Are you tired of trying to keep up with finances, and ultimately a hectic, busy life?
With the stresses of life, it can be difficult to keep track of everything you need to do.
Between paying bills, thinking about your future, and trying to save money where you can – your life can feel like a complicated mess.
We’re always busy working or running around trying not miss anything but maybe it is time we stop and take a moment to reflect.
Benefits of Simplifying Your Life
The benefits can be significant after simplifying and changing your life.
- Less stress because it will give you time for yourself instead of constantly thinking about future plans and your money management leading to more relaxation.
- You’ll actually be able to save more money while worrying less
- It will give you the ability to live out the life you want
- Having a simple space and a financial life under control reduces anxiety
- More mental and financial freedom
Ways To Simplify Your Life and Save Money
There are many different ways to simplify life such as simplifying your schedule or simplifying your home, but we’ll talk about ways to simplify your life while also saving money.
Define Your Priorities
When it comes to simple living, it’s important to define your priorities. Everyone has different priorities, and they will change over time.
For example – you may prioritize spending time with your family over buying new clothes, and it would be important to remember that when considering ways to simplify your life and save money.
The first thing you should do is make a list of your priorities in order from most important to least important. Even if sometimes we don’t agree with these and we want to change them, at least we will know what exactly we need to let go of.
Pay Off Debt
Paying off debt is a huge weight off your shoulders.
Imagine living with no debt at all. Wouldn’t that feel so good?
Simplifying your financial life means paying off any debt that you have whether it is student loan debt, credit card debt or any other type of debt that you may have that is causing you stress.
Credit cards, especially, have high interest rates that take up a lot of money in your budget.
So if you get rid of your credit card debt, you will not only get rid of that stress, you will be saving money because you won’t be spending money on interest payments anymore.
Here are a few tips to help you get rid of debt:
- Decide which debt to focus on
- Choose a debt with either the highest interest amount or the least amount owed
- Pay more than the minimum
- Create a budget where you pay down debt first and live on what you have left
- Use an app to help you track your success
Learn To Be Self Sufficient
There is nothing more freeing and empowering than learning to be self sufficient.
It can take some time and practice, but once you get there, you will be able to live on your own without having to depend on the society and the world.
When hearing the words self-sufficient, people usually instantly think it means living off the radar, on your own property of many acres, raising animals, growing your own food and so on.
Although this is one way to be self-sufficient, there are many other ways you can become self sufficient right where you are.
Grow A Garden
Having some land to grow your own garden can be a big plus, but you don’t need it to get started.
For example – even if you live in the city and rent an apartment, you can still grow your own garden in your backyard or even in your home. It doesn’t matter where you live, as long as you know how to take care of yourself and you have the ability to live without relying on other people.
Learn To Cook and Meal Plan
It can be as simple or as complicated as you make it to be, but knowing how to cook and not relying on takeout all the time can be a good step towards becoming self sufficient, simplifying your lifestyle and saving a lot of money at the same time.
You don’t need a recipe for everything, and you won’t always get it right on your first try, but learning how to cook will save you so much time and money in the long run.
And it is always healthier for you to know exactly what is in your food and how it’s made.
Making meal planning part of preparing your meals will give you the freedom for other things most nights instead of cooking, will give you peace of mind that you have food when you need it instead of ordering out, and that it will cost you less for the meals altogether than what you would’ve paid just for one or two meals going out.
Learn How To Do More Around Your Home
If anything goes wrong and needs a fix, then you are able to fix it without having to worry or spend more money than necessary.
Learning simple things around the house will help you have more of a piece of mind and will be able to save you a lot of money and time in the long run.
You can learn simple repairs, such as how to fix a leaky faucet, change a battery in your smoke detector, change light bulbs and so on.
Start with these little things and then move on to learning how to fix bigger things.
Simplifying your life and living a simpler life does not mean you have to give up everything and change your life completely around.
It simply means making changes in your life that make things less stressful and easier for yourself.
Although it might sound like it’s hard to do, the truth is learning to simplify your life and saving money will be one of the best decisions you ever make.
Don’t Buy, Reuse and Recycle
We live in a world where we are constantly getting new things handed to us, whether it’s something we want or something we need.
Putting the time and money into the things you already have is a great idea, and can make it easier for you when deciding to buy something new.
You don’t need to throw out your old things when they break or become unusable, you can just reuse them in different ways.
For example – if you have an old t-shirt that you can’t wear anymore because it has a hole – cut it up and use as rags for cleaning.
Ditch the Fancy Gadgets
Do you have a gadget for everything? Does your kitchen counter look cluttered with all the latest kitchen gadgets?
Maybe you don’t need a gadget for everything.
Go through everything and pick out the ones you use regularly and sell the ones you don’t really need.
Cancel Subscriptions You Don’t Use
This is a big one that can eat up your money without you even knowing about it.
These can be all of those subscriptions that you pay for every month that you might not use at all, like magazines, newspaper subscriptions, or various online subscriptions that are easy to lose track of.
Having these subscriptions make your life easier when you actually use them and get a positive return from them.
However, when they just bill you every month but you barely use them, that’s when canceling them will simplify your life.
Don’t pay for things that you don’t need.
Do A Peaceful Activity
Having a simple life is rooted in the things we do every day.
Sometimes the activities that are fun for us are not necessarily good for our mental health.
If you do something stressful to unwind, it might make more sense to find an activity that is more peaceful and calming, like reading a favorite book or doing some yoga.
Being able to relax in between your responsibilities will help you stay sane and refreshed.
You do not have to get rid of all the fun things in your life, just focus on what will help you feel balanced and levelheaded.
If there’s something that has always brought you joy or comfort, try to spend more time doing that activity.
It might be playing an instrument or watching movies with friends, but whatever it is, don’t spend your days doing stressful things that will affect your mental health.
