Thriving on Less - Simplifying in a Tough Economy . A Companion Ebook to The Power of Less

27 Pages·04.235 MB·english

by  Leo Babauta

Thriving on Less
Simplifying in a Tough Economy
A Companion Ebook to The Power of Less
Copyright © 2008 - Leo Babauta
The Power of Less is available at ThePowerofLess.com
Book design : CharfishDesign.com

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Table of Contents
Introduction.
...........................................................................................................................4
Chapter 1 - A Simple Lifestyle.
.............................................................................................5
Chapter 2 - Focus on the Essentials.
.................................................................................. 7
Chapter 3 - Thriving on Less, Not Struggling.
....................................................................8
Chapter 4 - Focusing on Enough, Not More.
....................................................................10
Chapter 5 - Make Small Financial Changes First.
............................................................13
Chapter 6 - Look at Large Expenses for the Long Term.
.................................................15
Chapter 7 - Changing Your Spending Habits.
...................................................................17
Chapter 8 - A Guide to Getting Out of Debt.
.....................................................................19
"Debt is the worst poverty." - Thomas Fuller.
...................................................................19
Chapter 9 - Tools for a Frugal Life.
....................................................................................22
Chapter 10 - Resources.
.....................................................................................................27

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Introduction
"In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity."
- Albert Einstein
The recent economic recession has a lot of people worried,
about their jobs, their businesses, their homes and their bills.
When your income is dropping or in jeopardy and you still have
a mountain of bills to pay, things can get pretty scary.
However, tough economic times do not have to be a time of
struggles! If you look for the opportunity in the middle of
difficulty, as Mr. Einstein suggested, then tough economic times
become an opportunity to transform your life.
The problems of our economy stem from unchecked
consumerism – people buying houses too expensive for their
incomes, getting into too much debt by spending too much,
living a lifestyle of more and more with the idea that things will
only continue to get better. Unfortunately, this kind of
consumerism is unsustainable, both at a global and a personal
level. Eventually, the bills have to be paid and things will be corrected to a more sustainable level.
What does this mean for you, personally? It means that in order to survive in a tough economy, you
must adjust your lifestyle to a more sustainable level. But to thrive in a tough economy, you can go
even further: simplify your life to make room for the truly important. Clear away the clutter and the
excess spending to make room for the essential: the people and things you love the most, that
you're most passionate about.
Such a simplified lifestyle can be truly wonderful – you'll finally have time for the things you really
love, for relaxation, for outdoor activities, for exercise, for reading or finding peace and quiet, for
the loved ones in your life, for the things you're most passionate about. This is what it means to
thrive – to live a life full of the things you want in them, and not more. To live a better quality of life
without having to spend and buy and consume.
In this ebook I'll show you how to start on the road to that simple lifestyle. Even better, I'll show
you how you can thrive on less, change your habits to create a more sustainable lifestyle, get out of
debt, and be in a great position to live well in any economic times.
A quick note: this ebook is a companion to my print book, The Power of Less, which goes into
much more detail on these and other topics. While this ebook is free, I highly suggest you buy the
actual book – see my website, ThePowerofLess.com, for more info, or look for it in a fine book
retailer near you.

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Chapter 1 - A Simple Lifestyle
"Reduce the complexity of life by eliminating the needless wants of life, and the labors of life reduce
themselves."
- Edwin Way Teale
Not too many years ago, my life was full
of clutter. There was the clutter of too many
possessions, piled up in every corner of my
home and office, bought one at a time on
impulsive decisions and stacked up until I
realized that I had way too much and that it
was way too stressful to have so much
clutter. And there was no room to ... live.
There was the clutter of too many
commitments, filling up my schedule until I
had no room for the things I really wanted
to do, no room to accomplish my goals, no
room for my family. These commitments
piled up one at a time until again, I realized I had way too much and that I was way too stressed
out. There was no room for the life I wanted.
There was the clutter of too much to do, too many tasks on my to-do list, too many emails to
process each day, too much paperwork piling up in stacks on my desk, too many calls to take and
make, too many meetings. It all piles up and you wonder how you'll ever get it all done and how you
ever got so much to do.
Then I decided that too much was too much, and that I wanted to simplify. It was a long process
(one that continues to this day, to a lesser extent), but over the course of weeks and months, I
reduced the amount of clutter, the number of commitments, the amount of things I had to do each
day. I simplified my life, and it was one of the best decisions I've ever made.
Today, things are much simpler: my desk and my home are uncluttered and serene, my life is less
hectic with room for the things I love, and I am living the life I've always wanted.
It's not an incredible secret, or anything that's terribly difficult to do. Sure, it means making some
tough decisions to cut things out in favor of the truly important, but if you don't cut those things
out, you're still making those decisions by not taking action – you're deciding to let the
unimportant fill your life so you don't have room for what you love and value. Instead, you need to
take a close look at your life and make those tough decisions. You'll be happy you did.
And here's something really great about a simple lifestyle: it doesn't cost a lot of
money!

