I can’t go hiking with you Sunday, my weekend is too busy. I worked late Friday to get a few extra hours of OT as funds have gotten tight since my insurance went up on the new car. Then on Saturday I have so much yard work to do at our house, since the move to the bigger place we have a lot on our to do list. Come Sunday we just want to relax and wind down and get ready to go to work Monday. I might suggest the best plan is a simple living plan.
Does this sound familiar?
Does this sound like a friend or family member or maybe it sounds like you.
The Best Plan is a Simple Living Plan
It has been over two years since setting changes in my family’s life to motion. Through this experience I may be able to offer a bit of advice from what I have learned.
I am a follower to the current trends of minimalism, simplicity and even a bit of frugality. As I read on these topics and apply them to my personal life I have formed my own manifesto in regards to both philosophy and implementation.
I suggest a plan of living Simply while being Mindful of our Footprint on the world.
The biggest guiding principle is to save more of our money while spending less. We still spend money and buy products but we do so on quality items, what we will use and what we really need and hopefully mitigated our carbon footprint.
4 Categories For A Simple Living Plan
Home
A smaller home will have several benefits. You will save more money by not buying beyond your means and keeping your hard earned cash in the bank and not tied up in a mortgage making you a slave to the bank.
The smaller home requires less maintenance, utilities are greatly reduced, less time to clean and decreases our carbon footprint. Lastly a smaller home helps us keep clutter out of our lives leaving less room for “stuff” and also brings us closer together as a family. Avoid societies’ notion that we all need a McMansion
Transportation
An older more practical vehicle saves you significant resources. Insurance, cost of ownership and hopefully operation expenses all drop. This keeps more money in your pocket which aligns with our goals of save more or work less.
We sold our new truck and bought an old compact SUV. We no longer had a vehicle loan after this choice and the “new” used SUV uses almost 40% less fuel with cheaper insurance and maintenance. Avoid with keeping up with the “Joneses”
Clothing
Why do we need 10 versions of the same thing? I own 3 pairs of pants (I choose chinos because they are great for work and casual) and a handful of t-shirts that I layer with simple sweaters or button up shirts. My wardrobe is simple and intentional , selecting items that are multifunctional. Our clothing choices consume so much in cost and space. We need a big closet to hold the wasted purchases that we rarely ever wear.
Don’t worry about impressing others, dress practically and simply. If you haven’t wore it in 6 months it should be sold or go to the thrift store. I support shopping for new clothes but only when your current ones are no longer work for your needs. This should be accompanied by a one in, one out rule.
Household Items
The elegant knick knacks, the food gadgets, the massive bedroom dresser and the huge bed that costs as much as a used car….remind me why we need these things? A smaller home shows us the excess that modern society has become blind to and if we don’t yet have a smaller home then we need we can at least clear the clutter and embrace Minimalism.
It’s time to take an inventory of what we own and keep in our house like The Minimalists did. You would be shocked one what you could get rid of and not affect your day to day life. The huge side benefit is that we will keep much more of our money in our pockets and of course less worry about all the stuff we need to look after.
Benefits of a Simple Living Plan
When you put these 4 areas together into your life you should see great benefit
- Less Stress managing your daily life
- Less Clutter visually and mentally
- More Time for friends and family
- More Savings in your bank
- The choice to save more or work less as your expenses have decreased
The view from the top is clear ~ Don’t let Life get cluttered getting there
Other Simple Living Suggestions
I might suggest you follow what a few friends on social media are doing through their websites that follow suit to these ideas. They are out there living their life while keeping everything simple and fun. Please visit Our Next Life and Cait Flanders if you are intrigued on the changes I have made in my life. Let them know I sent you 🙂
We can each tell the story of how to live , we can each educate others on how to live but ultimately our community and our children learn from our ways.
So let’s set a good example.
#MindfulExplorer
Stop by my Facebook Page to chat further on the story or comment below. What changes have you made in your life lately that had the most profound impact on your positivity ?
Pre finding MMM our plan was always to move onto a bigger house in a “better” school district. One of my biggest mindset shifts was/is deciding to be happy/content with our current 1400 ft abode. My master bedroom is smaller than most of our friends master closets!!
But we’ll be mortgage free in 15 years or less when they are not even half way.
Nice post today Chris.
The thing about starting to get it all figured out is that we wished we had done it so much sooner. All we can do is keep moving forward continually trying to optimize life for the better. We will take it one step at a time and see what opportunities present themselves to us. Appreciate the comment and stopping to check out the recent post.