3661: The Less You Own The Less That Owns You by Michelle Schroeder-Gardner of Making Sense of Cents on Minimalist Living

[00:00:00] This episode is brought to you by Accenture. When your advertising operations fall out of sync, everything else follows. Spotify and Accenture are working together to reinvent the rhythm of ad sales, using automation, analytics, and smarter workflows to simplify campaign delivery and access better data across the business. The result? Less time spent on operations, more time connecting brands with the moments and fandoms that matter most. Learn more at Accenture.com slash Spotify.

[00:00:29] Right now, get up to 15% off Select Storage Solutions. Put heavy-duty HDX totes to good use, protecting what's important to you. The solid, impact-resistant design prevents cracking, and the clear base and sides make items easy to find even when the totes are stacked. Find Select Shelving and Tote Storage up to 15% off at the Home Depot to organize every room in your home, from your garage to your attic. Visit homedepot.com, how doers get more done.

[00:00:58] This is Optimal Finance Daily. The less you own, the less that owns you. By Michelle Schroeder-Gardiner of makingsenseofsense.com. And I'm Justin Malek. I read you the best articles about money every day of the year, with permission from the authors. So let's continue the tradition as we optimize your life.

[00:01:25] The less you own, the less that owns you. By Michelle Schroeder-Gardiner of makingsenseofsense.com. I haven't always been a minimalist, nor have I always been interested in minimalist living. I used to purchase crazy amounts of clothing, random items for my home, wasn't interested in becoming a minimalist, and so on.

[00:01:47] I hoarded lots of items, hoping that one day I would find a use for them. I often thought that I needed things, so I would purchase crazy amounts of them, even though I should have put my money to better use. Then, around two years ago, I realized that I had too much stuff, and that I had an unhealthy relationship with material things.

[00:02:09] Over the past two years, I have donated or given away the majority of my belongings. I now pretty much only have the things I need to get me through the day or week ahead. There is no extra, and before I purchase anything, I always think about what use I'll get out of it. After all, I travel full-time, and there's only so much I can carry.

[00:02:33] Plus, getting rid of the majority of my belongings has been hard, stressful, and tiring, and I definitely don't want to experience that ever again. I know that not everyone wants to be a minimalist, and I'm not pushing it on anyone. I know that buying stuff isn't all bad, and there are many material things that make life easier and better. Instead, I want to introduce people to the idea of minimalist living,

[00:02:59] especially since the average person has lots of extra stuff in their lives that they don't need. This can lead to debt, buying things just to impress others, wasting time, and so on. Plus, being a minimalist has changed my life for the better, and I believe that it can help others as well. I used to spend a lot of time thinking about the things I bought and spending all of my money on new things, but I'm far from that now.

[00:03:26] It's easy to get lost in the idea of spending money on things to fill your life, and the average home size has changed to make it only easier to feel like you have to buy more than you need. Consider this. The average home size in 1950 was less than 1,000 square feet. Fast forward to 2013, the average home size increased to nearly 2,600 square feet, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

[00:03:54] Clearly, we used to make do with less, but there are still many reasons for minimalist living. Number one, minimalist living can help you save more money. Minimalist living most likely means that you'll be buying less stuff. Instead, you'll only buy what you want and what you truly need. Number two, minimalist living means less clutter. Clutter can take over a person's life. You may feel stressed out, tired,

[00:04:24] like your things are taking over your life, and more. And number three, minimalist living can give you more time. By living with less stuff, you can spend less time on cleaning, maintenance, and repairs. The more things you have, the more things that you'll need to clean, maintain, and repair. Just think about what you could do with all of that extra time. Here's how minimalist living has changed my life. Number one,

[00:04:54] clothing doesn't define me. By being a minimalist, I've definitely realized that I don't need much in order to be happy. Before, I thought that I needed all the clothing in the world in order to be happy. But now I know that I really don't need much. In fact, I hardly ever purchase clothing, and I've been wearing nearly the same things for several years. For me, it's all about buying things that are more classic,

[00:05:23] more go out of style, things that I actually like, instead of what's trendy for that month, and so on. It feels great when you realize that you don't need all of that extra stuff in your life. Instead, purchase what you want and need, rather than thinking about keeping up with others all the time, or thinking that emotional spending is something that will help you. Number two, minimalist living gives me more time.

[00:05:52] Minimalist living allows me to have more time to spend on other things. Just think about it. The more things you have, then the more time you have to spend on using it, maintaining it, repairing it, cleaning it, and so on. I would much rather live with less than think about all the things that I own that need work done to them. Number three, with minimalist living, I've realized that I don't need much.

