Simple finances

To survive in today's society we need to be able to utilize our money. Now although it seems like there is never enough, there are ways to make the whole song and dance much easier and still FREE!  (Because I'm minimal AND cheap!)

When I was young everything revolved around the bank. This magical place of business that acts like a giant piggy bank. It didn't make much sense to me back then to give them my money when I could just hide it in my room. It was simple. It was easy. 

Now-a-days we all have debit cards, credit cards, lines of credit, TFSAs, RRSPs, and more. Each of these is an institution with different online passwords and logins, statements and due dates. There is quite a bit to keep track of and many times it becomes overwhelming... But I think I have developed a system to help this. 

1) get a "Mint" account and put the app on your phone. This app ties all of your accounts into a one-stop-shop for simple viewing, budgeting, and spending overview. LIFESAVER!

2) Sign up with a bank you trust with a fee structure you are comfortable with. I use ING since they are always free, give me more than 4 accounts and are completely online (this means great Internet and phone service).  Many people are scared to go to an online bank, but I do all my banking from home anyway!! And they do have a number of ATM's all over the city. 

3) Auto transfer everything!!  When I get paid, my rent, vehicle funds, savings, debt, etc all get auto transferred out of my chequing account and into my various other accounts. They act as "folders where I stash my funds based on what want (vehicle, rainy day, TFSA, house, etc). If it is automatic, there is no effort required. 

4) stop using your debit and credit card and switch to CASH!  At the start of the month I go to an ATM and pull out my monthly budget for groceries and entertainment and put them into two separate envelopes. This does two things:

- helps you stick to our budget. Once the money is gone, it's gone!

- makes you plan. If I don't have my grocery money envelope with me, I don't shop. (This also ensures I come with a list!)  if your friends want you to go out AGAIN for dinner and drinks, you can easily say you have no money and they should let you know ahead of time. Keeps those spontaneous money wounds to a minimum. 

5) pay your bills online. We all have big purchases, utilities and taxes. All of which can be paid with the click of a mouse. With password programs like "lastpass" you don't even have to remember your login information. 

This is a simple automatic system. Once you write down your budget, collect your accounts within your programs, and setup your auto transfers based on your cash flow needs, you just drop into a cash machine once a month and pull out the same amount. Simple, mindless, and minimal. All accessible on your phone. Just my style :). 

How do you simplify your financial life?

New resources

I have found an amazing site about a couple guys and their minimalist journey (URL below). 
I can't stop reading their 21 day journey and transformation and feel motivated and empowered. Check them out. They take things a little further than I am comfortable with right now, but it just goes to show you that minimalism is different for everyone. They did say "don't start a minimalist blog" ... Uh oh!! Guess I will have to ignore that part.

Where do you look for minimalism resources or motivation to change?

http://www.theminimalists.com/ 

Bumps along the way

Last weekend I moved, and at first I thought it was going to be the jumping off point I really needed to keep moving forward with my minimalism. Dreams of success, and images of me transforming into a minimalist filled my head and I thought I was going to be an overnight phenomenon. Boy was I wrong!

Everything started off great. I was sorting through things weeks in advance,throwing stuff away, giving others things to friends and family and donating others. It was a serious load off my chest. So far so good. But as the moving date approached, I was getting more and more stressed. Not only did I have to go through everything and see what would fit into my minimalist life, but I then had to pack and store it. Before I knew it I had a mountain of boxes and no room left to sort!! The clutter was like a 50 lb weight on my chest and I couldn't breathe. But I couldn't purge because I had no room to sort!! I felt helpless.

So what did I do? I decided to just move it all (we had plenty of room in the trailer and the house) and then I would sort it before I put it away. This had been working good so far. I have given my room mate things I don't need, thrown lots out, and given more away. I have made a huge pile of things that must be reviewed before I can get rid of the clutter, and if I don't go through it soon I will just throw it out.

Minimalism isn't a goal or a task we can check off a list. It is rather a paradigm shift we employ so we can focus on what makes us happy, and eliminate the emotional clutter, physical distractions, and just general waste in out lives. Like any other process there will be set backs and failures. When these occur, we must refocus and remember why we are on this journey, look at the progress so far, and celebrate our wins today to motivate ourselves going forward.

This move may have shown me some of my setbacks within my journey so far, but if I can stay on track, I won't have much to move next time. :)

What do you guys do to make your sorting/purging a breeze?