The more I share about my journey from shopaholic to debt free minimalist, the more I hear from a particular group of people who don’t believe this to be possible for them. People with ADHD. I hear a lot about how fighting impulses is not possible with ADHD or that debt payoff offers no instant gratification. While I can’t say I have ever been formally diagnosed with ADHD, I can say that a family history and a clear understanding of the symptoms leads me to believe I am merely undiagnosed. That being said, I took some time to think about what it was I did that allowed me to reign in on my impulses and actually manage to break my spending impulses and pay off debt.
I’m always finding myself caught in this minimalist hell of frustration when it comes to seeing other minimalist creators. There are some out there who tend to slap the word “minimalist” in front of things like gift idea lists for Christmas or kitchen essentials. In reality, this is just another form of pushing over-consumption with the handy dandy label of being minimalist. On the other hand, we are all just trying to get by and my hope is that these creators only recommend things they themselves truly use and believe in — because I’m also a big fan of true product reviews so that I can make the best, most informed decision possible when it comes to making a purchase. That being said, I felt the need to make a plea for why minimalist kitchen essentials are total crap and how you can figure out what you really need.
One of the biggest battles people face when it comes to letting go of an item (or purchasing an item) is that deep held belief that it might be worth something someday. Not only do we tend to this thing where we over-value our belongings simply because they are ours, but we also tend to forget to remember what our own definition of valuable is. If you struggle to shake free from that fear that you could be missing out on a potentially huge monetary gain, hopefully this little story about my Spice Girls dolls can shed some light on the subject.
When I tell people that our family used to live broke 2 weeks before payday, half of the people are usually confused and the other half totally get it. My husband Tom used to get paid once a month (still does), back when I was a stay at home mom and while I worked part time occasionally, for the most part we depended on his income. No matter how hard we tried, without fail, every month, we would have little to nothing in our account 2 weeks before getting paid again. The stress of this caused me a lot of anxiety which then lead to me pre-planning how I would spend our next paycheck. Thankfully, those people, and that way of living is foreign to us now and I wanted to create a little How to Stop Being Broke GuideBook for anyone who might find themselves in a similar situation.
There is truly something magical about a minimalist aesthetic bedroom. I know, I know, all around it’s a good look in any room of the house, but bedrooms in particular is where we lay our heads at night and should be able to completely let go of our worries of the day. Coming from someone who used to have to leap over piles of stuff and had Teen Beat posters plastered to her wall, I can promise, the less stuff theme works way better for a good night’s sleep or even relaxing at the end of a long day. That’s why I wanted to take a hot minute and share some gorgeous inspo. with you.
