Budgeting

7 Reasons Why You Need An Emergency Fund

Posted on June 24, 2021
A woman is sitting in front of her computer looking stressed.

If you are struggling to pay your bills and constantly going into debt to pay for your expenses, you probably don’t have an Emergency Fund.

Dave Ramsey recommends an emergency fund of 3 to 6 months expenses once you are consumer debt-free to weather unexpected financial costs. It really is as basic as that, cash set aside for emergencies only.

A 2018 Report on the Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households in 2018 found that 40% of those surveyed could not afford a $400 emergency which means a huge number of Americans could be unable to afford urgent expenses like car repairs or medical treatment leading to a lower quality of life.

I would argue that having an Emergency Fund is the single most important financial step. You need a buffer between life and you.  And here’s why!

7 Reasons Why You Need an Emergency Fund

  1. Because shit is always going to hit the fan

Of course, you have heard of the saying when it rains it pours so you should accept the reality that things are not always going to be smooth sailing. Things are going to come up, break down, medical issues can appear, bills can blow out and pinch your budget so the sooner you accept this and prepare for those things in advance the better. As the Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households in 2018  survey found. 40% of respondents said would not have the money to cover a $400 emergency. This should scare you as much as it scares me. Being a daredevil with your finances is going to get you in hot water.

Consider the following scenarios.

  • Your car breaks down and it is going to cost $1000 to fix it.
  • Your electricity bill came in at $500 instead of the usual $250.
  • You chip a tooth and end up needing a root canal that sets you back $1300.
  • Your hot water heater dies and you need $1400 in a matter of 24 hours in order to have hot water.
  • There’s a storm and both your cars and home have hail damage and you have to pay 3 insurance excesses.

All of the above have happened to me and I am sure you have your own expensive financial stories to tell (Please do let me know them in the comments below!)

Don’t be that person that is in a bind because they didn’t acknowledge life is going to throw you lemons and didn’t make a small sacrifice to save an Emergency Fund.

Financial Minimalism Course : How to Set Yourself Up on a Path to Financial Freedom

2. It will stop you from going into Debt

A lot of people don’t bother with Emergency Funds and instead rely on credit cards to finance emergencies. The problem with this is if you are paying for every emergency that comes up with a hefty interest rate, and then only repaying the minimum repayments, before long you are going to wrack up a large amount of debt.

If you are trying to get out of debt you are spinning your wheels paying off debt and then taking more for “emergencies”. If this is you, you may notice that you are not going anyway with your debt goals.

Instead, set yourself a new rule – don’t reach for the credit card to pay for your emergencies. Plan ahead and save up so you can utilise your emergency fund instead when unexpected emergencies appear. You can then use your own cash, it will be interest-free and is there for this exact scenario and completely guilt-free.

3. To ensure you have your basic needs met no matter what

Everyone has basic needs they need to survive. Don’t let your or your family’s basic needs be ignored because you haven’t prioritised and put away an emergency fund. If you or your loved ones have a toothache, your pet needs medication or you need some emergency plumbing, the last thing you want is to not be able to do what you or your family needs.  Who wants to deal with a blocked toilet or toothache for longer than necessary because you don’t have the money?

No one wants to miss out on basic needs so don’t let that become a reality. Get yourself an emergency fund as soon as you can!

4. You are a homeowner

This should go without saying, but if you are a homeowner you need an emergency fund. The one truth about housing is there are always costs you don’t expect! Whether it’s paying for an insurance excess, fixing a leaking tap, or an electrical issue, housing emergencies will rear their ugly head at you more than you realise. And they don’t wait for you, sometimes they will even hit you at once. As I mentioned above, we had to pay $2100 in insurance excess for our house and two vehicles that had hail damage, in the same month that our hot water died which set us back another $1300. Had we not been prepared for unexpected house repairs we would have been under a lot of stress to come up with that money in a rush.

5. You have only one stream of income

Even if you are a two-income household if all your income comes from one source E.g your full-time job, it is important that you have an emergency fund to weather any periods of unemployment  You hear it in the news all the time, people come into work and are shortly leaving with their belongings after being told they no longer have jobs.

Just imagine for a second how scary it would feel to have just been told you no longer have a job.

Please, don’t wait to find out how crap that shock feels, plan ahead and save up your emergency fund now.  Losing your job when you have a few months of expenses stashed away gives you a buffer and time to plan your next steps in your career. And at a time like losing your job, time is what you are going to want.

6. You live away from your family

If you live far away from your family having an emergency fund is a must. You never know when you might need to travel to see your family expectantly. And if there is a family emergency you don’t want to be stuck at home because you’re broke. You’re going to want to be with your loved ones. Make sure at all times you have enough saved to go back home if you ever need to so you don’t have to miss out on being with loved ones at important times.

7. Peace of Mind

Having an emergency is one of the best things you can do for your peace of mind. Life is stressful enough,  anything that you can reduce stress and anxiety is a good thing! When you have an emergency fund you know in the back of your mind that you can tackle any unexpected expenses head-on and unexpected issues don’t have to cause you more stress than necessary.

If your tyres need to be replaced, no worries. If your relative is ill and you really need to go and see them, it’s okay you’ve got the money – go and see them!  Did you lose your job? Okay, that’s a biggie, but you know that you’ve got some money stashed away for this exact reason and you can afford to cover your bills for some time until you find a new job.

A little bit of planning ahead and sacrifice will pay dividends to you in crucial times and help stem that worry we all have about unexpected costs.

Click on this picture to join the Minimise With Me Facebook Group

Where should I keep my Emergency Fund?

Your Emergency Fund needs to be somewhere accessible, but not somewhere so accessible that you can spend it. Don’t keep your emergency fund lying around at home in cash. This is a sure-fire way to spend your emergency nest egg on pizza. And don’t invest it in the stock market. you want it to be accessible within 24 hours for emergencies. The safest place to keep your Emergency Fund is in a completely separate bank account (ideally one that is fee-free!) so you can access it as you need it, and it’s going to stay there and not be at the mercy of the stock markets.

You’re certainly not going to make money off it other than a small amount of interest, but that’s okay. This money isn’t there to make you money it’s there to keep your head above water and be ready to grab if and when you need it. Anything above this amount you can always invest how you choose but keep that outside of your Emergency Fund savings.

How Much of Emergency Fund Should I Have Saved?

This depends on your current scenario. If you have debt other than a mortgage, any of the following:

  • Credit Cards
  • Car Loans
  • Personal Loans
  • Medical Bills
  • Tax Debts
  • Student Loans
  • After Pay

or any other consumer debt, I recommend that you have a $2000 emergency fund.

