited the appropriate amount of time (whatever that is) to donate it.

A survey conducted by Roy Morgan (source) has found that Australians are planning to spend $11B on gifts for Christmas 2021. To make sure that money is well spent and doesn’t end up as one of the 41% of gifts that are re-gifted (source) check out these clutter-free gift ideas for your loved one. These might even inspire you to change your gift-giving traditions and change your focus from gifting physical things to experiences or even just your time.

This blog post was inspired by Becoming Minimalist’s 99 Clutter-Free Gift Ideas so check out Joshua Beckers post for even more clutter-free gift ideas to inspire you!

85 Clutter-Free Gift Ideas

Experience Gifts

Axe Throwing

2. Go Karting

3. Bowling

4. Rock Climbing

5. Lunch or Dinner Cruise

6. Comedy Show

7. Musical

8. Orchestra

9. Symphony

10. Concert

11. Art or craft workshop

12. Paint and sip class

13. Yoga Class

14. Pottery Class

15. A meal on you

16. Zoo/Aquarium

17. Museum

18. Movie/Drive-In Tickets

19. Flight Simulator experience

20. Facial

21. Massage

22. Floatation tank session

23. Sauna

24. A gift voucher for their favourite dessert place, I.e. Krispy Kreme’s, Donut king etc

25. Tickets to a special event in your city

26. Water park

27. Theme Park

28. Jet Boat ride

29. High Tea

30. V8 Laps Ride

31. Escape Room

32. Guided city tour

33. Whale or dolphin watching cruise

34. Chocolate Making Class

35. VR experience

Classes

36. Dancing:

37. Art Class: painting, pottery etc

38. Music Lesson

39. Driving Lesson

40. Cooking class: Sushi, Italian, Thai etc

41. Cocktail making class

42. A financial coaching session

43. Makeup lesson

44. Photography workshop

45. Drawing course

46. Surfing Lesson

47. Learn to skateboard

48. Beer masterclass

49. Language class

50. Masterclass on a topic you love

Time

51. Quality time with your loved one

52. Babysitting

53. Help organise their home

54. Help them build some custom furniture

55. Landscaping

56. Teach them a skill you have

57. Take a trip to visit family or friend

58. Personal stylist, help them shop for some outfits they love

Subscriptions/Memberships

59. Spotify

60. Youtube

61. Netflix

62. Museum, Zoo, Aquarium or other local attraction

63. Audible

64. Meditation App

65. Food delivery service

Consumables

66. Wine

67. Beer

68. Spirits

69. Chocolate

70. Fudge

71. Hair treatment pack

72. Perfume or cologne

73. Cocktail mixer

74. Hot Sauce

75. Tea

76. Coffee

77. Food Hamper

Other Gift Ideas

78. A house plant

79. A gift voucher for their favourite store

80. Digital game voucher

81. Recording a cover of their favourite song

82. Creating a custom artwork

83. Something they need for their hobby

84. A personalised cartoon in the likeness of their favourite show (they can print it out or use it as a background on their PC)

85. Money to spend on something as they wish

I hope this list helps you to find some clutter-free gifts for your loved one!

What are your favourite clutter-free gifts to give or receive?

[Photo thanks to Mel Poole on Unsplash.com]

Minimalism

25 Things You Can Do to Simplify Your Life

Posted on October 19, 2021

Every day we are faced with a barrage of noise and stresses, such as ads, traffic, social media and other constant distractions. Sometimes the only way to reduce or eliminate these distractions that take away our time, focus and attention is to make intentional actions each day in order to simplify our lives and focus on what truly matters to us, and do our best to turn down the other unnecessary noise.

Here are 25 Things You Can Do to Simplify Your Life.

25 Things You Can Do to Simplify Your Life

Avoid Ads

Wherever possible keep your eyeballs off advertisements. If you don’t know what is for sale, you won’t be so tempted to buy it. A few years back I became very interested in learning how to do makeup and before I knew it, my wishlist for designer make up grew. It wasn’t until I stopped watching makeup videos that I stopped wanting to buy more and more and learned to be content with the makeup supplies that I had. Now that I avoid those ads I only buy makeup when I need to replace something that has run out. Replace makeup in this example with whatever thing you seem to buy too much of.

Avoiding advertising is no easy feat. There are ads everywhere but there are things you can do to avoid as many of them as you can and remove the temptation to consume.

Some practical tips you can implement to avoid advertising:

Don’t read magazines.
Consider paying for services like Youtube or streaming services for ad-free viewing.
Avoid watching free-to-air TV and instead stream ad-free content.
Keep shopping and dining in at places that have TVs and advertising around to a minimum.
Turn off your Facebook news feed and the ads that go with it by installing a browser Facebook News Feed Eradicator.

