Simplify, simplify, simplify.
Our lives are so complicated. Our world is so busy, so noisy, so distracting.
To counter that overwhelming feeling, there’s a movement afoot in America to embrace the idea of minimalism.
It means living with less. Buy less. Own less. You don’t need all this stuff to be happy. Without all that meaningless stuff dragging you down, you can focus on what really matters to you.
The Penny Hoarder recently ran an intriguing interview with Joshua Fields Milburn, one half of a two-man team who call themselves The Minimalists.
Stressed, miserable and overworked, Milburn quit his lucrative job and got rid of 90% of his possessions. Now he preaches the benefits of living a simple, meaningful life with less.
Now, we’re not suggesting you throw out 90% of your stuff. That’s not for everyone.
But along those lines, here’s an assortment of apps and tools that can help you simplify and streamline your life — and save you some money to boot.
Declutter Your Home
If you’re an American (or Canadian), let’s face it, you probably have stuff in your house or apartment you don’t need anymore. Get rid of your clutter —and make some extra cash — with these free apps:
Decluttr: Clear out your old DVDs, Blu-rays, CDs, video games, old phones and other electronics. Scan the barcodes with your phone, and Decluttr will make you an offer. It’ll send you a shipping label, so you can ship everything for free. One user, Gil Flores, sold about 100 DVDs and 75 CDs and made $275, an average of $1.57 each.
Letgo: You can sell nearly anything through this app. Just snap a photo of your item and set up a listing in about 30 seconds.
Drive Less, Save on Insurance
When your car-insurance bill comes due each month, do you find yourself asking, “Why am I paying this much when I mostly just drive to work and the grocery store like the boring human being I am?”
It doesn’t have to be that way with a pay-per-mile insurance company like MetroMile. Philadelphia resident Susan Gibbons switched to the provider and lowered her payment to $35 per month after spending 30 years with State Farm.
Right now, MetroMile is only available in California, Illinois, New Jersey, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Washington. If you live in these states, get a free quote. If you don’t, join the waitlist.
Use a Simple Cash-Back Credit Card
Credit cards and cash-back rewards programs can be so freaking complicated. Pay this annual fee. Remember to scan your receipts. If you rack up enough airline miles, you can get 5% cash back at Shell gas stations on Wednesdays in July.
No. Forget that noise. Simplify, simplify, simplify.
With a simple cash-back rewards card, you get paid for every dollar you spend. We recommend checking out the Barclaycard CashForward™ World MasterCard®, which gives you 1.5% cash back on every purchase. You also get a $200 sign-up bonus if you spend $1,000 in the first 90 days. There’s no annual fee, either.
Streamline Your Student Loans
Student-loan debt can be insanely complicated. It entangles you with your alma mater, the government, some private company you’re barely aware of, banks and sometimes debt collectors.
To simplify things, consider student-loan refinancing. Through a marketplace like Credible, you can refinance federal and private student loans.
Credible connects you with a lender to replace your multiple loans with a single loan, potentially with a lower interest rate and/or lower monthly payment. Just enter your info to see what your new interest rate could be.
Figure Out Where All Your Money Is Going
Nothing is more complicated than us humans and our weird spending habits.
To keep tabs on what you’re spending, use Trim, a Facebook messenger or text bot that helps you hold yourself accountable. It’s like a personal-financial assistant that lives in your phone.
The best part: Trim helps you negotiate bills with cable companies like Comcast, Time Warner or Charter. It’ll keep at it until it succeeds at saving you money. (It keeps 25% of whatever it saves you.)
Use Less Power, Spend Less Money
If you’re anything like me, you could probably be using less electricity. We all could. Have you already taken the basic steps to cut your power bill?
Contact your power company. Many offer programs that’ll lower your energy usage — and reduce your bill.
Or, if you’re a California resident, look into an online service called OhmConnect. This free app will pay you up to $300 for turning out the lights and shutting off your appliances for an hour at a time.
It pays you to help save when the energy grid gets overburdened. Once you connect your utility account, you’ll get notified about these earning periods called “OhmHours.” During this time, your job is to simply use less power.
Again, minimalism is about living with less — even though our culture has conditioned us to want more, more, MORE.
Joshua Fields Milburn, one of the duo called The Minimalists, says it best:
“How might my life be better with less?” he encourages you to ask yourself. “Maybe I’ll be able to regain control of my finances. Maybe I’ll focus more on my health. Maybe my relationships will improve. Maybe I’ll reclaim my time and my creativity and work on that passion project.”
“Or maybe I’ll just have a cleaner house.”
Mike Brassfield (mike@thepennyhoarder.com) is a senior writer at The Penny Hoarder. He has too much stuff.
This was originally published on The Penny Hoarder, which helps millions of readers worldwide earn and save money by sharing unique job opportunities, personal stories, freebies and more. The Inc. 5000 ranked The Penny Hoarder as the fastest-growing private media company in the U.S. in 2017.
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