If you ask the commercials that we are bombarded with every day
more stuff is the answer to all of life's problems:
Are you having difficulties finding an attractive partner? Well, just buy a car!
Don't have that 10/10 body yet? Just get an Abtronic!
Oh, the car didn't really get the job done? Well, then I think you need a whole new collection of body wash!
All of this is of course complete bull****
The neverending consumerism treadmill will not solve these problems for you
Cait Flanders questioned this and went on a year-long shopping ban to rediscover what life actually has to offer
In this top 5 takeaway summary of her book The Year of Less, I will present some of the most important findings of hers
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Takeaway number 1: More no more
More is a craving that never stops, no matter how much you feed it
Everyone wants everything in life, but due to opportunity costs, everything is never an option
More stuff steals the most important resource that you have in your life: Your time
- More stuff costs money, which you'll have to work to regain
- More stuff takes time to buy
- More stuff takes time to maintain and organize
Less stuff, on the other hand, frees up a lot of time
Whenever you get rid of something negative in your life you make room for something positive
Getting rid of a negative relationship makes room for a good one
Getting rid of debt payments makes room for investments
Getting rid of unproductive time consumers makes room for productive ones
We are all having the same type of mental excuses for buying the latest gadget or item
"You deserve it!"
"You've worked hard!"
"You only live once!"
But debt and distractions are no fun. And if you're a good person -
no, I actually do not think that you deserve it!
In the next four takeaways you will learn how you can strive for less to achieve the things that you really want in your life
Don't let the commercials tell you otherwise!
Takeaway number 2: Declutter your life!
During Cait Flanders year of less she tossed,
donated or sold some 70% of a total belongings
Why?
Because having less will make you appreciate what you already have more
Here's a two-step process on how to do it:
First - take physical inventory of everything that you own
Secondly - toss away,
donate or sell everything that fulfills at least one of the following:
It hasn't been used in a year. It doesn't fit. Or it is broken
Here's what happened when I follow these two steps myself
One thing that both me and Cait Flanders realized in doing this exercise is that you only use a handful of your stuff anyways
There are many excuses that can be tough to overcome when doing this
Some items may seem like wasted money, wasted opportunities and wasted dreams when you throw them out
For example, you may have an instrument that's just been gathering dust in a corner for years
With such items, it is important to consider a concept called "sunk cost"
Basically, it means that you cannot get money, time and energy that is already spent back,
so therefore, you shouldn't let them affect your future decisions
That money, time and energy already spent are sunk costs
Takeaway number 3: Buy only what you need
Once you've removed
unnecessary distractions from your life, it is time to make sure that you don't undo your hard work by bringing in new ones
Have you ever fallen for one of these?
Take 3, pay for 2!
Buy for $100 and get free shipping!
Buy for $200 and get item X, for free!
I know I have
But what do you think the purpose of such advertising is?
That's right: It's to get you to buy more stuff
More of what you didn't actually come for and more or what you don't actually need
This is of course good for the profitability of the companies,
but it isn't good for your wallet, and it isn't good for decluttering your life
The secret to combat such advertising is to buy only what you really need
Buy only what you need now - do not pile up on things that you may need, or even probably need, in the future,
because chances are that you will not
You might convince yourself to buy that extra suit because it is 30% off and because you may use it someday
But chances are also that someday will never come
Cait Flanders went on a year-long shopping ban (which she eventually extended by the way)
and she recommends creating three types of shopping lists beforehand if you're thinking about doing the same thing
The first list is the "allowed to shop for"
This list should primarily consist of consumables, such as groceries and toiletries
Whenever you run out of them, you buy new ones
The second one is the "approved shopping list"
This should contain specific items decided on beforehand
No impulsive shopping during the year is allowed but things such as
birthday presents, clothes for work etc that you know that you will have to buy eventually fits well here
Also, anything that must be replaced goes, but then you must toss, donate or sell the replaced item
The third list is the "not allowed to shop for". It is quite self-explanatory
that you aren't allowed to shop for anything that isn't on the first two lists, but if you know that you have certain weaknesses,
maybe you like to binge on $5 lattes, you can list them here to emphasize what you are trying to avoid
Takeaway number 4: Black or white
Quitting a habit is never easy. After all - we've spent many years perfecting it
Quitting unnecessary shopping takes time
You must start to analyze your own behavior
Whenever you feel an urge to get back on a spree, stop and think what triggered this reaction
Either you will have to make sure that you don't get those triggers anymore or
you will have to change the way that you respond to those triggers
In the beginning it is really tough, but triggers will get less and less painful to face if you just give it some time
One of the worst ways of trying to get rid of any type of addiction is to allow yourself to compromise
It's all or nothing here - black or white - because small slip-ups will often cause
full-blown relapses. And it doesn't matter what type of addiction we are talking about here, it's the same with all of them
You think that you'll just get "a few" beers?
You think that you will just do some window shopping?
If you think that you will just have a little sneak peek?
Well think again.
However, if you do have an occasional slip-up don't shame yourself for it. If you fail temporarily,
no worries. That is just human
Stay accountable to someone while trying to ban something in your life
The worst thing to do is to keep occasional slip-ups to yourself and feel ashamed for them
Blaming yourself won't help you from not doing them again
Takeaway number 5: Save and invest the surplus
Spending an extra $5 here and $10 there amounts to large sums over time
If you engage in a year of less
you will notice a surplus in your bank account at the end of every month,
that perhaps haven't been there before and this is of course wonderful
This money should not be allowed to sit idle
Open a savings or investment account and call it something that gives you motivation
How about ... "financial freedom"?
Or "millionaire before 40"?
Maybe "the ultimate vacation"?
Well, you know what motivates you. Best of luck!
If you want to learn how to invest this money in the stock market, I've got a playlist of books
that probably would be perfect for you. Check it out!
Cheers guys!