Owning Less – So It Won’t Own You

Someone had made a comment on one of my previous blogs that talked about how most people wouldn’t work jobs they disliked if they didn’t own so much stuff.

I couldn’t agree with them more.

As someone who leads a pretty minimalistic life, I wanted to share a few more in depth ideas on how to own less so it won’t own you.

*Buy what you need, not what you want.

As someone who continues to build a 100% debt free life, I know this may not be easy for some people to hear.  I have to admit I’m sometimes guilty of this too – because no doubt… I have a lot of stuff I want (versus what I need).

However, at some point we have to draw the line.

For instance, I remember back about 10 years ago when I was living off of credit cards and finally decided to do something about it.  The sad thing was, I was still paying the credit cards bill – and most of the stuff I was paying for YEARS later… was already gone.

Sound familiar?  It doesn’t make sense to keep paying for things you don’t even have anymore. Does it?

So why do it?

*Travel more.

Because of the continuous problems with taking excess baggage on the airlines it almost forces you to own less…  Plus, it’s just annoying to carry all of that baggage around knowing you may not need everything you brought along.

Because of this, I don’t know anyone that travels with more than a bag or two.  This pretty much forces you to own less.

*Start questioning your purchases.

How?  Again, by using cash when you purchase anything (which I know is still foreign to some people). Yet when you do this, you start to see all the other things you could buy for $200 or $300 instead of a pair of jeans.  Then, it starts to become really hard to throw a few hundred bucks on the table.

After going to the register, one would hope you would have a bag full of stuff for a few hundred bucks.  Right?  But when you look down into your bag, seeing one pair of jeans gets you to start questioning your purchase – “What did I just do?  I could of used that money for so many other things that I needed (versus what I wanted)?”

That is when reality sets in – and helps you to understand the value of money a bit better.  It’s hard to understand the insanity of what we sometimes pay for things, until we start to consistently pay cash for it.

*Move on.

In a few weeks I’m moving out of California and most likely relocating to Seattle, WA (after visiting some family in Florida).  For me, I’m just excited to move on from here.

However, the thing I’m most excited about is that I’ll get rid of a ton of stuff I don’t need at our garage sale.  Why?  Moving forces you to look through boxes you don’t need and lose what you don’t use.

Although, I must confess… I don’t have much to sell (besides the furniture that isn’t worth moving)… its great to know that most of the things I own, will never own me.  You?

Follow Me: @jaredkessler