A year since it all began.

As I approach my 37th birthday I'm reminded that it is a year since this all began. It has been an exciting yet stressful year with loads of discoveries both about myself and life in general. I'm glad the worst is behind me now and the future is looking brighter every month I stay on course.

I have gone from focused on money to focused on what I actually want from my life to be. I have realised that the less I need things, the more I crave independence from the system. I have spent a lot of time formulating a plan to get away from it, although by it's designed parameters I will never be entirely free. My main focuses are to pay off all debt and reduce my dependencies on outside sources for my utilities and food.

I have loved spending more time with my children and enjoy giving them more attention than I did before, well within the confines of enjoying kids games, tv and conversation. No matter what minimalism has done for me it doesn't change Peppa pig is still boring. My oldest son is now 8 and I look forward to starting to enjoy the outdoors with him, even though it is not what he wants my best memories of my childhood are the little adventures my dad took me on.

I have enjoyed learning about the effects of over-consumption and what is actually wrong with the world. I am focused on making as many changes as I can to reduce my families impact. This is not always easy when your partner is not ready to give up her mainstream life, but we get there in the end! The more I step back and watch the more I get frustrated with myself as for years I did not see what I was doing to the world.

In summary from the last year

1: The day my life changed;  this was the beginning after the failure of my business and almost going bankrupt. Whilst contemplating the cowards way out "suicide" I found Minimalism and this journey began. I have a lot to be grateful for after the failure of my business as I have changed for the better and my life has a new purpose that I'm just beginning to understand.
2: First steps towards a minimalist life; Living on less the road to minimalism; Cutting out the clutter; Minimalism is my guide to life; Minimalism a simpler better life; it has been a crazy journey going from hoarding stuff and buying the latest and greatest to say look at me, to getting rid of everything I did not need. There were times, in the beginning, I wanted to get the best possible price and I placed a value on these items. However, after persevering I started to enjoy the space I gained over the financial gain and made the decision to load it all into the car and took everything to the charity shop which felt great. My wardrobe is still on 33 items and now I have not bought a single item of clothing since I began, although I will probably need new socks soon, hey fathers day is coming up.
3: Things parents should teach their children; Teaching our children the joy of owning less; I gained a new perspective to how I plan to raise my children before I was going to push them into careers that earnt the most money. So they could be classed as conventionally successful, but now I will teach them to live to buy only what they need, do what they want and never get caught up in trying to keep up with the Joneses. Additionally, if they stay at home they can have a better life and not have to work as hard. Which before I would have classed as lazy but now I understand you only live once, and if you live for what you believe in and work at your passions then life will be far more rewarding.
4: How I control my spending; Money stop wasting it; Financial planning for minimalists; I have taken a long hard look at money and where it goes and on what. I have created a system that allows us to verify every month where our money goes, this allows us to reduce spending in areas of gluttony and stop spending on unnecessary things. Planning is now a major part of my financial management, as I plan to be debt free by 42. Debt is a form of control ever though where our money goes our pensions and houses our assets they all disappear when we die because we are the workers in a system designed to keep everyone down.
5: Planning food for a minimalist family; Keto / Paleo environmentally friendly diet; Nutrition and food sourcing are new to me and an area I plan to grow further in the second year of this journey. I feel at the beginning of this journey, I was more focused on saving money but now as I complete the first year it is all about where my food comes from how far it has travelled what is its CO2 footprints has it been genetically modified and controlled by a major corporation etc.

Looking to the next year I will continue to streamline my finances and payoff debt. Focus on health and nutrition as there are aspects my family is dealing with. Like weight management, digestive issues, autism and dyslexia. These are things that have gone on with out the right care and attention so this year they are the priorities. Environment is another issue that will continue to get more focus, our families carbon foot print and waste will be reduced further. Lastly our ambitions for the future how we plan to navigate life, incorporating work and leisure and get the elusive work-life-balance.

I'm looking forward to the second year and hope the journey continues to reward us further.

Financial Planning for Minimalists

Everyone thinks that minimalists are people with no money and have failed in life. Now admittedly some people discover minimalism through circumstance, as I did but it does not remove the profound change it has on your psyche. Regardless of how you become one of the chosen, everyone needs a good financial plan. Financial security reduces stress and gives us the freedom to pursue our dreams over living a life chained to a desk.

A good plan early on in life makes life easier in later life, with the right amount of discipline I believe anyone can be financially secure by the age of 40.

There are a number of ratios that I believe if followed, any person on any income can achieve financial freedom regardless of earning capabilities.

The only things you should go into debt for is a house and if required a vehicle.

• House max 6 times YNE, 25% deposit before purchasing (repay in 15years)
• Car max 1/2 times YNE earnings, 50% deposit before purchasing (repay max 3 years)

 YNE: Yearly Nett Earnings.

