Here are just a few benefits simplifying your lifestyle gives you:
- You’ll spend more time with family. Without expensive distractions to, well, distract you, you might find yourself going on hikes or bike rides, playing board games at home, or volunteering at the local food pantry or animal shelter together.
- You’ll set the right example for your kids. You can tell kids all day not to be materialistic, to avoid debt, to conserve and recycle, to save for the future—but if you don’t practice it all your preaching is meaningless. We believe what we live every day.
- You’ll find a new sense of peace. Ask anyone who has started controlling their money rather than letting it control them: Instead of feeling deprived, you feel good. Without the low-grade hum of anxiety that comes with overspending, you’ll feel more available for what really matters.
- You’ll get more mindful and grateful. Consumerism creates a desire for more, more, more. In the quest for what we can buy and where we can go tomorrow, we miss out on the present. Refocusing allows us to start noticing sunsets, birds at the feeder, or the simple pleasures of baking cookies or throwing a football with our kids.
- You’ll get to know your community. When we’re not spending thousands on big vacation getaways (in the post-COVID future of course!) we’re more likely to explore local parks, libraries, and other close-to-home attractions.
So how to make it happen? First, you’ll need an adjustment of your priorities and a major mind shift. But the rewards are totally worth it.
