I saw this over at Everyday Minimalist, and just love it. Thinking of printing it out and putting it on my wall as a reminder to stay on track – I tend to wander at times :) Maybe you’ll like this too?
A Minimalist’s Train of Thought
Less money spent means more money saved
More money saved means the longer you can live in financial peace and security
Financial peace and security comes from owning less
Less stuff owned means less to carry around, move or have to travel with
Less responsibility for your stuff also means less maintenance and more time
The more time you have, the more relaxed you will feel
The more relaxed you are, the less you will care about stuff
If you care less about stuff, it means you’ll care less about image
If you care less about image, you will care more about experiences and memories
If you care more about experiences and memories, you will be happier with less
If you are happier with less, you’ll never want or need for more
The less you want or need for more, the more you will feel free
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PS: Thanks to Fabulously Broke for allowing me to re-share this! You’re an inspiration, my friend.
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I love it! I think I will follow suite and print it out; pin it up where I can see it. Thanks for sharing, friend.
Sometimes I think minimalist are more proud of what they DON’T own, than I am of what I DO.
Love FB though, she’s one smart cookie.
I was on track with the first two statements, but she rapidly veered off into opinion with “Financial peace and security comes from owning less,” “The more time you have, the more relaxed you will feel” etc.
Every soul on the planet has their own idea about what financial security means to them. Having more time will make you crazy if you are a person who is happiest when being utilized in the world.
I think minimalists put too much stock into the idea that “things don’t make people happy,” that they often forget to address that which DOES make people happy. Ironically, happiness doesn’t come from a LACK of things either. Yes, you can go travel, go have experiences, etc. but wherever you are, there you’ll be–the same person who had things and who now doesn’t.
I’m free because I’m financially independent. And I’m happy because I’m surrounded by people I love. I’ve had so many experiences in the first quarter of my life that I could start a second bucket list. But I also shamelessly love and value my car, iPhone and cute shoes.
Great post and great comments. Personally I think it’s not owning stuff itself that brings stress, it’s more the pursuit of stuff and all that goes along with it. The sigh of relief for me came when I stopped associating stuff with happiness.
@maria@moneyprinciple – Glad you enjoy it! A friend just tweeted me and said she’ll be shrinking it and then putting it in her wallet ;) Whatever helps inspire!
@Ninja – Haha, agreed. I think they may have more money than us, though :) Oooh that’s actually a great thing to test! Do minimalists, on average, have more money than those who are more “average?” Lots of variables to wade through, but someone smart might be able to figure it out.
@Leah – All valid points! It’s funny that you mention the “time” part too. There was a day last week when I was done w/ work by like 2pm and thought “I could do anything I want today!” and then sat there and felt uncomfortable cuz I didn’t know what to do with myself :( So I went back to doing work stuff! Haha… But I agree – there’s no shame in loving items either, I’d be lost w/out my iPhone and other things in my life too. Oddly enough I like having hundreds of books surrounding me too which is the OPPOSITE of minimalism! Haha… guess a happy medium is always something good to consider too ;)
@Bob – I can get down with that :)
I love that. Very true and relevant, as we are moving today and the message is being driven home that we have too much stuff! We are moving to a slightly smaller place, so it will force us to downsize the junk!
Less is more. That’s all there is to say. Great post!
I am not into minimalism, to the point that her blog gets into, but before I rant I have to say I love her other blog “Fabulously Broke in the City”. I love her take on fashion, food and saving money.
Now back to the minimalism part, I agree we can all have less, use less, and be happier, however she is a little extreme in my book. For the sake of the argument I also have to point out that she travels most of the time and has to carry all her stuff in 3 suitcases, so that might be a lot of her push.
