Downsize and Simplify Your Life – DFA Tip of the Week

There are many small ways to reduce costs in our every day lives, so to help do just that each week I post the money saving “Tip of the Week”.

“And he said unto him, Well, thou good servant: because thou hast been faithful in a very little, have thou authority over ten cities.” Luke 19:17

This week’s tip involves…simplifying your life by downsizing your possessions!

A Common Problem

A lot of people are experiencing a steadily increasing amount of stress & discontent related to unquenchable desires and/or a paycheck-to-paycheck type existence.  Many of us have been following the ever-so-common path of college, career, & consumerism – like so many others – only to wind up with a big house, a bunch of debt, and a restless state of mind!  Many times we end up feeling that our lives would be better if we could just get that raise at work!

As an alternative to dwelling on the absence of desired salary increases – over which we have no control – we’re better served to focus on reducing our possessions and lowering our expenses.  It stands to reason that taking charge of what we can change and forgetting about what we cannot are necessary predicates to the increased financial well-being we seek.

Thinning out & streamlining your “stuff” is a great way to start taking charge of your own financial destiny, and will likely yield any or all of the following benefits:

• Reduced clutter
• Reduced stress
• Reduces expenses
• A smile on your face
• A little extra money on the side
• A jump start to your very own Debt Free Adventure!

When is the last time you took an inventory of the items in & around your home to decide whether or not you actually need, use, or even want them?  Chances are, if you did take a home inventory, the amount of unnecessary stuff you have would blow your mind!

Normally an overabundance of useless possessions exists in direct correlation to an empty savings account & financial instability.

So What’s The Answer?

Go through every room of your home with a pen & pad of paper and ask yourself these questions:

• Do you need it? Need…not want.
• Do you use it? If you have not use the item with the last year or two, you can safely rid yourself of its burden.
• Do you believe in it? Your belief system may have changed since you originally saddled yourself with it.
• Does it do more harm than good? Making positive choices can be awesome turning points in our lives, be it financial, physical, or spiritual.
• Do you even want it anymore? Past purchases made in haste often lose their luster after just a short while.  This is a common reality and just one example of the empty promises of rampant consumerism.

Make sure you do not limit this philosophy to your possessions alone; you can also successfully apply these questions toward your habits & services used.  You may decide to sell your DVD collection, quit a bad habit, cancel your TV service, install a rain barrel or may decide to do all four!

Remember that you do not need to do everything all at once.  This exercise can be something you do over the course of one week, or something you do over the course of one year!  My wife & have been actively taking inventory of our behaviors & belongings since the beginning of 2009, and intend to do so continually for the rest of our lives.  Slowly but surely this practice of downsizing and simplifying our lives is yielding great results, both expected and unexpected.  This weekend we found several items that we either never use, no longer enjoy, and/or no longer believe to be beneficial to our lives…so we’re selling them on eBay!

What about you??

Click here to see all our past DFA Tips of the Week.

DFA is passionately dedicated to helping others break the bondage of debt using biblical principles.