Money And My Own Version Of Minimalism
What I watched: 5 Small Ways To Buy Happiness | Minimalism & Spending Money by Gabe Bult. Posted September 6, 2021.
Depending on who you ask, minimalism is either a smart way to navigate the world or feel-good snake oil being peddled to the masses. Because I don’t typically believe in discounting other people’s opinions, both articles to which I linked in this paragraph make excellent points as do many of the plethora of books, articles, and videos on the subject.
As with most things in life though, I rarely embrace anything in its entirety, and I don’t do so with minimalism. One of the ways I differentiate myself in this regard is verbiage. Rarely do I refer to myself as a minimalist. Usually, I instead say I’m someone who embraces simplicity. People seem to accept more readily “consider making your life simpler” than they do “consider becoming a minimalist.” Words matter. Words can be loaded with subtext. Especially words that are tossed around amid the rise of a popular movement such as minimalism.
Over time I’ve cobbled together a worldview that takes what I consider the best of various philosophies and strategies and created my own hybrid. I’ve done this with minimalism. Generally, I like what minimalism has to say. It’s anti-consumerism and I think that’s a great message. It runs counter to the keeping up with the Joneses mindset so many fall prey to as the result of pervasive marketing and advertising. It focuses more on people and experiences versus stuff, and I like that. Overall, I’m pretty much on board with most of minimalism.
Have I channeled Marie Kondo and tossed out everything that doesn’t bring me joy? No. Although I do think that perspective has merit. Have I tried to live with just 100 things? No. But I try to err on the side of reducing stuff and clutter and not adding to it. Admittedly, I struggle with a lack of clutter. I tell friends that even at 67 years of age I still live like a college student (no disrespect to college students) and that’s mostly true. But I’m working on it. Life is a journey, not a destination.
I stumbled on Gabe Bult’s channel accidentally. Algorithms being what they are, the video that I watched was simply one of many suggested to me based on my past viewing habits. It’s short (I like short videos) and I appreciated what Bult has to say about ways we can use money to buy happiness.
I’m fully aware of the well documented stance that money does not usually buy happiness including among the wealthy, at least not past the level of wealth where we’re comfortably housed and fed and can enjoy a few of the nice things of life. There are counter views to their being a plateau of income beyond which money makes us happier, but I’m going to stick with the notion that beyond certain comforts money isn’t of much use for making us happier. We could quibble about what that wealth threshold might be.
This post isn’t meant to convince you to live a Spartan lifestyle or to toss all your worldly possessions. My hope is that you’ll instead consider that perhaps some aspects of minimalism (or simplicity, or whatever you want to call it) have value and might help you live a happier life too. Specifically, in how we use our money.
Bult offers his viewers five things for which he feels money does indeed buy happiness and I agree with all five.
Books/Education
I left college during my third semester to pursue a career in dance (never regretted doing that). Luckily, my father instilled in me from a young age a love of books and the education they held between their covers. In Getting More From Nonfiction Books I recounted the value books hold in my life.
People have asked me if there is any one thing that has served me best throughout my life above all else and I always say my love of reading books. Books have transformed me as a person. Books are responsible for my successful career paths. Books are my companions late at night when the world goes away except for the wise words or enthralling story on the page.
It’s true. I can’t imagine a life without books. Money spent on a book or the travel fare to get to and from a library is never misspent. Same goes for any worthwhile education, although I find the escalation of higher education costs to be tantamount to criminal.
These days I rarely buy anything other than Kindle versions of books because the ease of transporting hundreds of books in the palm of my hand outweighs the love I have for books in their physical form. Perhaps if that huge solar flare manifests someday and wipes out the world’s electronics and data, I’ll regret that decision. Time will tell. For now, convenience and reclaimed shelf space win.
Bult and I agree that books are always a good way to spend your money. And not just nonfiction books but fiction as well. We learn a great deal about life, people, and ourselves through fictional stories.