For me, I just don’t see how owning 3 suitcases of stuff would make me happy, that is just too extreme in my book. I do own a smaller home then most people, I own 10 year old cars, but I also own 20 pairs of shoes and 20 dress pants for work. I like diversity and try to rotate through my closet and owning any more would be too much for me, but I don’t want to downsize any more. I do, however, donate and sell stuff if I upgrade or find something better. I think we could all do more of that :)
Love this! I think I am becoming more and more like this in my old age. :) More time, less stress, experiences and memories, and freedom are all super important in my book. We still have a lot of stuff, but I dream of getting rid of all the non-essentials and making things more simple one day. The key is that once you have everything you need, you don’t need any more, so you get to a point where buying more stuff is useless and possibly even counter-productive.
I believe simplifying your life is great. Perhaps minimilists waste a lot of time b/c they don’t have the right tools to do a job efficiently? I don’t know I’ve never met a minimilist.
What is she, a communist? ha ha, just kidding. I love her blogs.
I don’t think I can ever become a true minimalist, but I am working really hard to avoid becoming a pack rat.
I love this one: Financial peace and security comes from owning less
I never seem to naturally make that connection.
I really like this! I find it too be completely accurate, at least for me. The more I focus on relationships and experiences the better I feel and the less money I spend…
That is one of my 12 goals this year to declutter and get rid of tons of STUFF around my house.
I have always looked up to FB and her minimalism — but, seeing as how the military provides me with a house, I don’t need to cram everything in the tiny apartment I dream of. (I just naturally love small spaces. Though giving up the 120 gallon fish tank will make me a sad panda for a bit.)
I just cleared a few boxes of unpacked miscellaneous crap from our house that was never unpacked from at least one move, for some it was two. I still have a lot of stuff, though, but it’ll fit into less than 1,000 square feet. Compared to the amount of junk the military says we should own when calculating a DITY move, we own WAY less, and I’ve heard of people that go OVER their limits. O_O
I love it!
I think I’m going to print this out too!
Property versus access, own versus experience, be and do versus have.
The more things I have that I don’t need, the more energy they take away from me. Love the list!
@Yana – That’s one way to do it! I can’t wait ’till we downsize one day :)
@SmartAssetTeam – Glad you liked it :)
@LB – Haha, yeah – clothes are a problem for me too ;) I have like 10 hoodie jackets and quite a lot of shoes as well so I can have options, it’s def. hard for me to dwindle down as well. I wish I could cut back more though, and in a lot of areas I still need to do it. So this is a nice reminder to stick w/ it.
@Mrs. Money Mustache – Yup! Exactly. And at that point you can then upgrade the same stuff you have (ie. better quality) and still be saving tons of money and have the same # of things ;) That would be ideal in my book. Then I can finally get my Benz! Hehe…
@Brent Pittman – Haha, now that’s something to consider ;) I had that problem moving buying a house cuz I never really needed any tools before that. Those alone take up a lot of room!
@retirebyforty – There’s a happy medium in there somewhere :)
@jesse.anne.o – Right? A good reminder for sure.
@Neo – Time to print it out so you don’t forget then!
@Renee – Good! I love it :) Do it!
@Foxie – Oh man, I miss the military! Was so much fun moving around and doing all that stuff – soak it all in baby! :)
@David Hunter – Awesome!
@Valeriu – I’m glad you liked it too :) Thanks for stopping by.
I love this so much! While I don’t feel the need to take minimalism to an extreme, I definitely like the idea of having a carefully edited selection of “stuff.” Lots of clutter in my physical space makes me feel mentally and emotionally unsettled, but I don’t like things to look too bare, either. For me, it’s all about a balance.
One thing I actually kind of like about my house, as inconvenient as it can be at times, is the lack of basement since it’s on a slab foundation. Yes, it’s less storage space, but it really forces me to think before I buy something. I have to make sure I (a) REALLY love it and (b) have space for it. We do have a large attic, but it’s not very convenient and I’d have to do battle with the stinkbugs, so we try not too keep too much stuff up there. ;-)
Haha, there you go ;) I actually felt pretty bad that our house had a furnished basement for the 4 years we never used it (like, only twice!), but now I have my work office down there and loving it!! But I def. agree on the stuff part – we’ve accumulated more to make this downstairs more fun for me ;)