This will give you enough of a cash buffer to cover a car repair or a small house repair and not require you to go into debt to cover any emergencies.

But if you have no consumer debt (go you!) now is the time to boost that emergency fund to 3-6 months of expenses. This is your super-duper Emergency Fund which is going to help you weather bigger financial stresses such as a medical emergency or a job loss.  Again, regardless of the balance, leave the Emergency Fund in a bank account – do not invest it. 6 months of expenses may seem like a lot of money to have earning next to no interest but it’s 100% guaranteed to be there ready when you need it.

When is it okay to Use My Emergency Funds?

It’s extremely important that you use some self-restraint when it comes to your emergency fund. It is there for emergencies only.

Needing to go on a shopping spree is not an emergency. Nor is wanting a better car than you have.

You should only use your emergency fund when it is absolutely necessary. Some examples of scenarios where you might use your Emergency Fund are:

  • Your car breaks down and you need it to get to work.
  • You have a family emergency and need to travel.
  • You have a medical issue that requires urgent attention
  • You need an urgent house repair (not an upgrade!)
  • Your glasses break and you need to replace them.

Of course, when your should use your Emergency Fund is subjective but be realistic, ask if it really is an emergency, or are you just looking for an excuse to dip into some cash?

Here are some scenarios you should resist dipping into your Emergency Fund for:

  • You need a new dress for a wedding
  • Your friends have asked you to come on a holiday with them
  • You really want a new puppy but don’t have the cash
  • It’s Christmas and you forgot to save up ahead
  • You’re rooms looking a bit drab so you want to buy some new bedding

What happens when I use my Emergency Funds?

When you have used any of your Emergency Fund it is now time to top it back up! Here are a few suggestions for you to do this:

And there you have it, all you need to know about Emergencies Funds and why you need one!

[Photo: Thought Catalog on Unsplash.com]

Comment Question: When were you in a financial bind and having an Emergency Fund saved you or, not having one caused you stress? Let me know in the comments!  

If you found value in this post I would be super appreciative if you could share it with others who might also find value in it 🙂

Budgeting

18 Tips to Help You Break the Debt Cycle

Posted on June 23, 2021

Being stuck in the debt cycle can seem like a treadmill of stress and struggle to try to keep ahead of what may seem like never-ending repayments. Once you add a mortgage, car loan, a few credit card repayments, and some BNPLs to your budget finding any spare cash can become increasingly difficult and make it harder to break away from debt and get back on your financial feet.

If you are constantly making purchases with your credit card and not paying them off in full the following month you are going to eat up a lot of your hard-earned income in interest payments. Money which could be better utilised whether that be; saving for a new home, saving up for your child’s education, putting away for your retirement or having some spare cash for enjoyment such as holidays or seeing your favourite band in concert.

No matter where you are on your journey to financial freedom, there are methods to help you get on top of your debt. Even for anyone with significant amounts of debt, their financial story isn’t over and they can potentially have the most options for action in terms of retraining their habits and living within their means. No one needs to live under a cloud of debt indefinitely. There is a way out!

18 Tips to Help you Break the Debt Cycle

1. Think about the Interest Rate

It can be so easy to forget that the price tag of the item you are about to swipe on your credit card is not the final price you will pay if you don’t pay your credit card off in full when the bill comes.

If your credit card’s interest rate is a whopping 20% or more, every purchase you make on that card that is not paid in full will attract hefty interest charges.

That $99 dress that was 50% off that you just charged will cost you a hell of a lot more over the years if you don’t pay off your credit card balance.

And it doesn’t stop there, that is just one purchase – imagine that interest on every purchase you make! That sale price doesn’t look as good now does it?

2. Cut up your credit cards

If you are the kind of person that can’t resist a good deal and you don’t pay off your credit card in full each month, it is time to cut those cards up! Stop spending money you don’t have. It sounds harsh but really is that simple. If you can’t show restraint, take the easy step of grabbing a pair of scissors and cutting up that card. It will only take you a few seconds and save you a world of stress and hardship in paying off any extra debt. Don’t let your debt keep spiraling out of control. You can get out of this and you can start today by cutting up those credit cards!

If you are buying everyday purchases on the card and are not paying them off in full at the end of the month you need to reconsider your income and expenditure and spend less than you earn. The only reason to use a credit card is to have it as a tool to keep track of your expenses, to earn rewards points on everyday expenses, and only if you are paying it off monthly! If you are disciplined enough to do this you can save yourself some serious money by keeping your day-to-day cash in your mortgage offset account or in a high-interest savings account. Otherwise, get those scissors out!

3. Stop trying to impress others

A lot of people get caught up in looking at other people’s lifestyles and attempt to keep up with them. I guarantee no one ever asks the same people they are trying to compete with – how much debt do you have? Yeah sure, Joe down the road might have your dream car but he probably also has a $200 weekly car repayment to make for the next 7 years which probably isn’t as appealing to your green-eyed monster.

Yet so many people go out and buy new cars, bigger homes, or brand-name designer fashion to fit in with others without a thought for the struggle that is going to put on their finances, such as affording the basic needs of food, shelter, medicine, or their education. Break the debt cycle!

Do you feel the need to buy the latest fashion and accessories? You might be surprised to find that other people are probably not that interested in what you are or aren’t wearing. People are too worried about their own lives to focus on your daily outfit choices or the fact that you only spent $50 on your handbag rather than $300.

I have often had handbags under $50 and constantly got compliments – no $300 designer bag necessary! I remember my friend’s 21st, I asked her where she got her amazing dress from and she said a second-hand shop! You don’t have to spend big to have nice things in life!

If you are surrounding yourself with people who expect you to meet some kind of designer brand level of outfit choices, your probably need to reconsider who you hang out with or reassess if those friends even really care. Maybe it is your own standards you are trying to keep up with.

4. Avoid shopping without a list

Stop going shopping unnecessarily! You’d be surprised how little you’d spend if you didn’t step foot in the shops at all or open the latest sales email. If you have endless emails from clothing shops or stores that tempt you constantly, unsubscribing from them can help remove that urge to buy.

Make a goal of only going to the shops when you need to and go with a list of what you need to buy and from where that you have built up over a week or more. Don’t walk down the makeup aisle if makeup is not on your list. This alone can help you resist unnecessary purchases as most spending occurs when you are browsing which can end up with you buying something you don’t need and will later regret.

Shopping with a carefully prepared grocery list can go a long way to saving money on your weekly shop that can be redirected to paying down your debts faster!

5. Take advantage of new credit card balance transfers

If you want a leg up to pay off your credit card balances, you can consider a balance transfer to a new credit card, some offer 0% interest on the balance for a certain period of time, usually between 6 to 24 months. This can potentially reduce the interest rate you are paying on your credit cards to 0% and help you get on top of your debt in a short space of time.

