I want to thank you for choosing this book, Minimalist Budget - Simplify Your Life and Expenses to Get Out of Debt, Save More Money, and Achieve Financial Freedom and hope you find it informative in your journey to discover the art of a Minimalist Budget.
Do you feel like you have a lot of useless things lying around the house? Do you wish to minimize the clutter in your life and remain stress-free? Do you wish to adopt a minimalist lifestyle so that you can save money? If the answer to these questions is yes, then you have come to the right place!
Minimalism is a concept that deals with having less and being happy with whatever you have. It makes the process of decision-making easier thus allowing you to lead a simpler life.
It is estimated that humans make around 10,000 to 40,000 decisions per day, thus leading to decision fatigue. This mainly stems from the idea of having more to be happy, but if there are only a few things to worry about, then it all becomes easier.
If you are looking to develop a minimalist approach and would like to understand the various aspects involved, read on.
This book will help you understand what minimalism is all about and how you can use it to lead a fulfilling, happier life. This book will help you understand the different ways you can improve your life by accepting minimalism in your financial life.
Chapter One: The Proper Minimalist Mindset for Money
In this section, we will learn what minimalism is and how being a minimalist will help you make better decisions when it comes to how you spend your money!
Being a minimalist has captured the imagination of people trying to break their life down to the basics. The concept is now gathering steam and is considered to be one of the most popular trends in the world of saving money.
But not many people understand the true meaning of minimalism and what it stands for. Some assume it is nothing but having fewer things around; however, it is much more than that and it refers to a mindset or philosophy that you should keep up with.
What Is Minimalism?
Minimalisms one definition can be the idea of pursuing happiness. A lot of this philosophy stems from understanding what can make you happier as a person and following what you think is right. This usually means having important things in your life that make a difference.
The basic philosophy associated with this concept relates to understanding that having more does not mean it is better. If you feel like some things are unnecessary, then minimalism has to step in.
The world that we now live in teaches you to have more to be happy. It becomes important to filter out this philosophy. By choosing to be a minimalist, you can be truly free with yourself and your interests. You will have less of the distractions which only make you feel like there are many things to worry about.
Most of us tend to attach importance and emotions to how much we spend to buy something. We attach meaning to the things we have instead of understanding their true value.
We do not think if what we have is helping us fulfill our goals, and end up focusing on the amount of money we are making and if it is enough to buy us gadgets and other things in trend.
Another philosophy that minimalism abides by states that less can give you a lot more in life. You will be able to save more and do other things and appreciate them more. This includes traveling more and having more exciting experiences, without having to worry about too many things.
This can make you happier and teach you to be more independent in the long run. The philosophy of minimalism does not set any hardcore rules and yet, the basic principles serve as an outline to lay down some rules.
Another part of minimalism states that it is important to value yourself more and not the things that you have. If you have a hundred different things, then not only can it distract you but also make it difficult for you to lead a regular, stress-free life.
If you have just about ten items that are absolutely essential, then you will not have the pressure of choosing between many things of the same nature, and lead a carefree life.
Simplifying Decision-Making
As mentioned earlier, the human mind can make many decisions in a day that can lead to decision fatigue. In such case, it becomes essential to simplify things so that decision making becomes easier.
When it comes to making decisions, it is important to maintain a healthy mind and ensure that the brain is well nourished. If you suffer from mental fatigue, then you are likely to make the wrong decisions. This can lead to not being able to decide soundly and end up going for too much. This can go against the basic philosophy laid down by minimalism.
If you wish to make the best decisions at the right time, then it is important to conserve your mental energy. It helps to take inspiration from some people who lead a minimalist lifestyle.
Take for example certain CEOs, who are known to be minimalists. They would implement these concepts in all aspects of their lives including their homes and also the simplistic design philosophies at their companies.
Certain CEOs also wear the same thing every day because they dont want to waste their precious mental bandwidth on a decision as trivial as what to wear for the day. Instead they want to keep the main vision in sight, which is to create the best product possible for their customers.
Minimalism will allow you to conserve your mental energy so that decision making becomes simpler, here are some things you have to do.
Identifying The Patterns Behind Decision Making
Most of us tend to live lives that are guided by habits. We tend to wake up at the same time daily, consume our breakfast, commute, get to work etc.
Having such a schedule may help lead a simpler life. This, however, does not hold true for many.
Even though it seems like a set schedule is being followed, there can be many things that a person does wrong such as getting up early to check emails and ending up with decreased productivity. Instead, focus on doing things that are more important such as getting in some exercise or making sure that you eat a healthy breakfast.