10 Ways You Can Have Enough Money and Stuff
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. 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.
- 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: a happy marriage, a healthy body, a creative blog
- Connect more with friends & make new friends
- 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 the tough questions, because it’s very likely that you are not living the life you desire. You are 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”? I’m glad you asked.
10 ways to have enough
- Redefine enough. Your current definition of enough may be more than you think. Do the simple counting exercise below and see what is really enough for you and your family.
- 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.
- 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. If you spent less, could you work less and spend more time with the people that love you?
- 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.
- Stop trying to measure up. Someone will always make more than you, have more than you and do more than you. So what? You are beautiful and wonderful. Be you and stop comparing.
- Don’t stock up. If you buy wrapping paper on December 26th and stock up on sale items year round, you are 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 $22.00″ when you just spent $300.
- Stop using a credit card. Debt will follow you forever unless you stop using credit cards. The end.
- 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. 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.
- Realize you ARE enough. If you could be happy with you, you could stop overeating, overspending, and over indulging. Once you know you are enough, you can realize that you have enough.
- 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 everyday. Instead it’s the things that 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.
Do you have enough too much?
- Count the number of clothes you have and divide that by 7. That is 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 that by 7.
- Count how many apps, songs, games and videos you have on your computer and divide that by 7.
- Count how many TV channels, radio stations, CDs, DVDs, and games and divide that by 7.
It is 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 of the stuff, you probably need less than half of 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…
- If you had no debt, 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 dine out several times a week, how much could you give?
- If one is enough, what could you donate?
It’s possible that you have been chasing more for so long that you forgot why you started the race in the first place. That is exactly what happened to me. If you can’t answer “why”, you are on the wrong track. If your answer to “why” is “I don’t know” you are lost. You have to stop and start over.
I just started to re-read, Your Money or Your Life: 9 Steps to Transforming Your Relationship with Money and Achieving Financial Independence. If you wonder how you could live on much less (even with a family and responsibilities) and really start enjoying life, I’d like to give you a copy. By a random drawing, I’ll send copies to 3 readers who drop a comment below about what they would do if they knew they had enough.
I was recently reminded by one of my favorite blogs that “very little is needed to make life happy.” Do you think that’s true?
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If simplicity is changing your life, imagine what it could do for your business.
148 Responses to “10 Ways You Can Have Enough Money and Stuff”
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First, I want to tell you how much I love your blog. I read it frequently, and it really affects me. It makes me take a good long look at my life, and how I want to live it.
If I felt that I had enough, I would be less stressed and happier. The vicious cycle of want, spend, acquire, debt, thinking it will make me happy, is a constant in my life. I wish I could take more time for the little things, and relish what I have without the constant need for something more. I would have more time to value what is in front of me, and not be in constant worry for the future, and what may or may not happen.
I’ve just found your blog and I’m really enjoying it so far. I’ve been trying to slowly reduce the amount I consume and to prioritize what really matters. So far it’s been met with confusion from others, but they’ll adjust. My dream is to have children with my partner in the next 5 years and to not work full time once I have them. The stress and anxiety of my working environment aren’t good for me, so I can’t imagine they would make for a very happy mommy. Thank you for the work that you’re doing.
I would give more to help those who don’t have enough.
If i knew i could, i would quit my job and travel. Lightly. I have already purged a great deal from my home and it feels fantastic! I love the motivation i receive from blogs like yours. Helps to put “things” in perspective. Gloria from Michigan.
When we get financially stable, we hope get a less stressful job and travel more – to give our kids life experiences. We traveled much more when we had less money.
That was an amazing post, thank you for sharing. I am a single mom who just recently quit my job to work for myself and be home with my son more. This was a very scary decision as I was not sure IF I would be able to make ends meet. I still dont. But I am happier the past couple weeks than I have been in a LONG time and am going to continue to re read this post and remind myself of what I really want in life: TO BE HAPPY. And happy is having a roof over my head, food on the table and my son my’s health. If I can have those and get out and learn to enjoy the free things more in life (and not overeat, spend, etc). I will be just fine… with the love and support of my friends and family and inspirational people like you!
Thank you for this. I am going to be graduating from school soon and I am having a tough time trying to figure out what I want for my life when school is done. I think I’ll use this as a guide, try to answer the questions you pose here, and maybe it will give me some direction.
i love this post, thanks!
If I new I had enough I would travel with my family.
Since I started reading this blog sEveral months ago, I have sold, trashed or donated over 150 books, 25% of my wardrobe, a great deal of makeup and jewelry and more. When I decide I need or would like something new, I very CONSCIOUSLY make a decision about which item will have to go in order to make room for what I acquire. For example, I now need 2 more sports bras as I have started running again. Before I buy them, already know that there are a pair of shoes, a set of earrings and a t-shirt I can live without. All 3 will be donated and I end up with one LESS item to care for. The more I read your blog, the more I realize how much energy is required to own THINGS. I also remembered that one of the best nights I had on my last vacation was watching a lightning storm with my friends- no cover charge for THAT!
Great post!
I feel like I’m doing all those things that people said they would do if they felt they already had enough.
I have enough.
We live in a small (600 sf rental) home by the sea with minimal possessions. I stay at home and take care of my daughter and work a little (I’m a painter) when I feel like it. My husband works 4-day weeks currently and might switch to self-employment only.. We have no debt and we have savings – we might end up buying a very small house and we plan to travel /live abroad. I have no desire to own a big fancy house full of stuff. It’s not only that I’d hate to struggle for money, but having tons of stuff makes me miserable and anxious anyway. Having less can be the answer to both personal freedom, and the cure for what ails this world.
Excellent post!