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If you reduce the clutter in your home, you can actually make a little money if you sell some of the
stuff (donate the rest to charity). And learn not to fill your home up with clutter, and you'll be
spending less on buying possessions as well.
If you simplify your schedule to make room for the things you love, you'll be running around less,
you'll be less stressed, and you'll have less need for the "de-stressing" activities that many of us
undertake after a long day or week of work: shopping, drinking, partying, going out to expensive
entertainment, and so on. You can relax and have fun in other ways that don't cost a lot of money.
After simplifying your life, you will realize that a life full of the things you love and value does not
cost a lot of money at all. Sure, you'll still have to spend on the essentials, but beyond that you'll
save tons of money.
Imagine that: a truly great life that costs almost nothing. Let's find out how to get there.

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Chapter 2 - Focus on the Essentials
"The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak."
- Hans Hofmann
The first step in simplifying, and living with less,
is to identify the essential – that which you want to
keep in your life. Then eliminate as much of the non-
essential as possible.
I go into much more detail on this process in The
Power of Less (please buy it to read more on all
these topics – see ThePowerofLess.com), but
basically you want to create a Short List of 4-5 things
in your life that you value most – people you love or
things you're passionate about, things you want in
your life. These are your essentials.
To give you an idea of what I mean, here's my Short List: spending time with my family, writing,
reading and running. Those are the things I want to make room for in my life.
Action Step: Make your Short List of 4-5 essential things now. It only takes a few
minutes!
Once you've identified the essential, it's time to start making room for these things, by slowly
eliminating as much of the non-essential as possible. This should be a gradual process, as you can't
change your life all at once. You didn't fill it up overnight, and you can't empty it out overnight
either.
Start by taking a look at your schedule, your commitments, your to-do and project lists, and how
you're currently spending your time. What things are not in line with the 4-5 things on your Short
List? Can they be eliminated or limited? This might mean disappointing people who want you to
keep commitments, but remember that it's your life, not theirs.
Once you've eliminated a good number of non-essential commitments, tasks, projects and so forth,
it's important that you use this extra space in your life to focus on the essentials on your Short List.
If you empty out your life only to fill it up with other unimportant things (such as watching more
TV or more shopping), you've wasted your time.
Create a life that focuses on the essentials – what you value and love the most, what you're most
passionate about. Start today!
For more on choosing the essentials, eliminating the non-essentials, and reducing the clutter in
your life, check out my book, The Power of Less (see ThePowerofLess.com for more details).

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Chapter 3 - Thriving on Less, Not Struggling
"Who is rich? He who rejoices in his portion."
- The Talmud
Scaling back your life and living more frugally can be
seen in two ways:
1. It can be a struggle, as you are sacrificing many things and
living less comfortably.
2. Or ... it can be incredible, as you are sacrificing
consumerism for a life filled with the things you love, a life
you've always wanted.
And it all depends on your mindset. Do you want to focus on
what you are giving up, or on what you really love? I've
found it to be really useful to focus on the positive, and to
learn to thrive within a simple, frugal lifestyle by filling my
life with things that give me joy and satisfaction.
You can live life now and enjoy it to the fullest — without
destroying your future. The key to doing that? Find ways to
enjoy life completely, utterly, maximally … that don’t cost
your future very much.
Here are some tips for actually living that philosophy:
* Find free or cheap pleasures. Frugality does not have to be boring or restrictive … if you use
your imagination. Be creative and find ways to have fun — loads of it — without spending much
money. Have a picnic at the park, go to the beach, do crafts, board games, fly a kite, make art, bake
cookies … I could list a hundred things, and you could come up with a few hundred more. Make a
list of simple pleasures, and enjoy them to the maximum. This is the key to the whole idea of
enjoying life now without spending tomorrow’s dollar.
* Make simplifying fun. I’m a big fan of simplifying my life, and to me, it's great fun. I get rid of
stuff (and possibly make money selling it) and have a blast doing it. That’s good math.
* Make people a priority. If you give “stuff” a priority — things like gadgets, nice furnishings,
nice clothes, shoes, jewelry, etc. — then you will spend a lot of money. But if you make people a
priority — the people you love most, you close friends and family — you don’t need to spend a dime
to enjoy life. Make some time to visit with friends, or your parents … and have a conversation with
them that doesn’t involve eating out or going to the movies. Just sit, have some iced tea or hot
cocoa (depending on the weather), and talk. Tell jokes and laugh your heads off. Talk about books