Housing is one of our basic necessities of life, the ratio for the nett wage to property value is 6. Buying a house no more than 6 times your net yearly wage will allow you to pay it off by the age of 40. Additionally, if you are 18 and you save the mortgage payment for 5 years. By staying home with your parents, then buy your house using the saved money as a deposit you will shave 5 years and have your house paid by 35, and save a huge amount in interest.

Think about where you live if house prices are too high then look elsewhere, there are many places where the house prices are favourable and work is available, don't let emotions cloud your good decision making.

Car, A vehicle is never a necessity even if you work a distance from home or live too far from a shop or your children's schools. Planning comes into this when buying your house, you need to decide the best location to reduce your need for transport. If you spend most of your time commuting to work then you are losing quality time with your family. A vehicle is a true expense and although it is more convenient to own then use taxis and public transport it is very rarely cheaper. Finance is the main expense when owning a car, save to pay cash for your vehicles. Keep it and look after it until it becomes uneconomical to keep on the road. Remember even if it cost a £1000 a year in maintenance is still less than financing a new car.

Example
My family runs two cars, my wife works 13miles away around 20min by car, our oldest child attends a local school 2.6miles away but and our youngest is still at home.

                                              Our yearly car costs taken from our budget

Unfortunately, we are not able to run our household with just the one car as my wife works long hours. I do the school runs and shopping duties before work. If we had planned better we could have bought a house closer to my wife's work and had a similar commute to our children's school we would have saved potentially £419.3 PCM, but we would not have a granny to look after our youngest and we would spend 12k PA on childcare. So currently we live with the additional costs of transport as it saves us because of child care.

Household and Living expenditure, This is an area where it is easy to spend television subscriptions, mobile phone contracts, magazine subscriptions and excessive electronics to name the top expenses. We take stock of what's important every month by creating charts to see where we are spending the most money and then decide if we want to change it or leave as a justified expense.
Below is one of my monthly spending charts general living expenses. I use this table to assess where my money goes, it allows me to focus on areas of improvement.

Every month we review where our money has gone and we adjust our spending habits to suit our targets. This was December so our alcohol, luxuries and fuel are higher than normal.

By controlling what you spend your money on you can save for the future, investing is not an area I want to tackle at this stage as I don't have sufficient spare cash, due to bad decisions I am currently 2 years behind my target of being free from debt at 40. Currently projected to be debt free and own all my assets at the end of March 2024. I will be 42!

The road to financial freedom is a difficult path filled with temptation and external pressure to conform to the norm, but we are going to achieve it one month at a time. Over the last 6 months, we have streamlined our finances and created a full proof system that constantly gets audited and adjusted as we progress with our own personal stages of the transition from our old way to the more sustainable way of life 

Other financially motivated blog posts in my history are 

• Living on less the road to minimalism
• Things parents should teach their children
• How I control my spending
• Money stop wasting it

Thanks for taking the time to read my blog

Money stop wasting it

While changing my mindset from consumer robot to minimalist conservative, I have had to take a long hard look at my finances and how I spend the money I earn.
If I'm to achieve my goal of being debt free in 5 years.
In order to help me achieve this, I have set out a few rules to assist me with making the right choices.

Simple Rules I try to live by.

1. If it is not on the budget it does not get spent.
2. Don't buy another thing on credit.
3. Save for what you want rather than use credit.
4. Savings are for those emergencies we cant predict or to pay off debt
5. Experiences are important for the family as life is for living not consuming.

By following these rules I find I don't want to spend money on the things I don't really need, especially now I have to save for them. I end up thinking longer before buy that must have gadget I want, but I tend to ask myself is it going to bring me happiness, am I going to use it once or is it going to enrich my life? Then I ask is worth reducing my saving for? More often than not it is not worth it and I just don't buy it.

I use an excel spreadsheet to create my budget now I don't claim to be a genius on excel but  I have managed to create a budget that I'm able segregate my expenditure into the following categories

• Living expenses
• Luxury and unplanned expenditure
• Shop debt
• Savings
• Experiences

I use a pie chart at the end of every month to see where my money is going. By dividing it up the expenditures into percentages, I have been able to set my first goal. Which is on a base lie month to live on 50% of my wage and save 25% and spend the other 25% on experiences. but right now I'm still paying for my failed business. Which is a whole other story which I happily share with my audience "the day my life changed" & "how my business failed" two related posts you might find interesting.

By constantly reviewing and adjusting your model, you can see I'm always trying to reduce my living expenditure, luxury purchases and debt. I can speed up or slow down your progress as long as it complies with the rules you set yourself. I'm focused on paying off my debt but if I have a good month I make sure I do something with my family to remind them life is good and having things are not the memories that make a difference in your life.

