Minimalist Archives - Page 3 of 7 - Making Sense Of Cents

Why Would A Person Choose To Live A Frugal Life?

Last Updated: May 1, 2018 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 71 Comments

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.

For some reason, there is a myth out there that living a frugal life means you are living a boring life. Some even believe that if you are frugal then you are a bad parent, a bad person, and a bad friend.

If you don’t believe that, I recommend you read the comments on the next frugal living-related article on a major website such as Forbes, YahooFinance, or something similar. One thing that will be in common with most of the comments is the negativeness from many of the commenters.

I’ve even overheard conversations myself where people think I’m missing out on life because they assume that all frugal people just sit at home all day and do nothing with their lives.

That is FAR from the truth. I know many who are taking part in frugal living and I think they are some of the best 🙂

Sadly, many aren’t interested in frugal living because they believe the myth above.

There are many reasons to live a frugal life, though. Continue reading below to see the reasons for why many choose to take part in frugal living. [Read more…]

Should We Get Rid Of A Car And Just Have One?

Last Updated: November 21, 2017 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 114 Comments

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.

We currently have two cars, but have been seriously thinking about sharing a car and downsizing to just one. I hardly ever drive, and I can count the amount of times I have driven in 2015 on one hand.

Due to this, we have been thinking about selling one of our cars and becoming a one car family.

There are many reasons for why we are thinking about sharing a car, and it’s not just all about money.

Yes, the money is just being wasted on the second car since we most likely do not need it, but it’s also a waste of time and space. I am always trying to save time in my life by eliminating time wasters, so it makes sense that the next thing we are currently evaluating is our car habit.

Below are some of the reasons for why we are and are not thinking about becoming a one car family. Some of the below can probably be adapted to fit your situation as well if you are thinking about sharing a car. [Read more…]

Everything You Need To Know About Selling Your Stuff For Cash

Last Updated: January 14, 2021 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 71 Comments

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.

I’m sure everyone has extra things laying around their home that they do not need. If you are trying to pay off debt or reach some sort of financial goal, I highly recommend you read today’s post so that you can learn how to make quick money by learning how to sell your stuff.

With this past move, I’ve finally realized that I have too much extra stuff around our house.

As we were going around our house to determine what we should keep and get rid of, I realized that I didn’t need most of my belongings.

We sold some stuff, we donated a LOT, and we threw away a full rented dumpster full of garbage away.

In the end, I believe we have around half as much stuff (or even less) than what we did just one month ago.

The change is drastic, and it’s nice knowing that what we have now is just what we need. It doesn’t take a lifetime to find what we need anymore, we now know that things aren’t slowly rusting away and/or breaking from not being used for years, and more.

What we have left are the things that truly matter to us now. [Read more…]

My Decluttering Mission – I’m a Closet Slob

Last Updated: May 1, 2018 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 74 Comments

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.

My closet is a disaster zone.

That is why one of my goals for January of 2015 is to declutter my closet.

It is a scary thing to see right now. Currently, I slam the door shut whenever Wes is about to walk past my closet, as I know he will be absolutely horrified if he were to take a look into my closet. In case you are wondering, my closet is not in our bedroom, it’s in the hallway as our house has a weird large closet in the middle of the house.

I want to declutter my closet for many reasons.

One, we plan on putting our home on the market in a couple of months, and no sane home buyer is going to walk into my closet and want to buy this house.

Two, when we eventually do move, I don’t want to deal with this mess and be forced to bring it all with us. Instead, I want to have the least amount of things possible in order to make the move a little easier.

Below are some of the things I plan on doing in order to successfully declutter my closet. If you are wanting to learn how to declutter your closet as well, I recommend you read the rest of this post and take part in my decluttering challenge! [Read more…]

How I Manage My Finances So I Can Save Time and Worry Less

Last Updated: August 8, 2022 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 98 Comments

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.

If you are a new reader, please check out my monthly online income reports where I show you how I make over $30,000 a month while traveling at the same time.

Between managing retirement, paying bills, handling credit cards, saving for things in life you want and more, managing your financial life can get difficult.

Due to this, I am often looking for ways to make managing my financial life easier since at times handling everything can seem so hectic and stressful.

Making everything simpler and easier means that I can have more time to spend on other areas of my life, and also worry less about what I may be forgetting.

This is why I am creating this article. I believe that if you can learn how to manage your finances effectively as well, you can save a ton of time, have less stress, and focus on the things you truly want to in life.

Managing your finances does not have to be hard, and I want to show everyone that. Too many people give up and let their finances get out of order, when it really does not have to be that hard.

Below is how I manage my finances easily so I can save time and worry less. [Read more…]

It’s Your Money, Who Am I To Judge?

Last Updated: May 1, 2018 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 88 Comments

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.

Earlier this month, I came across the article It’s my money and I’ll spend it how I want to. As soon as I was done reading it, I knew I had to do a follow up to it.

I’m in agreement with the author – I don’t care what others spend their money on, and I wish others didn’t care about what I spend my money on.

As long as you can afford whatever you are buying (I’m assuming you don’t have $200,000 in credit card debt and are not still buying useless garbage – but, wait, is that judging right there? Yes, I guess I just judged), who cares (as long as it’s not illegal of course)?

People are usually rather quick to judge another person. I’m not going to lie – I have judged others too quickly and have regretted it many times in the past. Also, as a personal finance blogger, I have seen a lot of financial mistakes and sometimes it’s hard not to judge. Sometimes the answer is so clearly there but how do you tell a person? [Read more…]

Do You Really Need That MASSIVE House?

Last Updated: May 1, 2018 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 63 Comments

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.

A few weeks ago I published the article Would You Move To A Completely New Place? In it I mentioned that we have put the home-buying process on hold, and we plan on staying in our current house for at least a few more years.

We have put it on hold because we don’t know where we want to live. However, that doesn’t mean that we stopped looking at houses.

I am definitely a crazy person and I probably look at houses on Realtor.com and Zillow at least once a week.

It’s a habit and an obsession…

To backtrack: We bought our current house when we were 20. We weren’t making a lot of money back then, but the market was great for buyers and we needed a place to live, so we decided to buy (we, of course, thought about other things as well). We like our home and it will do for the next few years, but I also don’t see it as our forever home. [Read more…]