Why You Should Become a Minimalist?

Claudia Villatoro

Why should you become a minimalist?

Define Minimalism: A conscious, deliberately action towards freedom of consumerism.
Audience: College Students
Why is this important? Minimalism is a toll that can assist you in finding freedom, freedom from fear, freedom from worry, freedom from guilt, freedom from depression, freedom from the consumer culture we’ve built our lives around.

Beginning:  

I woke up one shitty Monday morning, to negative $-250 in my bank account.
I know we all have had those moments where you think you have money in your bank account, but you wake up the next morning with less than what you thought you had.

What if I told you, you could live a more fulfilling life that could also help you save some money? A life with minimal financial impacts and burdens, a life where all of our material possessions add value to our lives?

1) I want to begin with explaining what Minimalism is. What people think is this, but what it actually is. Today’s problem seems to be the meaning we assign to our stuff: we tend to give too much meaning to our things, often forsaking our health, our relationships, our passions, our personal growth, and our desire to contribute beyond ourselves. Minimalism isn’t about sacrificing things. The image some people have of a minimalistic lifestyle is giving up all of the modern conveniences of the world. They imagine living in a cabin in the woods without electricity, a wood burning stove and a bathroom you have to go outside to use. It means making decisions based on what you need instead of getting everything you want. A person can decide how much of a minimalistic lifestyle they want to lead. They can do it in stages as well. Most people begin by going through their home and getting rid of things they no longer need. Over time, they are able to pare their life down to a much more minimalist style.

Transition: I found out about this lifestyle while watching this movie on Netflix called “The Minimalist”. I spent further research on many people that live a minimalist life and realized this lifestyle wasn’t just a personal growth decision, but a financial choice.

2) You can save A LOT of money by becoming a minimalist!!!
As you get rid of stuff and luxuries in the home, other things are opened up. The money spent buying stuff, maintaining stuff and making sure you have the best stuff will end up in your pocket instead of in the store. When you have fewer things you can use your money to pay off debt and that will eventually free up even more money. The dependency on money in a minimalist lifestyle is much lower. When you need less money, you do not have to work as much. That frees up time. You are also not going to spend as much time dealing with all of the extra things in your life. You can focus your time on the things you need and use the extra time that is created on the things you enjoy.