Only do this if you cut up the new card immediately otherwise you will end up back where you started. Also, be sure you will be able to pay the balance transferred onto the new card within the low-interest period. The new interest rates can be significantly higher usually starting at 19.99% post the discounted interest period so you will want to pay it back within this time frame to avoid the increased interest rates.

This can be a great way to smash that debt balance in a defined period of time at a lower interest rate. Do not under any circumstances add to the balance of this new credit card. It is not for you to spend with, but as a tool to help you get ahead and pay down that debt!

6. Ask your credit card provider for a better rate

Alternatively to the balance transfer option, call up your current credit card provider and ask for a better, more competitive interest rate. If they want to keep your debt on their books they will have to meet your request and better your interest rate. This will save you on interest charges without the time limit of the balance transfer option.

7. Always pay more than the minimum on your credit card debt

When paying off your credit cards always pay as much as you can onto them each month – avoid only paying the minimum. If you can only afford the minimum find a way to change that – cut other expenditure, get a higher paying job, or a second job to increase your income if changing jobs is not an option. Temporary pain will be required to achieve financial freedom.

By only paying the minimum repayment you can add decades and thousands in interest to the debt you are going to have to pay off. Using Money Smarts Credit Card Calculator a $2,000 credit card balance paid back at the minimum repayment of $41 a month would take over 21 years to repay and cost over $6,500. That means you will in effect be paying for those $2000 purchases three times over for the next 21 years! And for some people, $2,000 is just one month’s expenses. Imagine if this is being charged, month after month. The horror!

Never settle for only paying the minimum repayment. There should be a disclaimer under the minimum repayment on your credit card statement that reads: “what to pay if you want to be in debt forever and pay 3X the price of everything you’ve ever bought and have no desire for financial freedom”.

The only time you should utilise the minimum payment is if you are using the Snowball Method or other debt repayment options and throwing all your spare cash onto the lowest debt and slowly knocking each one to zero.

8. Ask yourself if this purchase is a Want or Need

It is important to consider what our wants are versus our needs. Every time you pull out the credit card or cash, ask yourself is this a want or a need?

If it is a want, something that you’d like but could live without, ask yourself if this purchase is so important to you that you are willing to be snowed under by debt in order to have it?

Is it worth paying potentially 3X (or more) the purchase price of the handbag or new runners over a period of years? Or would it be better just to hold off a couple of weeks or months and save up the cash?

If it is a need and you have truly considered it, go ahead and buy it, but if it is an essential expense it should be covered by your budget and not paid for with debt.

If it doesn’t seem worth spiraling into more debt, rethink your purchase. Sometimes we can become so desensitised by buying things with a simple tap that we forget to stop and ask ourselves these important questions.

Being more mindful with everyday purchases can aid us significantly to break the debt cycle!

Shops are designed to make us want to spend more money. Whether it be the loud music, the vanilla caramel-scented candle wafting through the store, bright lights, styled displays or the pushy sales staff. Take a moment to stop and assess whether buying this item is going to add to your long-term happiness or take away from it.

9. Channel your excitement into your savings

Make the decision to buy things in cash going forward. By buying in cash and saving up for highly desired items you can give yourself the time to save up money gradually for it. You will be surprised how easy it can be to save for something that you really want when you know that after all that hard work you will have that item you desire – debt and guilt-free.

When you really want something, you will know if it is worth your hard-earned money as you will be making the necessary sacrifices to get it. You might start spending less on eating out each week or skipping regular drinks nights in order to save to go on that first overseas holiday.

When you save towards something you want and work hard in order to acquire it, instead of feeling a sense of guilt or buyer’s regret, you will feel a sense of accomplishment and joy knowing that you worked hard and saved for something meaningful that was going to add value to your life and that you paid for in cash. There will be no looming debt hanging over your head for months or years to come.

I can’t imagine anything worse than going on an amazing two-week holiday and coming back to deal with the debt that remains after the fun is over. It’s going to be a lot easier to be motivated to save leading up to that amazing experience than once it has been and gone and you are dealing with the debt consequences.

10. Buy what you can afford, not what you can borrow

When we bought our first home we were surprised to see how much the banks were willing to lend us. As I did our actual budget (not the bank’s budgets they use to justify lending you a huge mortgage) we could see how borrowing the larger amount was going to be a huge financial strain.

Instead, we stuck to a mortgage that would be well within our budget which will go a long way to help us break the debt cycle. This included built-in safeguards that gave us some extra financial security in case rates went up or in the event that we had to live off one income.

Only you know your true spending habits and what you can reasonably afford to pay back. Don’t let others convince you that your borrowing power is bigger than it really is. Check out the benefits of a smaller home (and mortgage) here.

11. Don’t become accustomed to the mentality of having debt repayments

I have seen this happen time and time again with young and old alike. They pay out their perfectly good car after 5-7 years of repayments and immediately start talking about what car they want next.

Even though they have a perfectly functioning car, with time on their side to save for the next one, the thought of saving up for a car over time, or having a slightly older car is considered too painful, so they go out and get another car loan.

Break the cycle! Be weird and say no to debt!

If your car is reliable and not that old and mechanically sound, it is so bad that you hold onto it for a couple of years more and save up to buy your next car in cash completely debt-free? Paying $100 or more a week for the next 5-7 years is a big commitment and is going to get old fast!

12. Reassess what you are willing to get a loan for

Be selective with what you are willing to go into debt for. Only go into debt for purchases that increase in value or are considered an investment. Getting a degree in your chosen career can lead to a higher salary, and a house can provide a return through equity.

On the other hand shopping sprees on the credit card, holidays and a new car aren’t an investment and don’t hold their value so going into debt for items like these should be avoided.

Do you want to be paying off a shopping spree years down the track after the clothes are out of style and most likely already donated to charity or sitting in the back of your wardrobe?

If you need to get a mortgage for a house that will increase in value over time, that can be considered “good debt” but a $2,000 credit card balance for some new clothes for summer is not “good debt” and should be avoided.

13. Put every spare dollar that you can towards your debt

Most people when buying their first home are signing up for huge 25 to 30-year mortgages. If your mortgage is a 30-year mortgage, it doesn’t mean that you have to wait that long to be debt-free. Aim to pay it off as fast as you can.

Are you prepared to stay in your full-time job, particularly if it is a job you don’t enjoy, for the next three decades until you are 60 to own your house? By adding an extra $50 a week to a $500,000 mortgage you can reduce your mortgage by over four years and save $65,000 in interest. A huge saving! You may think a measly $20 a week will not make a difference with your debt, but it will! And every small bit it further motivation to add more and more and is just the start of the debt snowball effect!

