how minimalism saves money

Financial Minimalism – How Minimalism Saves Money

Minimalism saves you money because it discourages you from buying clutter. If you don’t buy clutter, you focus on the quality of goods, which means they last longer. Moreover, you can save money on rent because you need less space and you pay off debt, which enables you to start a solid savings account.

Minimalism is known to slowly dismantle your attachment to unnecessary things and set you free both physically and mentally. Being a minimalist has a lot of benefits, many of which we’ve already discussed in previous articles, however, one of the most rewarding aspects of minimalism is the positive impact it has on your bank account.

Are you wondering Minimalism can actually improve your financial health? If yes, how?

How Minimalism Saves Money

Minimalism is the answer to those who want to stop living paycheck to paycheck and relying heavily on credit cards to support an extravagant lifestyle, many times grounded on shopping addictions. 

Here’s how Minimalism saves you money:

  1. Changing mindset
  2. Buying quality
  3. Less space, less rent money
  4. Maintenance costs 
  5. Pay off debt faster

Changing Mindset

The first and most important thing to address is the change of mindset because it’s how your new perspective on your finances comes to be.

Minimalism inspires you to focus on what’s important to you. Once you become aware of what’s truly valuable, your buying and spending habits change automatically. You’ll stop worrying about issues related to buying stuff (should I buy another pair of expensive pants or a new expensive shirt?) and focus more on only think about what you need, not what you want, while caring more deeply about the people you love and the experiences you have.

The minimalist mindset helps you distinguish what’s vital in your life from what’s excessive. As a result, you’ll be able to identify and eliminate spending that doesn’t support your values. Just try to follow our minimalist checklist here.

It’s relevant to mention that Minimalism isn’t a prohibition on spending money to buy things you want. The minimalist lifestyle simply helps you see how more often than not the things you want aren’t actually the things you need because they don’t add value to your life. 

Buying Quality

how minimalism saves money
Photo by Jesus Kiteque 

Minimalist living helps you view spending from a different perspective. Rather than getting the best deal today, it’s about finding the product that meets your needs and adds the most value to your life. More often than not, this quality over quantity mindset saves you money in the long run.

Less space, less rent money 

how minimalism saves money
“Hotel Room” by Rick Bogacz

Depending on the type of Minimalism one embraces, minimalists go about their lives with few to almost no objects. Even if you’re a person who finds value in several objects, you still won’t be surrounded by clutter because you’ll be buying mindfully, and thus keeping and caring for what you buy. 

Fewer belongings mean less space needed in your house. If you happen to live in a large house that is mostly occupied by clutter, you’re free to occupy a smaller house and still have plenty of space.

Moreover, you won’t find yourself in need of renting a storage unit to store stuff that doesn’t bring you any joy but of which you don’t want to get rid of “because it might be useful someday”.

Maintenance Costs

how minimalism saves money
“Salt Workers” by Berna Başarır

This works in two ways. Firstly, if you only own things that add value or joy to your life, it’s certain that you’ll take better care of them. Consequently, they will last longer.

Secondly, buy owning fewer things, there aren’t many objects in need of maintenance.

Being a minimalist, as a synonym of owning less stuff, is beneficial here because you won’t be spending much money on maintenance or replacement of goods.

Pay off debt faster

how minimalism saves money
“Errant Coin” by David R. Purnell

Being in debt is an unfortunate situation that can cause a lot of stress at times. Be it school debt, medical debt or any other type, the truth is that there are very few to no people to help but yourself. Minimalism can help you get control of debt and be able to finally start a solid savings account or enjoy the freed money. 

Once you realize you have been led to believe, by the misleading advertisement machine, that the only way to achieve happiness is to buy things, you’ll stop spending money on clutter. The result of this realization is more money in your bank account. You can take all the money saved due to your minimalist lifestyle and use it to pay off your debt.

Paying down your debt sooner allows you to also save on interest. You have less stress and greater freedom with your money.

Final notes

These are the most relevant ways in which Minimalism helps you in saving money. As you can see, Minimalism helps you with not only your space and your mind but also your wallet!

Inês Morais

Inês Morais is a content writer, proofreader, and a literary criticist. She studied linguistics, literature, and majored in North-American Studies. Inês is a lover of words and of the minimalist lifestyle.

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