It’s really quite unbelievable to me all the benefits of owning less: more time, more focus, more energy, less stress, less comparison (just to name a few).
There are also overwhelming financial benefits to minimalism. Owning less is a lifestyle that costs less than the constant pursuit of more. For some, this may mean the opportunity to save for the first time. For others, it may result in the opportunity to retire early, travel more, or work less.
For others, it may represent opportunity to get out of debt. Recently, on Twitter, I asked for examples of people who have used minimalism to get out of debt. And I wanted to share some of the stories here—in 280 characters or less.
Not gotten out of debt, but my husband and I paid off 14K in debt in one year on $10/hr salaries.
— Carly Skye Ingalls (@csingalls) January 29, 2018
My wife and I shedded 6 figure debt and now are on our way to financial independence with our two young kids. Only debt left is a mortgage that we are well ahead on.
— Dan Nice (@Dannice240) January 28, 2018
2 young kids, one income, both of us paid off multiple degrees and student loans. One credit card, one car, used clothes for kids, all my clothes are the ones I wear often. And we rent in one of the silliest markets in the world #Vancouver where we are can’t buy a home.
— Matty Michaud (@michaudsensei) January 28, 2018
In 15 yrs of marriage (a pastor & stay@home mom w/ 4 kids) we committed to having one car & no credit purchases, & a preference for used kids clothes shared with church families. Now at 40, we’re debt free, own our house & use capsule wardrobes.
— Clint Archer (@ClintArcher) January 28, 2018
Wife and I were able to pay off about $70,000 in student loans, credit cards, and a car loan. Having less let us focus on what we needed to do.
— Dan Chappell (@minimaldad87) January 28, 2018
Yes! The process of shifting to minimalism helped hush the noise of extraneous nonsense. Once I simplified and had all my favorite things before me I realized how much room I had for progressive action. I no longer felt scared to confront that debt number.
— Morgan (@MORDDGAN) January 26, 2018
I got out of £20,000 debt and saved enough to travel the world full time. Changed my career from events and stress to adventure and writing!
— betternotstop (@betternotstop) January 28, 2018
Sold a rental property we were going to keep for 30 years. While it was a good investment, it took away from my peace / time with family. Paid down 6 figures of debt when we sold it for a simpler life.
— Danny Peavey (@the_peavey) January 27, 2018
I paid off 75K, the rest of my mortgage, about 8 years ago because of a minimalist spending lifestyle. I believe I found minimalism when I became a world traveler for 1.5 years and realized I could be extremely happy with just a backpack of stuff. I can now be a stay at home mom!
— MacPackerGirl (@MacPackerGirl) January 27, 2018
Started with 250k+ Of student loan debt and in 4.5 years are down to 138k, I can get more concrete numbers. Found minimalism when searching for ideas how to tackle such a large amount.
— Lindsay A (@lindsayhaizman) January 26, 2018
Because of minimalism I paid off all of my consumer debt in 9 months and saved an emergency fund. Now I’m focusing on paying off the rest of my student loan within the next year.
— KB (@Kbatykefer) January 27, 2018
Minimalism allowed me to focus after a divorce. It allowed me to rebound after a bankruptcy & save money. After raising my daughter I sold my house, quit my job, bought a tiny house & moved to the PNW. I couldn’t have done any of that without the focus mininimalism afforded me.
— Fine Dining on Discourse (@DiningDiscourse) January 27, 2018
More than anything, if you are struggling to pay off debt, I wanted you to find encouragement, inspiration, and motivation in these stories. You can do it. Owning less can help. Just like it has for so many others.
If you want more inspiration and practical help, here is additional reading on the topic of owning less and removing debt:
Charles says
I never had huge debt (beside a morgage), I never felt struggling paying back my debts. In the peak, I had probably 40k in car loans and 5k in furniture. My incomes were able to cover that on the long run. But I had minimal savings at best.
One day, I decided to downsize and stop living over my means. Now, having a debt is, to me, being part of a broken system. Instead of providing more possibilities, it creates dependencies. Your finances are directly linked to your obligation to work. And it avoids you to save a greater part of your incomes for the future.
Thus, without overconsumption and linked debts, I can now live freely and simply.
Simon Ponder says
I love reading things like this because it gives me a small amount of hope I can break my tedious credit card debt.
I wish they had shared their strategies more specifically.
Laura Pfeiffer says
Hey Simon. In reply to your comment about wanting strategies to pay off debt, here are the steps that I took:
-After simplifying, I noticed how much money I wasted. Things like household decorations, multiples of clothing on sale when I really only needed 1, buying coffee at work instead of bringing coffee from home, etc. I took a hard look at where my money was going and changed my habits to avoid spending on these items. There’s a lot of money in those seemingly little purchases.