Imagine what you could do if you could add $100 a week to it in additional repayments! Break the debt cycle and avoid letting your bank or credit card provider dictate what your repayment timeline will be.

14. Save up an emergency fund of $2,000

Part of the never-ending debt cycle is attributed to not planning ahead. Suddenly your car dies on the freeway and you need to put $1,200 on the credit card for repairs. The hot water system goes and again you are stuck without a leg to stand on and putting that on the credit card.

Plan ahead. Budget emergencies are just as likely as the chance of rain. Find a way to save up $2,000 as quickly as you can and keep it in an account for emergencies only. This does not include a nice handbag that is on sale or last-minute drinks with friends. This is only for genuine emergencies like a break-in occurs and you need to change the locks or you have a severe toothache and need to get it looked at. Get organised and sell your clutter if you have to. 

If you have to use this fund, you will need to build it up again. Next time you have a flat tyre you won’t have to panic and stress about finding the money and won’t even need to think about bringing out the credit card.

15. Prepare a budget and stick to it

Knowledge is power when it comes to finances. If you are aware of what your budget is you can be more mindful of your spending and more likely to break the debt cycle. If you know you have a $500 electricity bill every quarter start budgeting for it every week. Don’t wait until the bill comes and then try and figure out where the $500 is going to come from and end up paying your bill late with an added late fee.

If you own your home, be prepared to spend regularly on maintenance. Living week to week can put you in a bind when your home needs urgent repairs and you haven’t planned ahead and put away money for such events. Check out these Everyday Savings Tips to help kick-start your budget and free up some cash to break the debt cycle!

16. Learn to be content with what you have

Once you realise how little you need to be happy the desire to consume more diminishes. You no longer feel as big of a rush buying things. The thought of parting with your hard-earned cash will make you more mindful of what you are buying.

Learn to be content with what you have. This alone can go a long way to break the debt cycle.

Do you really need a brand new $35k car on finance on your $50k salary when your current car works perfectly fine?

Are you willing to pay x dollars every month for the next 60 plus months? In good times and bad – when you are unemployed, when you are trying to live on one income when you decide to cut back hours at work to study for a new career – that debt is going to still be there. Being in debt removes opportunities.

Maybe having that spare money each week could allow you to go on an overseas holiday each year, cut back your work hours to spend more time with your family or allow you to retire earlier. Sometimes more stuff is not the answer to contentment.

17. Find new past times that don’t involve shopping

If you are finding yourself constantly browsing online shops or at the mall, you may need to pause and recognise the habit and ask yourself – is there something more valuable I could be doing with my time? How often are you shopping, for how long and how much are you spending? Keep note of it.

Gradually retrain yourself to stop the automatic habit of logging into your favourite store’s site or browsing aimlessly on your lunch break. Think about all the things you could be doing instead of shopping; reading a new book, going for a walk, meeting a friend for coffee, learning a new skill or hobby, catching up with family, or seeing a new film.

If you have friends who you shop with regularly, make a suggestion to do something different together. There are plenty of things to do that are more enjoyable (and often free) that you could be doing instead of shopping and wasting money.

18. Review your credit card statements 

In order to break the debt cycle and get your finances back on track, you need to establish where you are spending your money and wracking up debt. Check your credit card statements monthly and analyse them. When you know where you are spending your money you can become more mindful and take action to stop it. Is it at Kmart on clothing and homewares? Are you spending too much on eBay or Amazon?  Are there stores you are visiting in your breaks for something to do? Is your spending occurring on the weekend because your friends work and you don’t know what to do with your spare time?

Work out where you are spending and place yourself on a ban from going to that shop or buying from that shop online for a month. Just pick one spending problem area. If your weakness is buying makeup, avoid shopping for any new makeup for that month and see how you feel after a month. Maybe you can stretch it out for two months without too much pain. Then you can add another store to the ban list until you can retrain your mindset to shop as you need things, not as a pastime or unconscious purchase.

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. 

What are your debt goals? Do you have a plan in place to break the debt cycle? Are you using the debt snowball method to pay down your debt? Share your goals and wins to achieve financial freedom below 🙂

Organising

Be More Productive: 6 Productivity Tools to Help You Get More Done

Posted on April 27, 2021

In my search to simplify my life, I’ve always way been keen to find ways to get more done in less time and use my time as efficiently as I can. My journey to simplify, doesn’t end there, there is also the goal to get what is in my head out in one way or another to free up my mental space and hopefully reduce stress.

I am not productivity expert by any stretch of the word, but I certainly have tried certain tools and resources in my quest to simplify my life and be more productive so I can get what I need done, and move onto other things. If you are wanting some suggestions to be more productive and get more done these are 6 tools I have used for a number of years now that might help you.

Disclaimer: None of these listed below are sponsored tools or apps, they are just my opinion, and what I have found works for me 🙂

6 Productivity Apps That Help Me Stay Productive

  1. Colournote (App)

Colornote is a great place to make any random notes I want to make on the go or to refer back to often such as:

  • Making a list of places to visit on holiday
  • My shopping list
  • Shows I want to watch
  • Hashtags I use for Instagram posts etc

It’s great for when you need to write something down and don’t have a paper or pen!

For example, I have lists of hashtags I use for certain post topics, such as Finance, that I can just copy and paste into Instagram saving me minutes for each post that I can put to better use! You could even use it just to note down your daily spending as you go until you can add it into a worksheet later on when you sit down at your computer.

  1. Google Calendar

Google Calendar is where I keep all my scheduling. Anytime I book in an event or appointment, have plans with friends or a house repair job, I’ll note it into my Google Calendar. I love that this calendar can be used from my phone on the go.

I can invite people to any event, so I can invite my husband or my friends via email and they’ll get a calendar notification as well. I can also buy online like tickets to an event and it will automatically add it to my calendar.

It helps to keep me organized and know where I have to be at what time! You can also enter the details of the event including the location and time so everything is in one place! 

And it can’t hurt to have a notification to remind you an event or appointment is coming up the day before or the morning of!

Click on this picture to join the Minimise With Me Facebook Group
  1. Trello

I used Trello as a To-Do List as well for note-taking where I can ‘tick off’ completed tasks and take all the satisfaction that comes with that! Trello is essentially a digital pin board with post it notes. So you can pick a topic and then list what you want in that category and then Archive it when it is completed, or move it to a ‘Done’ List. 