I’m currently working to eliminate 1,000 things from my life. I know I’ll have to move apartments within the next 365 days, so 1,000 less things will mean many fewer boxes. I’m amazed by the things that I’ve accumulated in the past six years though. When I moved to this city, I only took five suitcases and mailed four boxes. Now I’ve got furniture, kitchen gizmos, and a very full closet and dresser! And I absolutely think that I can donate, gift, sell or toss about half of these things before I move out. (And I’ve also been using up lotions and make-up without replacing them, so that’s less stuff there, too.)
I would love to get to a time where I will have ENOUGH in my life.
I agree with all the points except #6 ‘don’t stock up’. I do stock up and it saved our family a lot of money. I use coupons and I can often get things for free. I do stock up on only what we use and need to avoid clutter or something I intend to donate immediately.
If I had enough, I would be ME…the person I was truly meant to be. Simple.
I’ve just ordered this book at my library but really want my own copy so am hoping I win
I feel blessed and rich in so many ways and had simplified my life radically. However recently I’ve decided to follow two dreams which have gobbled up all my time and I feel like I’m drowning a little. So if I thought I had enough (time) I would allow myself to trust myself more to accomplish the things I’ve set out to do. I would support myself more by allowing more rejuvenation time doing mini meditations, eating more healthily, doing mini walks rather than using my current escapism modes of tv watching/escapist books.
“What would you do if you thought you had enough?” is the perfect question for me, and my current unsatisfied-to-be-back-at-work-after-vacation mood. I’m spending my lunch hour daydreaming about a little cabin in the woods and a simpler life, or a cross-country journey a la Steinbeck’s Travels with Charley.
Gotta work on making those something more than daydreams….
I would live a slow life, without clocks so that I could spend as much time as feels right doing whatever creative pursuits were calling my name, or playing with grandkids, or walking on the beach.
If I felt I had enough, I would slow down and enjoy the now. I frequently find myself thinking and planning ahead and not enjoying the what and where of NOW. We already live a simply life, but I miss so much of it.
i love this site i all ready have no credit cards still to much debt house small car no good public transportation this area still have to much stuff in the proccess of clearing out want to move near the ocean and live in ireland thanks for your help
I’m not sure how well this applies to me… if I knew I had enough I would move my family to Portland and let my husband quit working. My income would have to at LEAST replace his, and probably more before that could happen, though. We already live pretty minimally – almost no eating out, a small grocery budget, no TV or other expensive subscriptions, no regular expensive purchases (like my brother, who has to buy the latest DVDs and computer games when they come out). But I’d love to find an actual way to do more with what we have if it’s out there.
Last night I talked about this subject with my friend. I mentioned that everyone needs a 2nd job. The job doesn’t have to pay money, it can be a hobby or passion. Otherwise we get into trouble; eat or drink too much, watch too much TV, spend too much, etc. Figuring out how to Have enough Money and Stuff could be your second job. “Your money or your Life” sounds like a fantastic read.
Great post. I rarely comment on posts.
I have been a full time employee at a huge corp for about 3 months now. My salary is great. My soul is crushed. I have a day off today, on a Wednesday, and I am just so damned happy. I need to find out how to live a life without being a wage slave.
If I had more time, I’d write full time. I really want to take up writing, but I only have about 3-4 hours of free time a night, so I usually dedicate that to some reading instead (and lets face it, video games on occasion). I may also purchase farmland. 8 hours a day of tilling my own field doesn’t sound bad at all.
I just want to be happy. I want to be happy and left alone.
go for it, travis!!!! if your salary is great, save like crazy and REALLY try to live on half of it so u have a nice emergency cushion. if u want to write- DO IT!!! even if it’s only 20 minutes a day. farming DOES sound great, doesn’t it?
every day, think of one small thing you can live without and let it go. it’s a long process, trust me. but every time i chuck, donate or sell something, i feel like more air gets to my lungs. this blog has been HUGE help to me.
YOU CAN DO IT!!
My brother drives a 100,000 dollar car – my car cost me 3,000 – we still arrive at the same destination….
Ohhh and something else that helps me achieve things I would like to buy – like a new piano I am saving for – a holiday twice a year – I save all my change – all the 2 dollar coins and under I throw in a clear 2litre fruit juice bottle – amazing how much you have in just a few months
Isn’t he “jar” amazing?! I talk myself out of buying stupid stuff and put $$$ in the jar instead. At one point, the funds bought my fiance 2 beautiful suits for work!!!
If I didn’t worry about money I would see every country, learn every language and go back to school and gey my doctorates. And make it so my family could do the same.
I love that you and your husband found great joy in watching a storm roll in together. Simplifying doesn’t have to mean barren! On the contrary, most of what is truly special, wonderful, and meaningful in life is completely free. Walking out the door into nature is a great start. We’re much too trained to be consumers!
Hi, I just stumbled upon your blog and I’m from the other side of the world in Singapore. I like the fact that you don’t preach but just put in perspective the fundamentals we have forgotten to make our lives happy. Thanks for the reminder. You’ve just gained a new fan in me.
Very little is indeed needed. I had to leave my house and everyone I knew two years ago and during that first year I moved 17 times. I had everything I owned in a suitcase and a purse. For about 1/2 year now I have been living in my own apartment and I have to say – these past two years have been the greatest ones in my life. I have focused on my new family, new friendships, g-d and and growing as a person. I don’t *need* cable tv, lots of clothes, makeup or almost anything else – I need my loved ones, experiences, passions – and I need to enjoy the moment.
I would paint full time, every day, dawn til midnite. And give away my art,give away my time, money..This workaday mentality we get so trapped in, is all about serving self, or causes that may be unconscious. I would partner up with good folks and look around and see how our God-given talents can make a difference right where we are.
Blessings!
J