– I already had decent savings built up but was saving it “just in case”. I had always wanted to pay off my student loan but didn’t think I could. My husband paid off a $30k car in 4 years so I asked him what he did. He had determined how long he wanted to have his car loan and then made a double payment every month. That’s great advise and I’m using it to pay off the rest of my car loan. But for my student loan, I wanted it gone ASAP. I was lucky enough to have my income and my husband’s. For eight months, I essentially used all of my take-home pay toward my student loan and dipped into my savings as well. I still paid for my other bills but my husband took over my portion of our mortgage payment, freeing my finances up to pay off the student loan.
I hope this helps. I know my strategy won’t work for everyone, but I hope it gives you some ideas.
Emily says
Yes! I love everything about this article and watching other people win. There is so much encouragement to be found in community. My husband and I buckled down a few years back and paid off $70k in debt using Dave Ramsey’s methods and he later went on to work for Dave as well. I just recorded our journey on my blog. Minimalism was such a key component in aiding us in this journey. Love reading these stories and being inspired! Thanks, Josh!
XO,
Emily
Laura says
I started simplifying in Spring 2017 and learned that I was happier with less everything (stress, debt, decisions, etc). I had made a plan with my husband to pay off the remainder of my student loan by 2019. But the more I simplified, the less I wanted to hold on to that debt. So we went back to the drawing board, came up with a new plan, and I paid off the remaining $25k of student loan debt by November 2017. 8 months! In 8 months I was free of a burden I never thought I’d be free off.
Elizabeth says
Same. Minimalism helped me pay off over $16,000 (the remainder) of my student loan debt in a year’s time on an entry-level salary. A few months post-debt pay off and living the same way, I’m now switching focus toward saving for a house. It’s amazing what saying no to stuff will do for your financial health and peace of mind. It also helps to realize the word “afford” is drastically misused in today’s society.
Sandy says
I have started implementing minimalism in my life and after that I have analysed similar benefits. Financial benefit is the biggest one which I think will help everyone.
Sharon says
First of Feb is a big day for me I will be finally debt free. I tried everything worked 2 jobs but it enslaved me more. Having less helped me to plan my finances and time. For the last 6 years I have worked 30 hours per wk , giving me time to do things I used to pay for.
I would urge everyone to apply the principles and live x
Kirsty Burns says
I have been following your blog for a few weeks and it is so useful to me. I went through an extremely stressful and very much unwanted divorce just over a year ago. It threw my whole life upside-down in lots of ways. A small part of it was that my ex took A LOT of our joint belongings from the family home, I felt terrible anger at this, and tremendous sadness. A year and a half on, and out the other side, and I realised I had not missed any of it. And have not replaced most of it. And actually my home is clearer and my head freer for it . I started getting rid of ‘things’ with bad memories associated and it helped even more and have I started wanting more of that feeling….and minimalism entered my life just a few months ago. I have cleared more and more ‘stuff’, just when you think that’s it, there’s more – where did it all come from?! I wish my ex had taken more of it! And I pity their full of junk house!
Finances were also a major stress, changing to a single income household. I did spend at the beginning, thinking “if I get this new dress I will feel better” etc. It didn’t work, I felt the same yet had too many dresses and less money! I stopped that pretty early on really. But I have only recently started actively and intentionally being more minimalist, both in belongings and in spending. I already have more expendable cash than before. I have sensible and achievable plans for paying more into my mortgage and pension. My house and home feel clean and free and MINE. My divorce might just be becoming the most freeing thing to have happened to me. It has sent me on a very different path in life, and it is one I’m starting to love.
Abbie says
Thanks for the stories!
Jenny Young says
I just recently started reading your blog looking for inspiration as we declutter our empty nest.
Before reading this post I never really considered us minimalists but I guess we have been when it comes to money. We too paid off a mortgage & became debt-free by our early 30’s. (on one income)That was many years ago now & it enabled us to do so many things with our teenager because by then we had no debt.
Alot of our dilemma in owning less comes from those who’ve loved us so much! We had parents who loved to give gifts. One parent was the family historian & I inherited a family museum basically. Finding balance in keeping what’s important from our heritage & living in the presence is no easy job.
As a grandparent I’m happy to see our children doing a better job in choosing to live with less stuff. I also see just how hard it is not to add to their struggle by giving things. Instead we’re giving experiences, time & money for the future.
I’ve really enjoyed your blog. Thanks for the encouragement to stick with it.