do it yourself FREEDOM

Impacts: Mind, Money, Community, Time

“It is neither wealth nor splendor; but tranquility and occupation which give you happiness” – Thomas Jefferson

This is different from want less. Consume less is more about changing your actual behavior and I’m going to take a slightly different angle on this topic from the majority that suggest that consumerism is a bad idea.

Most people tend to focus on the environmental, economical, and human impacts as the the primary reasons that consuming less makes more sense. In fact I personally agree with those strong arguments but I think there might be stronger argument that could help more people adopt an anti-consumerism point of view.

You see being an active consumer costs a lot of money and for money to be spent it must be earned or borrowed. Earning and borrowing money usually means that more of your time must be spent making money which in turn limits your choices. Compounded on top of that is the simple fact that many people tend to spend up to and beyond their income, no matter their income level. So while keeping up with the Joneses might be status quo and virtually second nature to many of us these days it’s a behavior that also tends to land us in trouble.

For example, imagine yourself right now with absolutely no debt and a small but livable steady source of income that requires little or no effort or time. How would that make you feel? Would you keep your day job? Lets say you decide that you’d rather quit your day job and enjoy your new found free time. What would you do? Would you start a little business? Would you travel? Would you write a book? What would you do?

Now let me ask you a harder question. If you knew for a fact that you could have that life in the next few years, what would it be worth to you? What is that kind of freedom worth to you?

I’ve been asking myself that question for over a year now. I’ve realized that there are literally thousands of ways of generating alternative income streams that don’t involve get rich schemes. They all take time to develop and not all of them work out but with persistance it is absolutely an achievable goal.

If I tried to replace my current income that would be very difficult and take a long time. But If I worked it from both ends by adding a little side income and reducing my spending I’d get their quicker. The more I add and the more I take away the faster I move toward my goal.

Choosing to consume less, like choosing to make more money, is simply a choice and hard work. The hardest thing to overcome is the baggage in our own heads. When many of us were young and didn’t have things we assumed that things would make me happy. As we get older we begin to realize that it’s not the things we aquire but people and time we make for ourselves that makes us truly rich.

Take Action

• Watch The Story of Stuff.
• Buy what you need.
• Buy more value.
• Avoid buying things that don’t help you achieve your goals.
• Look for free stuff online first; you’ll be amazed what people give away. See craigslist.org and freecycle.org.
• Pay with cash or debit and avoid using credit cards.
• As you carry things you’ve bought into your home consider their physical weight. When you take out the trash consider the weight again. Ask yourself if you’re just throwing away the things you buy?
• Avoid packaging. Reward companies that use reusable packaging or  little packaging by buying their products. Recyclable packaging is better than non-recyclable but it’s still added to the cost of the product and you paid for it.