LESSON 36 : DECLUTTERING HOME AND SELF

Fiology thanks Chris and Jaime Durheim of Keep Thrifty for shaping this lesson.

Wait, I thought these lessons were about financial independence. Why are we talking about decluttering?

Here’s a not-so-little secret about financial independence that you won’t find on most FI sites: financial independence isn’t really about money.

Financial independence is about designing a lifestyle where you can spend as much of your time and energy as possible on the things that are truly important to you.

But for you to do that, you have to actually know what’s important to you. Enter decluttering.

Decluttering is, at its core, removing the things in your life that don’t matter so you can focus on the things that really do.

Decluttering is a powerful tool and takes many forms:

• Removing unused items. You’ll spend less money and time maintaining them and find your mind more free to focus on other things. You’ll also have increased flexibility on where you can live and travel.
• Eliminating mindless activities. This gives you more time, a resource even more precious than money. As an example, giving up an hour of TV a night can give you the time to start a side hustle, improve your job skills, or invest in your relationships.
• Ending negative relationships. helps you be around people that bring out the best in you – helping support you in the life you’re striving for.
• Discarding guilt and worry. Dwelling on the past and obsessing about the future prevent you from enjoying the present.

Decluttering as a whole will provide you with more time, more focus, and more money to achieve your dreams and goals. Best of all, the effects of decluttering are near-instant. You don’t have to wait for a bank account to hit a certain number to live a better life. Removing the things that don’t bring value today can make an immediate impact.

Read:  How to Become Twice as Happy with Half as Much  by Chris Durheim of keepthrifty.com

Read:  The 10 Most Important Things to Simplify in Your Life  by Joshua Becker of becomingminimalist.com

Watch:  How Minimalism Can Improve Your Financial Situation  by MJ Gordon of mj-gordon.com on YouTube.

Read:  A Simple Guide on how to Purge Your Whole House  by Amanda of hellobrownlow.com

View:  30 DAYS TO MINIMALISM » + printable guide  by Sadia of pickuplimes.com on YouTube

Explore:  The Minimalists Podcast  by Ryan Nicodemus and Joshua Fields Millburn of theminimalists.com

Read:  21 Surprising Statistics That Reveal How Much Stuff We Actually Own  by Joshua Becker of becomingminimalist.com

Take Action:

Check out The Ultimate Guide to Decluttering your Home by Sarah Bowen of spruce.co.uk and consider giving the 30 Day Declutter Challenge a try.

or…

Declutter your stuff by playing “The Minimalism Game”

Jim Rohn once said “You’re the average of the five people you spend the most time with”. Write down the five people you spend the most time with and assess whether each of those is helping you become a better version of yourself.

Perform a time audit to see why you never feel like you have enough time to do everything

Make a list of all the subscription services you pay for. For each, ask whether you’re actually using it or whether you could do without.

Additional Resources:

Take Action:  Project 333  (Minimalist Clothing Challenge) from Courtney Carver of bemorewithless.com

Read:  Simple Living Manifesto  by Leo Babuta of zenhabits.net

Read:  Getting Rid of Just-In-Case Items: 20 Dollars, 20 Minutes  by Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus of theminimalists.com

Quote: “Real wealth, security, and contentment come not from the trinkets we amass but from how we spend the one life we’ve been given.” – The Minimalists