All of these attempts to avoid advertising still do not completely eliminate all ads that you’ll end up seeing, but they’ll certainly limit the number!

2. Be More Intentional With What You Watch on TV

Be more selective with what you are watching on TV, rather than just watching whatever is on at the time. I no longer just watch Operation Repo, RBT, or whatever show just because it is on TV at that moment. I limit watching TV to only watching specific shows I enjoy watching.

This has allowed me to get some much-needed time back into my schedule for more valuable things like going to the gym or working on my blog. Think of all the amazing things you could be doing with that newly freed-up time!

3. Downsize Your Stuff

Five years ago I decluttered over 70% of my belongings. This in itself has been a huge step in simplifying my life. It makes getting dressed, doing laundry, and cleaning my house easier just to name a few benefits.

When you own less stuff, there is less stuff to maintain, clean around, replace or spend money on. You might even realise that you don’t need as big a house as you thought you did, which will lead to even less work for you and more money in your pocket!

4. Stick to a List For Grocery Shopping.

If you walk into the supermarket unprepared you are going to end up buying things that you don’t need. Often you’ll end up forgetting the things that you did and you’ll have to waist time and petrol making an additional trip. Save yourself the stress of going to the shops and the guesswork and bring your grocery list with you.

This goes for all shopping. I will not step foot into a Kmart, Bunnings, or anywhere without my list! Not to mention it frees up time that would have been wasted wandering down aisles if that is not your idea of fun!

5. Use a Planner to Stay Productive.

Those super-productive people that you see on YT or on Facebook are not unicorns. They are most likely good planners and you can be too, simply by having all your To Do’s and schedule in one place.

I use my weekly schedule planner to tell me everything I need to know or do like:

What chores I need to do that day
When do I plan to exercise?
What I am eating on what day?
What To Do items I have for myself, the band, my website, and anything I need to buy like a gift for an upcoming birthday party.

I don’t know how I used to function without one, but it’s great to have a place to write down all your thoughts so you can forget them and yet feel confident you can get what you need, done. This helps you to let go of all that info rolling around in your head, get it down on paper, set your timers or reminders, and give your brain a much-needed rest. Simply write what you need on your planner and get back to focusing on your current task or goal.

6. Simplify Your Wardrobe.

One of the most effective things you can do to simplify your life is to minimise your clothing and adopt a Capsule Wardrobe. A capsule wardrobe is a well-curated small wardrobe selected for each season on pieces that mix and match and take the stress and work out of getting ready each day. With so many things to juggle on a daily basis, not having to worry about finding outfits that go together will help you simplify your life every single day.

7. Avoid The Shops

I try and spend as little time as humanly possible at the shops. I don’t go shopping unless I have something specific in mind and usually even then it needs to be a few things to warrant me even driving there. Some might find the experience of shopping thrilling and enjoyable but for me, it is filled with stress from crowds, loud music or advertising, and frustration at waiting in long lines for parking or to pay for your items or the changeroom.

Simplify your life and your schedule by shopping less and only shopping when you genuinely need to, not just to pass time. Keep a wishlist of things you want or need to buy and build that up over time so you can hit the shops once that month rather than going multiple times.

8. Learn to Say ‘No’.

For some time, I felt extremely stressed thanks to not having enough downtime. On weekends I’d cram in band practice or a gig, on top of trying to see family, go to the city with friends, see more family, get groceries, attempt to catch up on housework, and still have an outing with my husband. After a few years of this, I found myself completely burned out and overwhelmed.

If this sounds like you, and you want to simplify your life, start making space in your schedule for rest and downtime. Don’t feel the need to fill every hour with some kind of social event. The next time someone asks you to do something you aren’t feeling, just say ‘I’m sorry but I won’t be able to make it’, and give yourself some time just for yourself.

9. Use Homemade Cleaners.

I know this seems the opposite of simplifying when I tell you to make something yourself, but stick with me here.

I started using homemade cleaners a few years back. I love that with only a handful of products I can clean my entire home as well as avoid nasty chemicals as much as possible. And best of all – no more overflowing under sink cupboards packed full of different cleaning products!

Instead of having 20 different cleaners, you’ll find that just a handful of homemade cleaners can do the work of many different products. Basic ingredients like vinegar, bi-carb, dishwashing liquid, and lemon you most likely already have in your home.

For more homemade cleaners be sure to check out Clean My Space for some of Melissa Maker’s amazing cleaning recipes!

10. Learn to be Content With Less

When you minimise the excess you can begin to enjoy the benefits of minimalism and simplify your life. Minimising your wardrobes make for less laundry and a less stressful time getting ready.

Minimising your makeup collection means you can easily find what you want to use and everything can have its own place and not clutter up your vanity top.