[00:06:22] Before I was a minimalist, I kept a lot of things because I thought I needed them for the future. On a regular basis, I probably only used around 25% of the things I had in my house. In reality, it was probably even less than 25%. I know I'm not alone, and many people keep items because they think they might need them in the future. You know the feeling. You buy something, don't use it right away, and years later, you find it,

[00:06:52] but just can't throw it away in case there is some circumstance where you need that exact item. If this is you, then you should put a timeline of no more than one year on the item. If you don't use it in that time frame, then there's a big chance that you'll never need it or won't even miss it that much. Instead of buying items that you rarely use, you may want to think about renting or borrowing them from someone else.

[00:07:19] When I think about how much stuff we gave away, I honestly can't even remember half of the things. I realize now how little we really needed, and those things definitely did not make me happy if I can't even remember them. Number four, I save more money by living with less stuff. Now that we live with less stuff, we are able to save a great deal of money. Instead of thinking that we need everything that exists,

[00:07:49] we are now much more realistic about our needs and realize that there's a lot of clutter in the stores that no one really needs at all. Plus, now that I realize how much money I've wasted over the years, I'm able to say no at the store when debating about whether or not I should purchase a certain item, especially one that might create clutter. I can also walk into a store and only buy exactly what I need, even if that store is Target.

[00:08:16] I have so much more control over my spending, and that has saved me a lot of money. Number five, I understand now that I don't need things to make me happy. Having more things doesn't make you a happier person. Things don't make you a better person. They don't make you more successful than others or anything else. In fact, in many circumstances, it's far from that.

[00:08:43] I know this because I have less stuff than I have ever had, and I am happier than ever. Plus, when was the last time you heard someone say, I'm so glad I bought all those pairs of pants 35 years ago, or I'm so glad I had all of those things decades ago? You should only own something if you truly want or need it. Who cares about what everyone else has? And number six, a minimalist house allows me to travel.

[00:09:12] Unless I maintain my minimalist lifestyle and house, well, RV, then I wouldn't be able to travel full-time. It would be quite hard and not nearly as enjoyable if I had a bunch of things holding me back. I really, really love and enjoy being able to travel full-time, and it is one of the best benefits of living minimally. You just listened to the post titled,

[00:09:41] The Less You Own, The Less That Owns You by Michelle Schroeder-Gardner of makingsenseofsense.com. And I'll be right back with my commentary. This episode is brought to you by Accenture. When your advertising operations fall out of sync, everything else follows. Spotify and Accenture are working together to reinvent the rhythm of ad sales using automation, analytics, and smarter workflows to simplify campaign delivery and access better data across the business.

[00:10:11] The result? Less time spent on operations, more time connecting brands with the moments and fandoms that matter most. Learn more at Accenture.com slash Spotify. I've tracked my income and expenses since 2010, back when that meant a spreadsheet I built myself and updated every day. I loved it, but I still missed things. Categories changed and I'd go months before noticing my spending had doubled. Monarch does in seconds what took me hours

[00:10:40] and it catches what I never would have. Last year, the weekly AI recap flagged that my dining out had crept up almost 40%, charges I'd stop seeing. My financial picture has never been clearer. My favorite part is the AI assistant. I can just ask, can I afford this trip without touching my savings? And get a real answer, not a chart to interpret. It's like having a financial advisor in my pocket.

[00:11:08] Write your own money story with Monarch. Use code optimal at monarch.com to get your first year of Monarch core half off at just $50. That's 50% off your first year at monarch.com with code optimal. Thank you to Michelle. I liked her framing that the less you own, the less that owns you. It's a money article, but really it's about the weight of all that stuff. The cleaning, the maintaining,

[00:11:38] the mental space it takes up even when you're not using it. It's something we talk about pretty much every Monday on Minimalist Monday episodes over on my other show, Optimal Living Daily. And the money piece follows naturally. When you own less, you just buy less. A while back, I tried the Minimalist game where you get rid of one thing on day one, two things on day two, and so on. It starts easy, but somewhere past day 20,

[00:12:06] it gets really hard. You run out of the obvious junk and start facing the stuff you kept just in case. And that's exactly what she talks about. The item you might need someday that you then can't even remember a year later. But minimalism isn't all or nothing. You don't have to give everything away and move into an RV like she did. Even just her one year rule is a nice place to start. If you haven't used it in a year,

[00:12:36] you probably won't miss it. Plus the money you're not spending replacing clutter definitely adds up. So if you can, pick one drawer or one shelf and try her one year test on it. See how it feels to let a little go. But that'll do it for today. Have a great rest of your day. Thank you for being here. And I'll see you tomorrow as usual where your optimal life awaits. you're going to learn how to get a little book, how to get off your roof. With your loved ones. And also,