I use trello to keep track of things such as:

  • My ‘To Buy’ List: I have different stores that I shop at frequently I.e. Bunnings, Kmart and I will add anything I need to buy when I go there next. This helps me to be productive as I know when I go to the store what I need to buy at a glance. How frustrating is it when you go to a shop and your brain just goes blank! Trello also helps me avoid impulse shopping as I build up these shopping lists over time as I need and over time it has helped me to reinforce a barrier to spending, if I want something it goes on the list, I don’t necessarily get to buy it that second! This also helps me to be more productive, as instead of going to the shops every week or even multiple times a week *shudders*, I will instead, build up a list for that store and might just go to that shop once that month rather than multiple times. Here I am still getting what I need, but saving myself multiple trips to get it, and it really helps me to prioritise what I need now, vs what can actually just wait until I can go shopping there.
  • Meal Planning

I have one Trello board for Meal Planning, I have the days of the week and a whole list of meal ideas to choose from. On each meal post I have the ingredients I need to make it, so I can easily see what I need to buy from the shops in order to make that recipe. This helps me to be more productive as it allows my Meal Planning process to only take 5-10 minutes a week! And habits that are easy are much easier to stick with!

  • Book Recommendations

If you are anything like me, you will hear and endless number of book recommendations. So I keep those in a list in my Trello board. I may not get to most of them, I’m certainly ambitious but realistic, but I can always refer to the list if I ever want a new book to read. Not that that has happened too often hehe.

  • To Dos

I have a To Do List Trello Board that I divide into Today, This Week & This Month, an idea I got from Joshua Fields Millburn from The Minimalists. There is where I note down things I need to do like make a call, pay for my insurance renewal, get a haircut etc. I even use Trello in my work as an Accountant to make sure I know tasks I need to complete and when and I can track what I have and haven’t completed.

These are just some of the things I use my Trello list for but the possibilities really are endless when it comes to how to be more productive! And the best thing is, it is completely free to use! 

  1. Three Item Task List

I use my Three Item Task List for my personal and Work To Dos. I love having digital To-Do lists like Trello, and I certainly utilise those, but I also love just having things written down as well. 

So each week, I prepare two of these schedules that incorporate both my To-Dos and my Schedule, so kind of a blend of my Google Calendar and Trello for the week ahead just so I can see everything in front of me on one piece of paper that I can carry around in my handbag. No heavy diary necessary! 

You can grab the very same Three Item Task List I use here in my Etsy Store! 

The idea of this List is to select the Top 3 things you need to do that day. It is there to help you prioritise your To Dos. So if you think of Trello as a list to help you note down your To Dos, and the Three Item Task List to highlight what is the most important of those To-Dos. It also helps drown out some of the noise that my digital To Do Lists have with having so many tasks, here I can simplify and say, those are all well and good goals, but these are my most important goals to achieve this week. 

  1. Habits App

A couple of years ago, I discovered Habit Tracking Apps and how they can be helpful to keep you motivated to stick to your goals and create new habits! And we can all use as much help as we can get to build new habits and be more productive!

I use the ‘Habits’ app and set up some habits I wanted to build such as:

  • Go to the gym
  • Play bass
  • Meditate
  • Go for a walk
  • Water
  • Bring Lunch
  • Take Vitamins

Just to name a few. You can open up the app once a day and record what habit you did that day and the circle on the left will colour itself in over time based on how close to 100% you are to your goal! 

  1. Google Drive 

Google Drive allows me to organize all my documents and files. It’s changed my tax return game up so much. I have folders for every single year of taxes and type and subfolders to organise expenses by category. I am an Accountant and even I don’t enjoy Tax Returns, so if you are like me, and keep to be more productive I highly suggest you set up a digital filing set up in Google Drive.

Generally, I will try scan receipts as I go with my phone camera and upload the file into Google Drive when I am holding the receipt. I then rename the file so that the file can be easily searched by a keyword rather than having to actually know the location of the file. Plan B, is just to sort these folders by Store or Category I.e. Warranties or Kmart.

It’s also where I keep a lot of my other projects and worksheet such as my budget, blog ideas etc.

Well there you have it guys, Six Tools That Help Me to Be More Productive. I hope you found this helpful and it helps you with your goals to simplify and take back some of your precious time to do more important things! 🙂

Do you have a any favourite apps that you use to help stay organized and productive? Please let me know which ones you prefer to use in the comments.

Budgeting

Five Things I Spend Money On Guilt-Free

Posted on March 10, 2021
A women enjoying nature thanks to spending her money intentionally

There is often a lot of misguided guilt around budgeting. We spend on things that we probably shouldn’t and feel bad for it once we get home with all the bags of stuff we just bought. And although unintentional spending is an issue, we need to allow ourselves the permission to spend on things that add value to our lives in our budget.

I remember back when I was 15 I had a very strong ‘saving mindset’. So much so that I deprived myself of things I could afford, that would add significant value to my life. This wasn’t entirely my fault.

I was a natural-born saver, and after my parents divorced when I was 14, I was now responsible for a lot of my expenses. Even if I had $5k saved, I knew that that money had to cover my car expenses, insurance and repairs, any clothes or additional beauty products I wanted, my mobile phone bill, entertainment and so on.

One particular example was that I have saved up more than enough money to spend $500 on a guitar that I needed for my HSC as I was studying Music. But once I had the money saved, I couldn’t spend it. I just couldn’t part with all that money so I put it off and off and made excuses for why buying it was a bad idea.

In the end, a close friend eventually convinced me that I needed to upgrade my guitar in order to improve my playing and I ended up buying the new guitar mere weeks out from my HSC music exams.

I realised at that moment that I should have just bought the guitar earlier in the year when I had the money to truly get the value out of it and have more time to get used to it. But I was stuck in a savings mindset and hadn’t learned that it was okay to spend my money if it was intentional.

Of course, if you are paying off Consumer Debt currently, your spending budget might need to be a lot tighter and you might need to lean into your ‘saving mindset’ for a bit longer, but I just wanted to share 5 Things I Spend Money On Guilt-Free to hopefully help your change your mindset around money. Particularly for those natural savers out there like I was all that time ago, that might need help parting with their cash, even on things they really need or want.

5 Things I Spend Money On Guilt-Free

1. Netflix Subscription

I watch Netflix every day. It only cost me $11 a month but saves me so much money on things like going out to the movies. And gives me access to things I enjoy watching like documentaries and comedy specials. This is work $2.50 a week to me in my budget.

Of course if Netflix stops adding value to my life, I will cancel it.

2. Spotify Premium

This cost $18 a month for a family pack. So my husband and I both get access to ad free Spotify.

I listen to Spotify every day for my favourite podcasts which helps me learn and grow everyday and listen to music. This saves us having to buy CDs and store physical copies of music in our home

And means that we can access the majority of material ad free.

