The Journey Towards Minimalism

Living Large for Less

At some point in the last few months, I came to the realization that I simply had too many things. It did not surprise anyone who knew me when I was able to fill two walk in closets in my new apartment with all of my clothes. I had so many clothes that nothing else would even fit in the closets! I live alone in an apartment with about 1,000 square feet, but I felt like I was drowning in my things. So I began the very sad task of adding up the quantities of everything that I owned. Some of the highlights: about 300 T shirts, 12 jackets, 10 bathing suits and about 40 pairs of jeans. And yet despite all of this, I kept routinely jaunting off to the mall and returning with new bags of stuff. Something had to change. 

First night in my new place!

Where to Start...

I knew that Step One was just realizing that I had too many things, but that was as far as I got for a while. I was onto something, I just didn't know what. And then one day I found this finance and general life blog and I realized where I was supposed to go.

I looked at all of my things and slowly started to ask myself if any of them added any meaning or value to my life. At first I thought that they did. For example, I could hold up one bathing suit and imagine myself wearing it on some tropical island, while another I would envision wearing to a family pool party. And so on until I got to 10 different occasions and color combinations "requiring" different outfits. Step Two: realizing how ridiculous this was. 

I suddenly understood that I did not in fact need 10 bathing suits. This may seem insignificant, but to me it was huge. For the first time ever I realized that my life would be no different if I bought one more article of clothing; and in fact, my life might actually be easier if I had a bit less. I didn't actually want to get rid of anything at this point, but I convinced myself that I could sell some of my stuff and make some quick money on eBay. So I did.

Reduce, Reduce, Reduce

In the first week of "reducing" as I'll call it, I listed close to 100 articles of clothing on eBay. Not everything sold, but I still made about $100. The first time I went to the post office to send my beloved items away, I felt very sad. I thought about all of the money that I had spent on everything and all of the times I had worn these things and I was angry that for less than $100 I was giving it all away.

But after a few more rounds of this, something started to change inside of me. I started to feel happy when someone would pay me $.99 for an old T Shirt that I hadn't worn in years. I started realizing that I actually didn't need it at all, and I didn't even want it. Slowly, my closet started emptying and a few dollars would enter my bank account here and there. And better yet, I stopped buying new things. For the first time in my life, I felt happy with what I already had! 

Budding Minimalism

It was amazing: I suddenly cut my spending, got rid of extra stuff I didn't need, saved money for a downpayment on a house and felt happy at the same time. But the best part of all was that I could see an immediate reduction in future consumption. I knew looking forward that I could save even more because I would continue not to need the things that I realized I didn't need today. The entire facade of our culture of materialism and consumption began to fall apart right before my eyes. In essence, I had discovered minimalism. 

To be fair, I have only just begun this journey, and I have no idea where it will take me, but I do know that I have made a substantial change in my present life to the benefit of my future self. I hope that as I move forward, I will continue moving in this very new and very positive direction. 

Why Americans Are Bad With Money

Americans Are Not Taught To Care About Money

Every once and a while, our economy goes through a period of contraction or recession. Many of the repercussions of these natural economic shifts are out of our control; some people lose their jobs, others see the values of their homes decline. But all too often, Americans fail to acknowledge what they can do differently to help manage financial stress. Unfortunately, as a society, we do not teach children to value financial literacy, which can contribute to irresponsible financial choices later in life.

An Education Problem

Children tend to learn about money from their parents. In America, most public schools do not offer personal finance classes and so children have to learn through observation. Parents do not always teach their children about the importance of budgeting and saving, perhaps because they themselves are not aware. As a result, many children enter the "real world" unprepared for how to make life decisions about money.

In high school, many students take loans for colleges in the tens of thousands of dollars, not really understanding what it will take to pay that money back. Upon graduation, many of these students are stuck with payments that are upwards of $400 or $500 per month and the graduates are in many cases unprepared to deal with this type of stress. By their early or mid 20s, many people have made important financial choices without fully understanding the consequences of their decisions. We need to start educating people younger.

In America, about $17 billion is spent per year marketing financial products such as credit cards and mortgages to consumers, but only $670 million is spent educating people about financial management. This leads to a huge imbalance in information. As a society, we need to do more to make sure that we teach young people how to manage money so that they can manage the ups and downs of the economy more readily.