Happy Simple Mom

Minimalism and simple living have so many benefits.

Living a simpler life, decluttering your home, and embracing experiences over things can lower your anxiety, give you more free time, and generally help you live a more fulfilling life.

Minimalism can also save you a lot of money, even if you are not a “frugal minimalist”. It is just one of the many unexpected benefits of minimalist living.

This year marks my 4 year anniversary of quitting my job!!!!! It has been the most amazing, penny-pinching, fun experience for our young family so far!

Giving up over half of our income was not easy, but I attribute much of our success to minimalism and simpler living.

Related Post: Want to Can’t Quit Your Job?

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Here are 10 ways minimalism can save you money:

1 – Buy only clothes you need

With minimalism, you stop buying clothes solely because they are on sale, cute, or because you are bored with the 50 outfits already in your closet.

You can create your own version of a capsule wardrobe, and then wear those clothes until you NEED something else.

I usually buy higher quality clothes, knowing I need an item to last for a long time. Ultimately, I get more for my money, as I don’t have to buy clothes as often.

Another option is to try a no shopping challenge.

Do you know how many clothes end up in landfills each year? The US sends billions of pounds of textile waste to landfills every year! That’s crazy.

If you aren’t motivated by the money savings of buying fewer clothes, then be motivated by the environmental impact.

Related post: How to Declutter Your Closet Fast

Colorful clothes hanging in a decluttered closet.

2 – You will spend less money on food because of minimalism

Minimalism has taught us not to waste. Create a minimalist pantry, and try really hard to use the food you have on hand before going out and buying more.

Sometimes our fridge looks empty and sad, but really it is because we try hard to only buy what we need.

This practice creates huge food savings!

We also eat out a lot less because we have a plan for our food in our home. I’m a HUGE fan of the meal planning service, eMeals. It saves me money and time with my meal planning (and only costs $5/month).

Emeals allows me to cater the meal plans to our dietary needs, allows us to pick which meals we want to eat that week, and creates a shopping list for me. I can’t say enough good things about it!

If you are interested in eMeals, you can get a free 14-day trial. If you buy a plan for the entire year, it only costs you $5/month!

I save way more than $5/month in time spent meal planning and impulse buys. Totally worth it, and you can even switch meal plans depending on your dietary needs that week, month, etc. For example, when we have low carb folks come to town, we switch to the Paleo meal plan.

food prepared with a meal plan for cooking

3 – Don’t buy purses (or other accessories) for fun

I don’t know why I gave this its own category. Probably because I see so many women who love purses but have more than they really need. It seems like such a waste of money.

I have two purses. One for everyday use and one for formals or parties. I guess I’m not cool in the purse world. 🤷‍♀️

The same goes for other accessories. Scarves, shoes, wallets, jewelry, and other fun items can be a blast to own, but do you really need them?

If you are looking to save some money, try going with what you already own, using them up for their useful life first!

4 – Don’t buy things just because they are on sale or shop for fun

Yeah, you know the clearance end caps at Target? I avoid those now. They used to be my favorite areas to shop while aimlessly walking around Target with a Starbucks in hand.

Buy things you need, not things that are simply a good deal.

If you like to shop for fun, try doing a no-spend weekend at home. Here is a list of activities you can do instead of shopping.

Did you know that it’s not a good deal if you don’t need it?

5 – Buy practical, multi-purpose items

Minimalism taught me to buy multi-purpose items and to stay away from single-use items.

I love a good kitchen gadget, but a melon-baller doesn’t have that many purposes!

Look for items that serve you in multiple ways. This concept applies to kitchen items, shoes, clothes, toys, etc.

6 – Limit the number of toys you buy your kids

My kids get toys twice a year, Christmas and birthdays. They play outside…a lot.

Minimalism doesn’t mean your kids have to go without toys, but there are a ton of benefits to kids having fewer toys. Minimalism taught us this, and it saves us money.

Something I’ve realized with my kids and my reader’s kids is they seem to be happier and much more creative when they don’t have to step over piles of toys in their rooms.

7 – Be a cord cutter

If you still pay for cable, try cutting the cord! It was scary at first, but we quickly adapted, and we saved a whole bunch of money!

Just because you cut the cord to cable, it doesn’t mean you have to give up TV entirely.

Research and try one or two streaming services. One or two streaming services combined are still usually cheaper than cable.

Cutting the cord also allows our kids to watch TV without ads, when they actually watch TV. I like them not having that strong marketing influence!

Interestingly enough, when you don’t have 1000 channels to watch, you also watch a whole lot less TV!

Related post: How to Limit Screen Time for Kids (Our kids watch 4 hours or less per week.)

Cut cable and download Netflix or Hulu instead

8 – Consolidate your hobbies

Into knitting, scrapbooking, sewing, AND bullet journaling…with all the accessories?

Think about how often you do your favorite hobbies.

Where do you spend most of your time? Is it evenly distributed or does one hobby get the majority of your time, even though your money is spent across all categories?

I no longer try to sew, scrapbook, knit, crochet, and do all the other things that bring me joy by creating. This doesn’t mean I am no longer creative now that I am a minimalist.

Instead, I try to focus all my efforts on one or two hobbies. If I bore of them, I can use up the materials, finish my projects and then move on to the next hobby.

Consolidate your hobbies. Sewing room decluttered.

9 – Buy high quality items

Yes, buying higher quality items will save you money.

Think about the cheap clothes you got on the clearance rack. How long did they last?

Instead of grabbing every good deal, do your research and commit to higher quality items that will last you for years to come.

For example, my kids wanted a cheap, character backpack when it was time to start school. Instead, we took them to a higher-quality store and presented them with choices for backpacks that have lifetime guarantees.

No new backpack every year in our house. The kids are OK with it.

They have nice backpacks not falling apart before the end of the year. They are also learning the value of buying higher quality goods.

10 – Embrace reusing and re-purposing items

Minimalism taught me to be creative, especially if I don’t want to go out and buy more stuff. This practice saves us a ton of money.

We try not to have duplicates in our house, and we try to buy items that have more than one purpose.

Minimalism saves you money

Minimalism and simple living made me a happier person. My home allows me to breathe again and feel relaxed. Yet, minimalism also saves us money every single day.

Minimalism and the money it saves us is the reason we can enjoy the life we live now. I wouldn’t have it any other way.

How has minimalism saved you money? I would love to hear from you!

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