3. Dining Out

One of my favourite things to do is dine out. I love going out for a nice meal to a new or favourite restaurant.

It’s something that brings me a lot of joy. And it’s time I can enjoy with my husband, family or close friends.

4. My Audible Subscription


Another subscription I utilise is Audible. This costs $16.50 a month and gives me access to one audible book a month. 

I have always found it hard to make time to read when I work FT and run a blog so utilising time on my 50 min commute to work to listen to an audiobook is a no brainer for me. 

I can always go back and re-listen to the book in my library and avoid holding onto hundreds of books. And to further make it a guilt-free spend, I know I can always pause or cancel my membership if I am not utilising it.

5. Travel

I have travelled extensively over the past 10 years of my life. When I was younger, I didn’t get to leave my State of NSW until I was 16.

And then I didn’t get to leave Australia until I was 24.

At 25 I was making up for lost time and thankfully I did now that overseas travel is not an option.

It’s an area of my budget where I spend guilt-free because travel has added so much value to my life. And it’s something I hope to continue to do once it is safe to do so. 

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.

What is one thing you spend on guilt-free in your budget that adds value to your life? Let me know in the comments! 🙂

Budgeting

My Debt Free Life: Why I’m Allergic To Debt

Posted on February 11, 2021
Check out the 9 Reason's Why I am Allergic To Debt

Ever since I can remember I have felt ‘Allergic to Debt’.

As a young girl I noticed many conversations around me about people being in debt and the hardships that situation caused. I saw the strain debt put on families around me, including my own. Both my parents worked Full-Time from as early as I can remember. Five days a week, year after year, to keep up with their bills and debt repayments. However, the debt never seemed to go away, it just grew.

When I was sixteen, I started to save up for my first car. I did everything I thought was right. I worked whilst I was at school and soon enough had $5,000 saved. I paid for my own car and the repairs to get it back on the road. Then the rest of my savings went to the car registration and insurance as I couldn’t rely on my parents to help me out.

For the first six month, things were great. I was excited to finally have the freedom to drive myself to school, my exams and to see friends whenever I wanted. But I had bought a car that was 26 years old and barely 9 months after buying it, it broke down and was going to cost way more than the car was worth to fix it. I had spent all my savings on buying the car and paying for the insurance etc, so I now had nothing saved and was looking at a useless hunk of scrap metal.

For six months I car pooled with family and friends as I tried to save up as much cash as I could to get another car, but living between my Mum and my Dad’s and trying to get to TAFE and work with no car was becoming a huge chore, so I gave in and took out my first car loan for $3000 to buy another car.

Almost immediately that weekly debt repayment on my car loan started to bother me. I hated seeing that money come out of my bank account each week, taking my paycheck away from me. I was only working as a casual at the time as a Checkout Assistant at Coles, so when I got to the school holidays and I was rostered on for no shifts, anxiety hit me. I had a loan to pay and a job with hours that weren’t guaranteed.

Not long after, I decided it was time to get rid of that car loan as fast as possible. I wanted it and the stress around having a loan gone. Plus I wanted to keep my paycheck. It took me nine months of working extra shifts and paying extra on my car loan but I was finally debt-free and it felt amazing! Unfortunately, this debt-freeness didn’t last long because I was about to graduate from University with another debt to go with it.

I graduated University with $11,000 in Student Loans at just 20 years old. That may not sound like much nowadays but it was still a large number to someone who was just starting out in life. Especially when I was already trying to pay for my other expenses like board, my mobile phone, petrol and everything else.

Very quickly I realised that I still hated the idea of being in debt. For me, it just had this feeling of heaviness that I wasn’t liking one bit. I’d been here before, so I knew what to do and worked as many shifts as I was able to get between my now two jobs so I could pay out that loan again as fast as I could. I was very lucky to score an Accounting job soon after my graduation and within a year of starting my full-time job, I was able to pay off my Student Loans in full. I was again completely debt-free and so relieved!

I would love to say I never took on any consumer debt again from this point in my life but that isn’t true.

By my mid-20s I took on another car loan with the intention of paying it off in 12 months (which I did :)) and also took on $42,000 of Student Loans when I married my husband a couple of years later.

It would take us 6 years to pay off that $42,000 in Student Loans. Thankfully it was the last of our consumer debt. When we paid off those Student Loans in 2017 I knew that was the last time I ever wanted to take on another debt payment in my life (excluding my mortgage payment – but that was next to go!).

I’ve always had a bad feeling when I was in debt – that I was trapped and bound by someone else’s terms. There was no freedom. I was stuck paying those loans off regardless of what financial difficulties I might face and with a big goal to buy my first home in the not too distant future. I was now keen to stay out of debt for good.

Fast forward a few years and I am now in my early 30s (or is it mid now?? Shh!) and well aware of my ‘Allergy to Debt‘. Now that I am well into adulting, I can clarify why being in debt is not great in the long run and hopefully with the below list of reasons why I am allergic to debt, I can inspire you to do what you can to become debt-free (and stay that way) as well.

Debt may not be a ‘big deal’ but it certainly makes making ends meet a lot harder, particularly in hard times like when facing job loss, starting a family or losing an income.

Here’s 9 Reasons Why I’m Allergic to Debt and refuse to borrow money ever again (at least outside of a mortgage)! This list has grown over the years as I learn more and more about the reasons how debt holds us back financially.

9 Reasons Why I’m Allergic to Debt


1.Being in Debt Robs You of Your Financial Future

First and foremost, having debt repayments robs you of your financial future. The most important thing with investing to build wealth is to start early. That means that you ideally want to start investing for your retirement when you are in your 20s or 30s. By age 40-50 you have lost a lot of the time you need to grow your wealth with Compound Interest. It’s never really too late to start investing, but sooner is certainly better than later.

Look at this example. The first Graph shows a 30 year old who invests $50,000 for 35 years, at 7% p.a. return with no additional amounts invested after that initial $50,000. When this person is 65 they will have $600,000 in their retirement account.

In this next example, that same person didn’t start investing into their retirement at age 30 as they were tied down with debt. Instead they waited until they were 45 to invest their $50,000 so they only had 20 years to grow their investment. This person would retire at age 65 with only $200,000 – one third of the retirement of the person who put the same amount away, but 15 years earlier.

What would you rather $50k growing into $600k or $50k growing into $200k? When you put your car loan into this context that $50k loan for that fancy new car looks a lot more expensive!! Was it really such a good deal?

When it comes to investing in your future, time is money so the less money you have tied up in debt the better and more comfortable your lifestyle will be in retirement.

