Those who know me know I love gadgets. I am also a minimalist and sometimes both features stand in opposition to each other.
So, some days ago I saw this magnificent leather messenger bag which I simply loved. I could afford it and, oh my, I just wanted it so very much. I guess you know this feeling, sudden craving of something, heart bits faster and you can't find any reasons not to buy the item of your desire.
I decided to pop the question on my Twitter account if I should buy this particular bag. 3 magnificent Twitter friends of mine took their time to answer my question and they encouraged me to buy the bag. If you like it, if you can afford it and if you really want to use it, just do it, Girl!
Well, I went to the website where I was supposed to order the bag, I even filled in the form and was going to use my credit card when my minimalism kicked in.
It said, hey, let's sleep with this idea, you'll see if you still want this bag the next day. Reluctantly I did so.
The following day I opened the website again, looked at the bag, looked at my current bag and thought the latter is not so bad, it's more convenient, I don't need to carry additional tote bag for small things I buy. The desire disappeared. I closed the website and, believe me, or not, I again love my present bag!
Why am I writing about it? I just want to share my experience of minimalism with you and show you how much money we spend on things we buy out of sudden craving and later we don't use the things we bought because in reality we just don't need them. I bet you all also have been in such situations.
I believe the " sleeping with a decision about new stuff" works and can teach us a lot about ourselves, and that by itself is precious. We also don't clutter our homes or can spend this damn money on something that in reality makes our hearts sing. For those $45 I can have some really great dinners/ coffee with my friends and create memories.
Believe nothing unless it agrees with your own reason - in a nutshell it was stated by the Buddha some 2500 years ago.
Susan Jeffers, in her book "Feel Fear And Do It Anyway", stated the importance of taking responsibility in our life.
I believe you are reading this post because you need or want changes and despite the fact I wish to motivate you to slow your life, be more intentional in whatever you do and to make the way for future changes by having your finances ready for it, I still believe it is YOU who should want the changes and it is YOU who should take responsibility for doing it and the results.
We all differ and have different expectations, so is it good to compare yourself to others? Or is it better to know what you want to achieve and how much of slow life, financial freedom you want?
So first of all, know yourself!
In my life, I never like to be told I have to do something. If you feel the same it is wise just to decide for yourself and take adequate actions. Do you want to quit your job for good or just have a longer holiday? Or like me, just work 15 hours a week and focus on other things that make my heart sing and to live slower, without participating in any kind of a rat race?
Second of all, take responsibility for your decisions!
Once you decide, is it good to complain about the life you have? Is it wise to blame yourself for past decisions or just adjust necessary changes? Slowing life, mindful living or achieving financial freedom is a process. Each process requires time and additional changes on the way.
Point number 3, nothing in excess!
To limit your future work, slow your life you'll need finances to fill the possible gap between your expenses and limited income. Here come savings. To have any, is it wise to spend all your current income? The main tip I have for anybody who wants to gain some savings is "spend less than you earn". I can't tell you how much less, this is for you to decide, but live within your means.
I am not saying you shouldn’t buy your favourite coffee or shouldn’t go to dinner, but maybe it is worth considering doing these things fewer times. I believe it is not only good for our finances, but also for our psychological life, when we do things on a regular basis we get used to them and they do not bring us so much happiness, and in such moments we crave something new, something more that leads to overspending. On the other hand, when we do things intentionally they bring us more pleasure and happiness.
In my future posts, I will show you how I have saved some money, despite not too high a salary, in order to be more financially independent.
Reading is also a great motivator for changes, I have found some interesting articles about financial freedom, slow life or minimalism. Here and in other posts, I’m going to add links to them, for you to enjoy.
The Fioneers article for today, it resonated with me a lot, because of the approach to the topic and experiences of the author.
Hello, Y'all!
In the world where we are constantly told we need things because without them we mean nothing, for many, it is hard to create some savings. We need some extra money, though, not only to have some sense of security in life but also to make our future life easier.
In this post, I want to encourage you to have some savings and to show you really simple steps to do so.
The first obvious way to create some savings is spending less than we earn. I know it can be hard for people who have a minimum salary and every month struggle to make ends meet, but also in such situations, we can look at our spendings and decided if maybe there is at least one thing we do not need to spend money on.
Create a budget
I am not saying you need to do it to cut your spendings dramatically, but I know the majority of people do not know what they spend their money on. If you are not patient with such things, maybe decided to look at your budget just for 3 months, even such a short period of time should give you a general view how much you spend and what do you spend money on. There are numerous apps that help you create a budget, but you can just use good old pen and paper.
The key is to write down any single spending, again not because you want to terrorize yourself, just to know yourself. When you know more about your spending manners, you can create some saving- friendlier budget for the future. One thing in a new budget is crucial and it is called ' pay yourself first'.
Pay yourself first
I am sure you have heard this term before. It is simple and elegant. Moreover, it works! The idea behind this is also simple, you treat your savings as spendings, you do not save what is left at the end of a month, but you save a particular amount of money at the beginning of each month. There are different opinions on how much you should save, I will say, save as much as YOU feel comfortable with. In my opinion, even 1% of your income saved is fine, it is much better than not saving at all, right? With time, you can increase the amount of money you can and want to save.
So, for example, what I do every month is transferring some % of my income to my savings bank account. So far it has been about 10% of my monthly income, this year, though, I am going to work less, so probably I will save 5%, but I will stick to my plan. As you can see in my example, it is good to have not only checking account but also savings account. I think all banks all over the world offer 1 or even more of saving accounts, so there should be no problem for you to have one.
The interest rate in such accounts is rather limited, probably some 0.5%, but you can look for an account that adds this interest rate every single day or month. Why? Because of the compound interest. With time you will receive an interest rate on the interest rate. I hear you say it may be just a small amount of money, but hey! You will get nothing if you do not do it. Remember, money makes money, honey!
Save and invest
With time, when your saving grows to the amount you wish, you can save the money in a bit different and/or more profitable way. You can leave some certain amount of money on your savings account, just to have some emergency fund. How much, again, it depends on you and the place you live in. The rest of the money you can locate in some fix deposits in your bank, or for those who are not afraid, you can invest this sum in mutual funds. I know that people who never have invested are a bit worried to do so, especially in our current times, but in a long term, say over 5 years, your money always create an income. If you want to invest, though, always remember to invest only the money you know you will not need and only the sum you feel comfortable to invest. Banks and financial organizations have a vast offer of fix deposits and mutual funds, with different risk, so as a beginner you may want to choose the funds with lower risk. Each mutual fund has a number, form 1 - 6 ( or higher), where 1 is low risk, whilst 6 is high risk.
Two things I want to point out very clearly:
-always check the mutual funds and the financial organizations that sell them,
-never believe any organization that says you will earn unnatural % of the money! Simply, it is impossible, especially when interest rates all over the world are rather low.
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A to-do list for me and all those who want to accompany me in the quest of a better life/attitude/and all that jazz - 10 points are mine, but of course, learned from the others.
1. Do not sweat small things.
2. Take deep breaths at the moment of anger or sorrow.
3. Do not add non-existing stuff to your thoughts - your life is already fucked up enough, LOL
4. Do not believe all your thoughts - they just thoughts, period.
5. Be kind to yourself, the others will benefit from that as well.
6. Learn to say a kind "No" to people who want to suck your positive energy or those who just want to use you.
7. Believe your guts, they know you from inside.
8. Introduce and live some Aloha spirit, hang loose.
9. Accept the shit that happens to you.
10. Remember you may fall down for a thousand times -but do not forget to stand up again!
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