Knowing how to simplify your life is an important skill that everyone should have, no matter what stage of life you are in.
It doesn’t take much to learn how to live a simpler life, but it takes time and effort to implement these changes into your daily routines.
Living a simple life and learning to save money is something you can learn in just a few weeks, but it is up to you to put your knowledge into action.
Stay Off Of TV and Social Media
Staying Off of TV and Social Media is another simple step that you can take to save money and simplify your life.
It’s easy to get lost in the TV and Social Media and end up spending hours per day watching shows or spending all your time watching TikTok videos.
All of that just takes up your time without any valuable return.
In fact, looking at all the advertisements and things other people have, can make us spend even more money than we were initially planning on.
Say No – Or Yes
Sometimes we just have to say no to things in life that take up too much time and don’t bring any positive reward.
If there are things or people in your life that you know and feel are just draining your time, energy, and overwhelming you with more things than you can handle, then it is time to learn how to say no to them.
If the idea of saying no to people or things feels difficult, then it might benefit you to sit down and analyze how much more simple your life could be if you cut some things out.
On the other hand, think about what you truly want from your life. Are there things you should be saying yes to more?
Many people overwork themselves to the point where they don’t say yes to things that will bring them joy. If that sounds like you, maybe it is time to consider how to say yes more and have a more balanced life filled with the things you enjoy.
Get Organized
A messy space can make it hard to focus and can cause stress and anxiety.
Organizing your space is a great way to simplify your life and reduce the clutter.
An organized space will help you feel less overwhelmed and more prepared to take on your responsibilities.
You don’t have to set aside a whole day or weekend to get your space in order.
Doing this will help you keep your life structured and balanced, so try to spend a little time every day making sure your living space is clean and organized.
You can start by throwing away clutter that you don’t need, organizing bookshelves, closets, and drawers, and doing a full sweep of your room to make sure nothing is out of place.
Just doing these simple things will make a huge difference.
Declutter
The act of decluttering is supposed to make you feel calm and more in control, but it can be stressful for some people.
While getting rid of clutter is a great way to make your life simpler and reduce the amount of stress you feel, it can be overwhelming.
If you try to do it all at once, you might get overwhelmed and your space will just end up cluttered again.
Try to set aside a few hours or a full day to declutter your space.
You don’t have to throw everything away, but look at each item and ask yourself if you need it and if you use it.
If you don’t need it and haven’t used in a long time, get rid of it.
How to Declutter:
It is sometimes hard to get rid of things that we have. To help you get started with decluttering here are some tips:
- Start with one place at a time
- Go through it once and see what you are able to let go of
- Go through the same place again and truly think what you have not used in the previous year, what you will not really need, and what doesn’t have significant sentimental value, then get rid of those things accordingly
- Repeat the process in the section of your home
- Sell the things that you have cleaned out and have decided not to keep
Downsize
Sometimes we get carried away buying the bigger house, or the nicest car, but do we really need it?
Perhaps downsizing would be the best option to not only save money, but have a more simplified life.
You don’t have to downsize your lifestyle completely, but you can consider selling some of those unnecessary items.
You might even discover that the process of downsizing can be quite liberating.
It might feel like you are giving up your comfortable life, but it is actually just an illusion created by your possessions.
In fact, learning how to simplify your life by downsizing can really help you get rid of the things that are causing more stress than pleasure.
Automate your payments
With so many things going on in our lives, we cannot always keep track of our finances and make sure we pay all of our bills on time.
If you do not want to forget about a bill or have a late fee when you miss a payment, it’s a good idea to automate your payments.
To start off, go through all of your accounts to make sure you know all of the bills you need to pay.
List them and set up a time for each one so they all come out on the same day.
If you do this, it will be harder to forget about a payment and easier for you to keep track of.
Take a weekend to go through all of your bills and payments and set up an automated system so you never miss a payment and don’t have to worry about late fees.
Don’t Try To Keep Up With Everyone Else
This is one of those big things that keep us from simplifying our lives.
We feel like we need to keep up with everyone else, so when they get a new iPhone or a bigger house, we feel like we need to get one too.
This is the easiest way to go broke and drive yourself into debt.
We cannot possibly keep up with everyone else, but we can be happy with what we have.
Don’t try to compare yourself to other people and don’t try to keep up with what they have.
Live a simpler life and be happy with all that you have.
Even if it does not seem like much right now, but when you live in the moment and focus on what you have , rather than what you don’t have , it will be a lot easier for you to live a less complicated life.
Create A Budget System
A budget seems really hard sometimes to stick to, but it doesn’t have to be so hard.
A way to overcome this is to create a budget system that makes it more automated and easier to keep a budget in place.
So what are some ways you can automate your budget?
Every time you get paid, divide your income into certain areas. That can be individual bank accounts or an envelope system. That way your money is immediately divided and organized so it makes it easier for you to see how much money you have.
For example, 50% of your income could go to savings, 25% could go towards your bills and the other 25% can be divided into envelopes for groceries, dining out, entertainment
Read More: How to Create a Budget System
Decide What Ultimately Makes You Happy
There is no other reason to simplify life than to make yourself happier.
After all, that is what we are working towards.
Think about what you love to do and spend more of your time doing those things for the sake of your sanity.
If you are unhappy, it will be harder to save money and spend your time doing things that truly matter to you.
So figure out what makes you happy, whether it’s going on a hike or spending time with your family.
Then, set up a schedule where you can do the things that make you happy.
If it’s hiking, take a day off of work and go enjoy nature for an hour or two and recharge.
If you enjoy spending time with family, set up a weekly dinner where everyone can come together to chat about their lives and enjoy each other’s company.
By simplifying your life, you’ll be able to focus on what truly matters and find yourself happier in the process.