Frank - Living simple, free & happy: how to simplify, declutter your home and reduce stress, debt, and waste

Living Simple,
Free & Happy

How to Simplify, Declutter Your Home,
and Reduce Stress, Debt, and Waste

Cristin Frank

Cincinnati, Ohio
www.betterwaybooks.com

How well are you using your talents? Pause. Now ask yourself how well youre using your time. Stretch it a little further and ask how well you are using the space in your home. You may think these aspects of life (talents, time, and space) are a bit unrelated, but the truth is these three elements closely work together to combat stress, improve efficiencies, relieve money woes, open up opportunities, and provide unbelievable self-fulfillment. The keys that unlock all this potential are empowering your abundant talents (trust me, you have a ton of talent), maximizing your free time, and giving yourself space to create, entertain, and just put up your feet.

As a culture, we have escalated into a lifestyle of bigger homes, more stuff, and countless activities and appointments. This sounds like a full lifea life so full its overflowing with obligations, chaos, and maintenance instead of happiness. Its a life filled with the wrong stuff. This book will guide you in creating a life full of meaning by reducing all of the stuff thats impeding your way to greatness. Im going to walk you through the joys of discovering your pride, help you appreciate what you have and what it can become, and talk you through the fears that limit the potential of your home, finances, and your sense of purpose.

When you think about simplifying your life, you may hesitate because youre focusing on what youre giving up. This book will show you all you have to gain from streamlining your calendar, becoming self-sufficient, and opting for creativity instead of spending. And youre not going it alone. No way. The reduction plan invites opportunities for you to bring your friends and family into your world of exploration and discovery. You will find like-minded people who share your passion for self-empowerment. I know this because Ive been there, trying to do my own thing, and I have found others out there with great stories and creations to share.

If there is one principle of the reduction lifestyle I would impress upon you, it is continuous learning. Learning is rarely a passive thing. Its that inner drive that helps you keep an open mind and makes you try something new or initiate an introduction to a stranger. The crazy part is we never reach an end in our learning. There is always something new to learn and do. I find that fascinating. Seriously, I get jacked about it. Are you with me? Dont you want to know all thats out there?

The fact that youre reading this book is a huge testament to your commitment to seek knowledge. I am so emphatic about learning because it facilitates leadership in our lives. Im not talking about the Moses kind of leadership; Im talking about leading your own life. My goal in this book is not to teach you how to live your life just like I live mine. My hope is to open your eyes to new possibilities that will put you in a position to solve your own problems, make your own decisions, and achieve your higher goals. How you apply this new information to your life is entirely up to you.

Arent you curious about all the amazing things you are capable of doing? This book includes numerous how-to projects ranging from basic household tasks to full upcycling makeovers. Rest assured, if I can do it, you can certainly do it, too. And not only does the book guide you through the reduction metamorphosis, it features exercises throughout so you can personalize the lessons on paper and implement them as they relate to your life and specific needs. Keep in mind, this is not a book full of neat projects. This is a lifestyle course in which you will learn to create with the purpose of clearing out the clutter and eliminating the debt and maintenance that are weighing you down. These projects are three-fold: use your talents to create something useful and inexpensive or free that improves your home.

This book will help you take charge for yourself. Buck the cycle of mindless entertainment, disposable everything, and the infatuation with what others have. Your time and money dont need to be invested in ways that please or compete with other people; invest these resources in yourself for an outcome that guarantees satisfaction for you.

The small, daily decisions you make result in either your freedom from or entrapment by clutter, stress, and debt. The problem is, we rarely recognize when we are making these decisions. Emotions are so powerful that they dictate our actions in an automated fashion. That is why we need to work backwards. This book will help you achieve the results you desire and allow you to make the decisions that get you where you want to go. When you decide where you want to be, you can customize a plan to get yourself there. What is it that you love, respect, and appreciate? These are your values. Theyre the filters that will replace toxic emotions when it comes to making decisions. And while our goals and values vary widely from life stage to life stage, when you look at the big picture, the common threads of purpose, pride, freedom, and quality run through every stage. This book brings to life the expectations we have when it comes to enjoying our surroundings and relieving the pressures that rush at us through life. Decide to slow down. Decide to let go of what is weighing on you and your environment.

When we say we want it all, we dont necessarily mean a boat, a lake house, and a butler. That isnt the standard of success. Success is getting what we want, that one great thing we call can our own. Its putting our energy into our dreams and interests. So get ready to trade in headaches and hassles for life skills; exchange clutter for money; transform eyesores into beautiful focal points in your home; say goodbye to over-consumption and hello to genuine experiences.

Welcome.

Have you ever thought that maybe what is holding you back is what you have and not what you dont have? When we think of roadblocks, the excuses that surface sound something like, I just dont have the time; Im swampedId need more educationor plastic surgery. How often do we find ourselves saying, You need money to do that? Its so easy to look at what we dont have instead of examining our spending and consumption habits to see if they are keeping us in a vicious cycle of spending, accumulating, and maintaining.

Peers, advertisers, and society suggest you live it up at all stages of life. Graduates, dont you owe it to yourself to indulge after eating cafeteria food and driving a rust bucket for four years? Or in your thirties and forties, when your income is at its peak, isnt this the time to pamper yourself? How about in your fifties and sixties when your kids have moved out? You can finally have nice things that wont get wrecked by vomit and hockey pucks. If not thenwhen? The more prudent (though far less sexy) approach is to exercise more financial discipline (more saving, smarter investing, and wiser spending habits) during times of increased pay and less dependencies. Just because you lived through times of sacrifice doesnt mean you over-compensate when your situation changes. If you forgo your morning coffee, you dont drink ten Red Bulls with lunch. And because youre making 20 percent more doesnt mean you should increase your luxuries by the full 20 percent to make up for lost time. You dont need to repay your ego. If you max out with your upswings, youre going to bottom out with your downturns. Trying to continually adapt to a yo-yo lifestyle will be much more traumatizing than staying even keel on a track to what you really want.