Having fewer books means you can see the ones that truly bring your joy and you can eliminate the guilt you always felt for not reading the others you never got around to.

It may sound opposite to what we are always told – having more is more, but I promise you when you own what you love and what brings you joy you will have a newfound appreciation for what is essential and not miss all that extra clutter in your home making your life more stressful and disorganised than it needs to be.

11. Let Go of Your Aspirations For a Carrie Bradshaw Esque Shoe Collection.

Before I discovered Minimalism, I was a shoe hoarder. At my highest count, I had about 50 pairs of shoes. That may not seem like a lot to some of you but to me it was. I have since eliminated the excess shoes I owned and now have selected a few shoes that are versatile enough to go with everything.

Most of my shoes are black and there is a reason for that. It means I can run out the door in whatever shoes I have and know that there’s a 99% chance they will go with what I am wearing and also be comfortable. Not all of us are gifted fashionistas, so having a simple shoes collection helps simplify leaving the house everyday.

It may be time to be honest with yourself.

Ask:

Do you really need 10 pairs of heels when you only wear them to weddings twice a year?

Do you really need 20 pairs of sneakers when you prefer to wear two of your favourites and the others just sit there on show?

Do you really need 10 pairs of $10 flats from Kmart or would one quality pair do you?

After a while of living with just the shoes you need and love, you’ll wonder why you didn’t downsize your shoe collection sooner!

12. Automate Your Finances

Simplify your life and take the mental workload involved in paying your bills by setting up direct debit billing.

This has saved me in late fees that are no longer an issue as the bills are paid before I can forget to pay them.

Don’t forget to do the same for your savings transfers each month! Taking the work out of paying bills and savings means you can ensure your finances stay under control without too much work from you.

If you want to learn more about about how you can spend your money with intention book in your complimentary 15-min financial coaching Q&A session.

13. Eliminate Paper Statements.

If you hate filing, I’ve got a simple solution for you, e-filing. Request your bills to be sent to your email rather than by mail. It means not only less time spend sorting mail and filing it, but leaves less in terms of paper clutter!

An added bonus is this saves you the fee most companies now charge to mail you paper statements and only takes a once-off quick phone call to make the change.

14. Learn to Delegate.

I used to think that I had to do it all. I soon learned that this is not sustainable and things getting done by someone else, is better than not at all, or that task staying on your never-ending to-do list.

If you have too much to do, ask for help from those around you. Get your partner or kids to help out around the house even if it is just 10 minutes every other day. Small amounts of help add up.

If you can afford to, consider hiring someone to help mow the lawns or clean your home once a week or fortnight to give you back a few hours of your freedom and make day-to-day tasks that little bit less overwhelming.

And the same goes for work, if you are snowed under speak up. There’s no shame in asking for help!

15. Unsubscribe

Something as simple as a full email inbox can be a huge stressor! Take a quick moment to action emails as you go, rather than letting them build up where you feel that you can’t catch up.

If you get an email for a store or a website you either haven’t signed up for or aren’t interested in seeing in your inbox, quickly open the email and select Unsubscribe. Then delete those emails from your inbox. (type in the search the company name and all emails will show up so you can quickly delete or prior ones from your inbox).

This will save you one set of ongoing emails from taking away your attention on more important things and will help you keep your inbox under control and organised.

16. Focus on One or Two Hobbies.

Sometimes we can get carried away with multiple hobbies and interests, but the most effective way to get good at something is to limit those hobbies to 1-3 max. For me, that is my blog, music, and gaming.

Sure I would love to add some DIY projects in, to learn to paint and learn more instruments but those expectations are just not going to happen in my life right now where I am balancing full-time work with my social life, cleaning, my current hobbies, and having downtime.

The last thing you want is for your passion to turn into another stressor in your life and chore. By limiting your hobbies to just a couple you can get the most out of those hobbies without them taking over your life. As a bonus, by limiting your hobbies you can also limit the clutter that can come with having too many hobbies.

17. Speed Clean

Cleaning used to overwhelm me on a daily basis until I discovered the art of Speed Cleaning. Instead of letting cleaning take over my entire weekend, now I try and speed clean for 10-15 minutes most days. This doesn’t always happen, but if I can keep the house reasonably tidy day-to-day, and save the bigger stuff like the floors and bathrooms for the weekends, I don’t get as overwhelmed. And the best part is, it’s such a short time family might be more willing to join in and help.

Speed Cleaning has simplified my life as it is not something I dread as much compared to a huge clean-a-thon and makes it easier to clean in smaller chunks rather than tackling a disaster zone at the end of the week.

