You've probably heard about how freeing a minimalist lifestyle can be. I mean who hasn't met a new minimalist who can't stop talking about this amazing book you gotta read about tidying up. There's a growing trend, especially among millennials, to ditch the hoarding habits of the past and live a simpler life.
As the Family Finance Advisor at PC Financial, I've always promoted living a lifestyle that helps you save money. That's why I have embraced the minimalist trend, and I have to say I never knew how much free time I had until I got rid of my old stuff and how much money I would save by living with less. I've far from perfected this trend, but I'm learning minimalism is a journey and a lifelong commitment.
Here are few ways to get started.
Sell your stuff.
One of the easiest ways to put money in your pocket is to sell things you do not use. Start with all the items you have been storing in hopes to use one day. Sell these items online or on a social media sell site. The next step is to find the items that still have value, but you're no longer using. This could be a coffee maker you haven't turned on for a year or toys your kids haven't played with in months.
Make it automatic
Set up automatic payments with your credit card. I would recommend using a credit card that has rewards. By using a rewards card and setting up automatic payments, it helps ensure your bills are always paid on time and you also earn points on your purchases made with the card. Use this time to also set up automatic savings into a high interest account.
Go high tech
Technology is making it easy for us to have more with less. For example, we can now store thousands of songs on our mobile devices rather than keeping five towers of CDs. Buy an online reader for your books, download software that lets you store images of your kid's art and even old pictures. This will free up valuable shelf-space and still allow you to see all your cherished items whenever you need.
Purge your paper
We tend to file away every piece of paper that comes into our mailbox. This can be a huge waste of time and space. Open up those filing cabinets and shred old bills that you no longer need. If your bills are available online, for example I can see all my PC Financial World Elite MasterCard statements that way, you can easily see your statements by logging into your account.
We've all heard the saying "time is money." Whether you're a millennial or not, living as a minimalist is a smart way to live.
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