Healthy Food/Gym
Again, I agree with Bult. When possible, buying healthier versions of food will make you happier in the long run. Fewer health problems. More energy. Younger and more vibrant appearance. Healthy food helps with all of these.
I know poverty can drive people to unhealthy foods and I can’t begin to imagine what that’s like. Even in my lean student and dancer days when I didn’t have much money, I was still able to eat reasonably well.
When you have the financial means to do so, buying healthy food is a smart short- and long-term choice for health and ultimately happiness.
I belonged to a gym from a young age (my dad purchased a sports gym membership for me starting at age eight) until a year and a half ago. During the pandemic I began to exercise at home. Some self-reflection also made me realize that at my age I no longer yearned for the highly muscled body I strived for over decades with limited success.
Nowadays I’m happy doing my brisk walks, a few calisthenics, and some occasional yoga. I also bought a great elastic band system to enable resistance training that’s more difficult to attain with just calisthenics. It works for me. But I know pumping iron in a gym or having the gym environment as motivation helps many to stay in shape. I’m a big believer in doing what works and if a gym works for someone, awesome. I’d rather see someone going to a gym than being a nonstop couch potato.
Money spent on health and fitness is a good investment and will indeed make you happier overall.
Experiences
As the only child of an upper middle-class father, I wanted for nothing. Toys surrounded the annual Christmas tree. If there was something I wanted, my dad almost always bought it for me. On my 16th birthday I got a car. I was lucky. Do I recall owning that stuff fondly? Somewhat. I enjoyed it. But do those memories of stuff rise above some of the great experiences I had during that time? No.
When I left college I studied dance intensely, spending quite a bit of money in the process. I remember every class filled with so much joy that I’d do it again in a heartbeat.
My first plane trip as an adult was to Key West, Florida. Coming from a wintery Chicago January, the warm weather and laid-back island vibe was something that I remember to this day. I even remember details like the ice cream shop my partner and I went into before heading to the water to watch the sunset.
Over the years I’ve spent money on experiences. Travel. Theater. Museums. Restaurants. Or simply taking a friend out for coffee. I know that many years from now (I hope) when I’m on my deathbed it’s the experiences I’ll remember, not the cars I drove or the fancy clothes I bought.
Buying Back Time
I couldn’t agree with Bult more on this one while at the same time I know I’ve violated this wisdom often. I had a house cleaner when I was 18 years old and yet don’t have one today despite making far more money now than I did then. That’s not smart. I hate doing housework (thus why my home is usually messy). Same goes for doing laundry. I could list a bunch of tasks I don’t enjoy yet I do them when I could just as easily afford to pay someone to do them for me and reclaim the lost time.
Time is one of the things in life we all only have so much of, and we waste it at our peril. For me, doing mundane tasks like housecleaning and laundry is drudgery, but I bought into some bizarre notion somewhere along the way that I should take pride in the notion that doing such things myself was more virtuous. I’m not sure where I picked up such thinking, but I’m plodding my way toward extracting myself from it. You can be sure that in my next home I’ll have a weekly housecleaner and my laundry done and folded by someone else. Even if I live on a limited income in the future, I will likely forego a night or two at a fancy restaurant for the liberation of not doing those things.
Giving To Help Others
Helping others is always a reward unto itself. Whether you give $20 to a worthwhile charity, gift a friend a subscription that makes their life a bit easier, or volunteer your time to improve your community, giving feels good. It makes you happier.
I don’t think the amount of money you give matters either. Some of us can only give $5 per month to a charity while others can give $1000. I contend the satisfaction and happiness that result is the same.
Causes and political support count too in my mind. Whether I’m giving money to an environmental group battling climate change or a campaign donation to a candidate I know upholds my values and social conscience, it’s money well spent because it’s going toward what I consider doing good for people and society. And that makes me happy.
Happy Spending
However you end up spending your money, whether you do so while living a simpler, minimalist lifestyle or not, I hope you’ll err on the side of using your financial resources to improve yourself, create stellar experiences, and help others. I think you’ll be happier for it.
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