3081: 10 Ways You Can Have Enough Money and Stuff by Courtney Carver of Be More With Less

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[00:00:30] This is Optimal Finance Daily – 10 Ways You Can Have Enough Money and Stuff by Courtney Carver of BeMoreWithLess.com As a society, we are eating too much, drinking too much, working too much, and spending too much. We take more drugs for anxiety and depression than ever before. Our debt is climbing and our savings are dwindling. We are tired, stressed, overworked, scattered, and afraid.

[00:01:00] We are afraid that we won't have more than them. We are afraid of what others will think if we don't. We never have enough and are afraid that we never will. In a recent poll – and by poll I mean in response to a question I posed on Twitter – when asked what would you do differently if you thought you had enough, the response was overwhelming.

[00:01:24] Give more. Give more. Worry less. Quit my job. Teach others to do the same. Volunteer more. Quit striving for success. Travel. Change my career path. Come up with ways to help the world. Quit my job. Dance. Spend time creating beautiful things.

[00:01:46] A happy marriage. A happy marriage. A healthy body. A creative blog. Connect more with friends and make new friends. And move somewhere new and exciting. Wow! If you had enough, you would do some really great life-changing things for yourself, your family, and the world. It's time to start asking the tough questions. Because it's very likely that you're not living the life you desire.

[00:02:10] You're depriving yourself of real happiness because you think you need more. More money and more stuff. If you know what you would do if you thought you had enough, then the next logical question is, how will I have enough? Number one, redefine enough. Your current definition of enough may be more than you think. Do a simple counting exercise and see what is really enough for you and your family.

[00:02:38] Number two, learn to say no. You may have to turn friends down for a dinner out, tell your kids that they can't have designer handbags in high school, or make other unpopular decisions. Number three, put people before stuff. Before you stop for lunch, drop by the mall, or pick up a few things at the grocery store, remember what your family really wants. They want you.

[00:03:05] If you spent less, could you work less and spend more time with the people that love you? Number four, put moments before stuff. Running outside with my husband last night to watch the storm clouds come in was absolutely free and more rewarding than anything I could have purchased. Number five, stop trying to measure up. Someone will always make more than you, have more than you, and do more than you.

[00:03:34] So what? You are beautiful and wonderful. Be you and stop comparing. Number six, don't stock up. If you buy wrapping paper on December 26th and stock up on sale items year-round, you're spending more than you would if you just bought what you needed. Don't be fooled by the cashier that tells you, you just saved $22 when you just spent $300.

[00:04:03] Number seven, stop using a credit card. Debt will follow you forever unless you stop using credit cards. The end. Number eight, write it down. You might be too busy and stressed to think about what you really want out of life. Write it down and read it every day. Live by the beach. Start a new business. Put kids through college with no debt. Move to a new country. This is your why.

[00:04:33] Knowing why will give you momentum. Knowing why will give you perseverance. Knowing why will give you the guts and grit to take action and live the life you desire. Number nine, realize you are enough. If you could be happy with you, you could stop overeating, overspending, and overindulging. Once you know that you are enough, you can realize that you have enough.

[00:05:02] And number ten, identify your source of happiness. A new shirt will not make you happy for long. In fact, I can't think of any material thing that makes me happy every day. Instead, it's the things you can't own. Children's dimples. A dog rolling over for a belly rub. Jumping in the ocean. Climbing mountains. Stretching. Kisses. Gratitude. Those are the things that happiness is made of.

[00:05:31] Do you have too much? Count the number of clothes you have and divide that by seven. That's how many pieces of clothing you have to wear each day to use everything you have over the course of a week. Count how many utensils you own. Forks, knives, spoons, whisks, peelers, all of them. And divide by seven. Count how many apps, songs, games, and videos you have on your computer. And divide that by seven. And count how many TV channels, radio stations, CDs, DVDs, and games.

[00:06:01] And divide that by seven. It's very likely that you could live and thrive with less than 50% of what you own right now. And if you need less than half the stuff, you probably need less than half the space. And less than half of the money it takes to maintain the stuff and the space. Insert light bulb moment here. More questions to ask to live a better life.

[00:06:26] If you had no debt and no monthly payments, what could you live on? If you didn't have to save for a nicer car, bigger house, or extravagant vacation, what could you save for? What could you sell to pay off your debt? If you didn't have to dine out several times a week, how much could you give? And if one is enough, what could you donate?

[00:06:51] It's possible that you've been chasing more for so long that you forgot why you started the race in the first place. That's exactly what happened to me. If you can't answer why, you're on the wrong track. If your answer to why is I don't know, you're lost. You have to stop and start over. You just listened to the post titled,

[00:07:16] 10 Ways You Can Have Enough Money and Stuff by Courtney Carver of BeMoreWithLess.com This article reminded me of a great quote from Socrates who said, the secret to happiness you see is not found in seeking more, but in developing the capacity to enjoy less, end quote. I've evolved in my understanding of how much is enough in recent years.

[00:07:42] I used to think it was a number such as the baseline formula for reaching financial independence, an investment portfolio worth 25 times your yearly expenses, or a level of achievement such as a yearly salary goal, number of social media followers, or selling out my event, the Economy Conference. But now I realize that enough is not a destination or goal to be reached. It's a state of mind to be cultivated.

[00:08:12] The reality is I already have enough. I have enough money, friends, and achievement. But until I developed an abundance mindset rooted in gratitude for what I already have, it was never going to feel like enough. As one reaches higher and higher levels of success, there's a tendency to move the goalpost of enough so that nothing ever feels like enough.

[00:08:38] This is why there are multi-millionaires in the world with countless awards, accolades, and professional successes that are still miserable. Without peace of mind and the capacity to enjoy the abundance they've created, what's all that success even worth? And that will do it for today. Have a great day. Thank you for listening. And I'll be back here reading to you tomorrow where your optimal life awaits.