2. Being in Debt Allows You to Live Beyond Your Means aka ‘Fake Rich’

There are people all around us living beyond their means with the help of credit as Chris Hogan says ‘Fake Rich‘. You see the new college graduates with $60,000 salaries rocking up to work with their new $50,000 car, or young families buying $1 million properties leaving themselves in debt up to their eyeballs. You ask yourself how did they afford that? More often than not the answer is with Debt. Sure some of them genuinely can afford what they have, but not everyone.

With social media, where people are constantly sharing all the things they have bought; the nice home, the best makeup brands, the latest runners or technology gadgets it can be easy to feel left out with your average rented home and runabout car on your average salary. Soon enough we all want to keep up with the Kardashian’s and the temptation to take on debt in order to fit in with our peers is real.

The problem is, most of these people are living beyond their means and could never afford these things if they had to pay for them with their actual paycheck. It might seem like a dream come true to be able to have things that you can’t afford, but that dream can quickly turn into a nightmare.

The average minimum Credit Card repayment is only around 2% of the balance so just imagine the world of trouble people who keep charging purchases on their Credit Card are going to have when they no longer can afford the monthly repayment. Usually, by the time it catches up with people if they lose their job, or are facing an illness the financial hole they have dug themselves is too big to get out of.

I’m allergic to debt because I want to know that I can afford my lifestyle and am living within my means. I prefer to know that if anything happens to my health, my job etc, I don’t have debt repayments to maintain at a time when I need to focus on other things like my health or family.

3. Debt is Expensive

We’ve all been in this scenario. We are out shopping and see something we really want on sale. It’s such a bargain that we’d be crazy not to buy it. But we easily forget, most Credit Cards charge exorbitant interest rates, some over 20%. So that bargain top you bought isn’t such a bargain now when you take into account the huge Interest charges on that purchase if you don’t intend to pay off your credit card in full when the bill arrives.


A similar, but much more expensive scenario appears when you are shopping for a new car. If you finance a new car loan at the average interest rate of 6% on a $30,000 car over 7 years you are going to pay out the car cost plus another $6814 in interest to the financial provider over that 7 year period. That’s more than one-fifth of the value of the car!

4. Being in Debt Makes You Feel Claustrophobic

It may feel good buying that new fancy car and driving it around and showing it off to your friends and family. The first few payments might not bother you too much, it might even feel worth it when you are cruising in your car. But most car loans are now 5 or 7 years. That’s a potential 84 monthly car payments! Did you catch that? 84 month repayments! Yikes! By Payment 12 I can guarantee that debt is going to get old.

I am so ‘allergic to debt’ I go a step further to protect my paycheck, and avoid signing up for lock-in contracts so my mobile phone, TV subscriptions and gym membership are all cancel-at-anytime arrangements. A 12 month contract is long enough to plan for let alone years when it comes to a larger purchase such as a car.

5. Being Debt Free Gives You More Opportunities to Enjoy Life

When I paid off the last of my student loans it freed up a whole lot of cash for me to spend how I want. And that feeling is something I hope you all will feel one day when you are consumer debt-free. When you don’t have any more payments there are so many more opportunities that arise.

You can use your new spare cash to travel, save for your kid’s education, cut hours back a work, retire early, leave a job you hate or pick up a new expensive hobby completely guilt-free!

When you are debt-free your money is finally yours to spend how you wish on the things that add value to your life. By being allergic to debt I have been able to travel to many places in the world, pay off all my consumer debt, and dream build about my future.

6. Debt Adds Stress to Relationships

One of the biggest causes of fights between couples is money. It can be challenging to get a spender and a saver on the same page when it comes to money. Even if you are on the same page, always worrying about money can cause huge amounts of stress for you and your partner.

It doesn’t have to be this way. With each debt we paid off, we felt a sense of freedom and it felt amazing to be working towards a common goal together and our financial future. I am allergic to debt because I am not keen to ever add the complexity and stress that having debt can have on a relationship or even my own happiness ever again. It’s the #debtfreelife for this millenial.

7. Debt Makes Rainy Days Much Harder

Being in the middle of a pandemic is one of the biggest financial red flags we have seen to date. Many people have lost their job or had to take reduced hours at work. This has caused huge financial stress for many of us. Having debt might be manageable when times are good, but it can be the straw that breaks the camels back when they aren’t.

If you are facing an injury, illness or any other emergency like having to care for a loved one, having debt can make the choices you need to make much harder.

One thing I always try to accept is that rainy days happen. The less you have your money tied up in debt repayments the better it will be for you when you are trying to face those challenge without an extra layer of difficulty that debt brings. The less debt you owe, the more peace of mind you will have when life throws you lemons.

8. I Learned From Others Mistakes With Debt

I knew that I didn’t want a large amount of debt in my life from an early age. It took me a decade or two to unpack all the lessons I learned over the years from others. These have allowed me to learn valuable lessons from others without necessarily having to make the same mistakes (although of course, I too have made many financial mistakes to date!).
When I was fourteen, my Grandfather retired, aged 73. He was barely one year into retirement when he died suddenly of a heart attack. This is a memory that has stuck with me my whole life, now 20 years later. My pop worked hard his whole life and didn’t get to enjoy his retirement and spend time with his wife, children or grandchildren. I knew at 14 that I didn’t want that to happen to me. I wanted to be able to retire much younger than my Grandfather was able to so I could enjoy my retirement longer than my Pop had the chance to.


I have seen family and friends working 6 or 7 days a week to make ends meet to pay for large homes and new cars. So much so that they didn’t even have the time to enjoy their beautiful home or have much time to spend with their family. After watching others work so hard, year on year, to afford those nice things, I decided early on that having those things weren’t as important to me as my physical and mental health. I wanted time to be able to see friends, family and my husband and to have time for me. I wanted to be able to sleep soundly at night and not have to worry about a massive mortgage or car that I couldn’t afford. And it didn’t’ make sense to me to work sixty hours plus a week to pay for a home I didn’t have the time to enjoy.

For a long time these lessons impacted my thoughts around money and shaped my values and how I felt allergic to debt.

9. The Minimalist Lifestyle Made Me More Content With Less


When I discovered the Minimalist Lifestyle a few years back, this cemented my feelings about my allergy to debt even more. I realised that I could be just as happy with less. I was happy in my modest home with my regular wardrobe and affordable car. Taking on Debt to pay for things I didn’t really need or want in exchange for my physical and mental health, as well as my most valuable resource – my time – wasn’t something that I was willing to do. The price really was too high.

Well there you have it Minimisers, the reasons why I am allergic to debt. I would love to know if you can relate to any of the above at all?

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. 