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you’ve read, movies you’ve watched, new things going on in your life, your hopes and dreams. And
make time for your kids or your significant other — really spend time with them, doing things that
don’t cost money.
* Find time for yourself. Make time every day, and every week, to spend time alone. It really
gives more meaning and enjoyment to your life, rather than rushing through life with no time to
think, to breathe.
* Sometimes, splurge. You shouldn’t restrict yourself from expensive pleasures all the time —
it’s not good to develop the feeling of deprivation. To prevent that, once in awhile, buy yourself
something … or better yet, give yourself a decadent treat. I love things with dark chocolate or
berries. Crepes with ice cream and berries are one of my favorites. Just don’t go overboard … and
learn to enjoy the splurge to the fullest. If you truly take the time to enjoy a treat, you don’t need a
lot of it.
* Track your successes. It doesn’t really matter how you track your success … you can use gold
stars for creating a new simplifying or frugalfying habit, or a spreadsheet chart to track your
decreasing debt and increasing savings or investments. Tracking is a great way to not only provide
motivation, but make the process of changing fun.
* Reward yourself. And in order to make it more fun, celebrate every little success! Set rewards
for yourself (not too expensive!) along your path to success — celebrate one day, two days, three
days, a week, two weeks, three, a month … you get the idea.
* Volunteer. One of the most rewarding things for my family has been when we have managed to
volunteer. It’s actually something we only started doing last year, but since then, we’ve done it a
bunch of times in a number of different ways. And while it doesn’t cost a dime, it is tremendously
satisfying in ways that money could never buy.
* Live in the moment. Learn to think not so much about the past or future, but about what you
are going through right now. Be present. It may seem trite, but it’s the key to enjoying life to the
fullest — without having to spend money. Think about it — you can spend money on eating out, but
if you are not really thinking about what you’re eating, you may not enjoy it much at all. But if you
cook a simple but delicious meal, and really taste every bite, it can be tremendously enjoyable
without costing a lot.
* Slow down. In the same way, you can’t really enjoy life to the fullest if it’s rushing past you like
it’s on fast forward. Ever think about how quickly a week, a month, or a year goes by? Perhaps
you’re in the fast lane too much. Try slowing down, and things will be less stressful and more
enjoyable. (See The Power of Less for more on living slower.)
* Learn to find cheap, cool stuff. Call me crazy, but I love shopping at thrift stores. You can
find so many cool things there, and it costs so little. Garage sales are the same way. Or check out
Freecycle.com, or the library, or used bookstores.

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Chapter 4 - Focusing on Enough, Not More
"Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's need, but not every man's greed."
- Mahatma Gandhi
I think it's something that's conditioned in us
from an early age, by friends, television, and the
general culture: we always seem to want more.
More money, more gadgets, better furniture, a
better house, a better car, more clothes, more
shoes, more success.
And what happens when we get more? We aren’t
satisfied, because there are new ads for new iPods,
for new laptops, for new iPhones, for new cars, for
new clothes. We have to have those. It’s impossible
to satisfy that hunger for more, because our culture
is not satisfied with what we have, but is geared to
wanting more. It’s consumerism, and it’s the official
religion of the industrialized world.
That sounds preachy, so let’s move beyond that: ask yourself how much is enough, how much do
you need in order to be satisfied? I submit that the answer is that we already have enough
— possibly more than enough.
What does “enough” mean?
Enough doesn’t mean the just bare necessities of life. That would be food, water, shelter and
clothing. It could be a house with a bed, a table, a chair, a place for food storage and preparation, a
toilet, perhaps a shower. That’s not really enough.
Enough means having enough to live, and enough to be happy, and enough to thrive. For me, as I
get extreme happiness from writing and blogging, I would need a computer. Perhaps I could use the
public library’s computer, but in any case “enough” would include some access to a computer.
For others, enough would mean the need for tools such as a notebook and pens, musical
instruments, video technology, or a camera. Enough would also mean food beyond just survival
food — food that makes us happy, but not so much food that we are being excessive and gorging
ourselves.
Enough could include cars, if those are necessary, but for some people it wouldn’t necessarily mean
owning a car, especially if they don’t have kids and live close enough to the things they need, such
as a grocery store or work.

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