18. Meal Plan

If you only adopt one thing from this list, I highly encourage you to take up Meal Planning. And I am not even talking about Meal planning where you cook for three hours on a Sunday and eat the same 3 meals day-in-day-out. That’s not for me, although you may prefer that version of Meal Planning.

I am talking about Meal Planning where you select your meals for the week ahead and shop accordingly.

This allows you to:

a) Not have to stress about what to cook when you get home – you’ve already sorted that part out

b) You don’t have to rush off to the shops after work to buy groceries meaning you get home even later and still have to cook. That part has already been done.

c) You can save money as you will only buy what you need and plan to eat. This helps reduce food waste

Once you have seen how much just 10 minutes of meal planning a week can help you simplify you’ll never look back!

19. Be More Mindful of Photos by Deleting As You Go

Have you ever gone through your phone to look for one set of photographs only to see hundreds of blurry, poorly shot pics.

Yep? Me too.

So here I am going to suggest that rather than leaving these photos to take up space in our phones and clog up our phone, laptop or cloud memory that we get into the habit of deleting these unnecessary photos as we go.

If it takes 20 photos to get the perfect selfie, delete the other 19 that looked not as good.

Better yet, don’t take hundreds of shots in a day, just take a few and enjoy the moment without the camera. Curate your photo collection to only the best shots.

This can also be applied to anything that you want. If you are done with a to-do list get rid of it. Have an app you used once but aren’t happy with it? Delete it as well.

Keep only what you love and need.

20. Less is More

The Minimalists always say ‘less is more’, but what does that mean?

‘Less is more’ is about all the things that come about from having less.

It means less time spent cleaning because you have less decor to dust around
It means less photos to sort through as you only kept the ones that bring you joy
It means less time looking for your favourite lipstick because you only have your two favourites
It means less time finding an outfit that matches because you have a capsule wardrobe with only the clothes you love!

When you eliminate the excess: the decor you don’t love, the clothes that no longer fit you, and the overflowing makeup collection, you can simplify and claim some of your time and mental energy back.

21. Downsize Your Home

Downsizing your home is a very practical way to simplify your life.

When you have a smaller home you have less space to organise, upkeep, and clean.

You have less bills to pay like electricity to heat your space and can spend less money on furniture and decor.

You also have smaller rent or mortgage payments so you can choose to work less if that is your desire.

Bigger is not always better.

22. Eliminate Wasteful Spending

When you spend more intentionally you can simplify your life. Eliminating wasteful spending can allow us to eliminate unwanted clutter from our homes and ensure that we only bring what truly adds value into our homes.

Instead of buying every book that takes your fancy, only buy books as you are able to read them. You can always write a list for new books that you want to get when you are ready to read them.

Buy clothes to fill the gaps in your wardrobe rather than just grabbing anything at random because it is on sale.

Don’t buy anything for your home unless you know there is a need for it, or you have a designated place to put or store it.

By being more intentional with spending we can simplify our life and reduce the excess stuff in our homes that can add stress and anxiety.

23. Create a Morning Routine.

Having a morning routine can make all the difference in simplifying your mornings and having a good start to the day. The best part is it can be completely catered to you.

Avoid just waking up and looking at your phone or hitting the snooze button and take charge of your mornings. Even if it is just a small 10-minute window where you try and enjoy the start of the day.

Your morning routine might involve sitting and reading before starting the workday with a coffee or glass of lemon water. It might involve a workout, yoga, or stretching. You might get started on tidying up so you can come home to a tidy space later on in the day or dedicate your morning to journaling.

24. Create a Nightly Routine

A night routine can also help set us up for a restful night’s sleep and a stress-free morning.

You might choose to have a shower or bath before bed to relax and wind down.

Moisturise and have tea.

Set out your clothes and lunch for the day ahead so it’s one less thing to worry about the next morning.

You might choose to meditate or tidy up rather than do those in the morning.

This routine is something you can curate and tweak over time to see what is the best fit for you and help you simplify your nights.

I have recently started tidying before I go to sleep, getting my work clothes ready, and preparing my lunch, and have found this to be a huge stress relief come morning and a great and easy tool to help me simplify my life.

25. Have an Emergency Fund

I have never felt as at peace financially, as I have since having an Emergency Fund.

When you have money set aside for unexpected financial emergencies you take a weight off your shoulders that many of us carry around with us everyday!

Having an emergency credit card is not the same. It needs to be a saving’s fund set aside purely for financial emergencies.

Once you have one you will never look back or miss the days when you were potentially a moment away from financial stress.

This weeks comment question: What have you implemented to simplify your life? Let’s discuss this in the comments 🙂

Want to Simplify Your Finances?

If you want help to simplify your finances and spend your money with more intention so you can create your ideal life book in for your complimentary 15-min Q&A call to discuss how I can help you.

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