What made you realise that you were allergic to debt and motivated you to pay down your debt? Please let me know in the comments! 🙂

Organising

How An Organised Space Can Save You Money

Posted on January 4, 2021

I’ve always been a bit frugal, trying to limit waste and unnecessary spending where I could, and had a desire to get more organised – don’t we all! After living out of home for five years, I realised we’d developed some bad habits.

We were tossing massive amounts of spoiled food each week. Most of it was fresh food we’d bought with good intentions but just hadn’t gotten around to eating. Finding stuff in the pantry was a difficult process with random cans thrown in sporadically and no real organisation system. We’d go shopping listless and come home with five cans of corn only to realise we already had eight in the pantry (true story! ‘;)).

We were constantly leaving things to the last minute. Often realising we’d forgotten to buy a birthday present, we’d rush around hoping we could find something the day of the party in sheer craziness. Cleaning was an ordeal having to try and vacuum around whatever clothes and furniture items we had on the floor.

I was sick of the disorganisation and having unnecessary stress in our lives. After being overwhelmed by clutter, and the anxiety and stress it caused me I set out to change my home environment. I wanted to have a more calming space – I didn’t want to see mess everywhere and trip over things.

Once starting the decluttering process of my home I realised there was an added benefit to having an organised space. It was aiding our budgeting and helping us to save more money. And we will never be perfect when it comes to organisation, but trying to be a little more organised goes a long way.

Here is How an Organised Space Can Save You Money and how it has benefited us.

1. Save on groceries and buying duplicates

Since organising our home we can now see what we have at a glance. In the pantry, all cans are lined up, long-life milk, snacks are in one place which makes creating our shopping list that much easier. Our fridge is no longer filled to capacity as we only buy what we will need for the week ahead. This means we can reduce the food we are wasting each week and save on our grocery bill. Having an organised space allows us to avoid bringing home multiples of an item we already have, whether that be groceries or things we’ve misplaced and had to rebuy.

2. Reduce your clothing budget

Organising your wardrobe is a huge game-changer in terms of spending. Before I discovered the amazement of being organised, I used to have my wardrobe and drawers overflowing with clothes. Each wash day I’d shove a new pile in, on top of the stuff that had just become accustomed to staying at the bottom of the drawer. I remember the first time I decided to declutter my wardrobe, I found three pairs of black shorts. I’m not sure how many pairs of black shorts anyone needs, but the fact that I had three that I had not only not worn in years, but didn’t even know I had them was quite eye-opening to me.

From that moment I realised how important it is to keep what you have organised and to regularly assess what you have so you know what items you own.

In the past I would just buy new clothes, chuck them in a drawer or in my wardrobe with the intention of wearing them and often completely forgot I had ever bought them. I’d never really taken stock of what clothing I owned. Now when I go shopping I know at least 99% of my wardrobe off the top of my head. I know what shoes I have to mix and match with outfits and can better select what I am bringing into my wardrobe.

3. You’re more content living in a smaller home

Since organising our home the feeling of claustrophobia has diminished. I no longer feel like our house is too small and that we need more space. I’m rarely tempted to look at larger homes to buy. Even if it springs to mind when I see a nice photo of a home, I remember how much I love cleaning a smaller home and how I would never want the additional hours of work to pay for one and lost hours keeping up with the maintenance that comes with a bigger home. After decluttering all areas of our home we’ve actually managed to free up some storage space and are in no rush to fill them back up.

4. Planning ahead is easier and you can avoid impulse purchases

About two years ago I started using a diary to get more organised. After about a year I switched to a Bullet Journal and was instantly impressed by the simplicity it brought to my life. By being more organised and writing in my bullet journal I am able to save money in numerous ways. Whether it be planning ahead for dinner so I can avoid buying take-out that night. Making a note to buy a gift for someone a month ahead instead of running around the day before in a rush and blowing the gift budget. Or making a note to compare prices on a new purchase in order to get the best price and save money.  

5. You’ll become more intentional with purchases

Now that we have decluttered our home we are very keen to keep it from getting out of hand again. This impacts my day-to-day activities and spending. I no longer walk into shops aimlessly to pass time or find some kind of satisfaction from buying something new.

Before I buy anything now, it has to hold up to a range of requirements. I will ask myself questions such as do I really need this? Do I have a place for it? Is it something I will be willing to dust from now until when I get rid of it? Most of the time the answer is no and I walk away from it.

When you start making more conscious decisions with what you are purchasing on a daily basis you develop new habits and soon enough the desire to buy lessens and your desire for a calm, organised space keeps you from reverting back to old habits.

6. Save money not having to replace lost items

Have you ever gone to look for something and not been able to locate it? I am pretty sure we have all been here. You think to yourself, maybe I never had it or gave it away? You go out to replace the items. Sometimes the original turns up and you feel a little silly but even after turning the house upside down at the time you couldn’t find it! This is another way an organised space can save you money. By having organisational systems in place you can avoid losing things in your home and replacing them. Even more importantly this wastes another important resource, your time. Imagine all the more important things you could be doing with the time wasted looking for lost items.

7. You can sell your unwanted stuff online

Another way an organised space can save you money is as you organise you will truly realise how much excess you have in your home. After a while we begin to grow used to seeing our stuff and don’t realise how much of it there is.

Have you ever walked into someone’s house and felt claustrophobic from all the stuff?! You’ve probably not even noticed your house might be heading in the same direction. It’s not until you start questioning what you do and don’t use that you realise you could live without some of the stuff cluttering up your home.

The great thing about decluttering is that your unwanted items can be useful to other people and that can help you claw back some of the money spent on excess items you have in your home. You will never get all of your money back, and sometimes you won’t get any of it, but it is possible to sell your clutter and add to your savings account.

It is truly amazing how much you can get for old electronics, gaming consoles, clothes, camera gear, books or whatever other junk you might have in your ‘to-go’ pile. If you’re reluctant to give something away because you spent a lot of money on it, sometimes knowing that you can get a little bit back from it by selling it makes the letting go process a little easier.

Alternatively, if you don’t need the money or don’t have the time, donate unwanted items to a local charity. Think of all the times you’ve found something you love in an op-shop for a few dollars because someone was generous enough to donate it. Pay it forward! 

8. Being organised saves you time and stress

When you plan ahead and get organised you can save one of your most precious resources – time! Imagine all the things you could do with your spare time if it wasn’t spent doing mountains of laundry each week! No looking for lost items or spending half an hour clearing out food in your fridge that has gone bad. As they say, time is money and an organised space can save you both! When you no longer have to live with the consequences of an unorganised space, you’ll have more time to spend on more enjoyable things.

How have you found an organised space has saved you money? Comment below with your experience!