I keep a goals sheet where I track all my saving and debt. This allow me to plot the day I become debt free,at the current trajectory May 2024. On that day a month after my 42nd birthday, I will have no mortgage, no car loans, no unsecured loans and no credit cards.

With my targeted base line above I will be able to live on half my wage, which means I could pursue a new career, or just work less. Right now I'm working on that blog "ambitions for the future" which I'm finding interesting as I'm trying to figure out what will make me happy.

 They say life begins at 40 for me that is becoming a reality every day I get closer to a uncorrupted life.

3 months on the road to minimalism

I'm very surprised how rewarding I have found this transition, from mainstream capitalist to off path minimalist. It has not been an effortless transition, it has however been incredibly rewarding both personally and financially.

I started this journey on the 16th of June when I wrote my first blog post “The day my life changed” this was shortly after I almost lost everything when the failure of my business came from nowhere. I was down and stressed, contemplating the worst when I discover a concept via a documentary call “The minimalists” on Netflix. After watching the hour-long documentary, I decided to do my research and the rest is history. I now class myself as a born-again-human, with a new exciting journey ahead. The life I always imagined I would lead, has completely changed to the point where I class myself as practically a different person.

On the 27th of June I wrote a blog titled "First step towards a minimalist life" if you read that blog, you will vaguely remember how I discussed how I was going to reduce my need for material things and stop impulse purchasing. I touched on reducing my wardrobe which has changed my outlook completely

I am proud to say I have not purchased a single item in three months, not a major achievement but it is in my eyes a successful step towards my goal.

I have stuck to my wardrobe reduction and taken it to a new level not only did I remove all unnecessary items of clothing from my wardrobe, but I really thought about the items I kept while trying to keep to a max number of 33 items of clothing, excluding socks and underpants. Well for the first month anyway as while I was getting dressed one morning I thought to myself “why do I wear underpants?”. After asking a few of my work buddies, I concluded it was because sometimes we dribble after we have a wee. “It catches the dribbles before it comes through on your pant” said one of my co-workers. Now being a minimalist is all about cutting out what we don't need, and I always have enough time to shake after having a wee. I binned all my underpants and I have not looked back since! I feel one step closer to Eden in a strange way.

On the 12 of August in my blog "How I control spending" I wrote about how I have had to make the biggest changes in my adult life and the hardest to manage, with my family who are not liking the new strict regime and have likened it to living in a cult. However, we have managed to find middle ground where both sides feel they can be happy. I

 now know how important a budget is, if you can make a forecast of where you will be if you achieve every milestone. It can be used as an incredibly motivating tool, to help you achieve your goal and help you hold your resolve. I use excel to break my expenditure into different segments, and at the end of a month I create a pie chart to show where our money is going. once I have seen, how our money was getting spent I make plans to cut those bills. The results require their own blog post coming soon called "Money stop wasting it".

The hardest thing I have experienced is differentiating the difference between a need and a want, harder still convincing my wife that her wants are not needs. This area has been the biggest area of controversy since I took up this new mantra, as anyone who is in a relationship knows nothing gets a couple fighting quicker than one telling the other they can’t do something they really want to do. Compromises were made and both of us feel at least we have a watered-down happy medium version of what we want out of life.

Areas where we have made good savings is when we plan our meals a week in advance on the 7th July in my blog "Planning food for a minimalist family" I touched on basic nutrition for a modern diet that I believe is healthy and sustainable, using good fat to fuel the body which requires us eating less but specific high fat foods (healthy fats) and low carbs and moderate protein. This diet is far more sustainable than high carbs and proteins of mainstream diets. However, the main point of that blog was planning your meals, eat the same things regularly and you will save money. This would be accelerated by growing your own produce, which would not just save you more money but more importantly reduce your carbon foot print. 

I have not made any headways as I’m still trying to get my allotment. I have proven that forward planning works when I plan our meals for the weak and buy what we need, I have managed to feed a family of four on £36pw which is about 70% reduction in our weekly shopping bills then when we don’t plan.

Reducing the clutter that stops us from enjoying our personal space, has been a struggle. A lot of the stuff that clutters our house is mine built up from my previous life of the more stuff I have the more successful I was. I rammed it all in the garage and declared my zones of the house as clutter free zones that nobody can put anything in. On the 6 Aug I wrote a blog titled “Cutting out the clutter” I discussed how I was going to start getting rid of all my possessions, using local car boot sales which has been particularly enjoyable. I now know that if I want something, I can get it for a steel at a car boot. As I have sold possessions for next to nothing just to get rid. I can now at least walk into my garage still have some way to go but if you look at the before photo in the above link you can see the positive steps made. More importantly I have got to spend time with my wife without the distractions of our busy life at home, while removing the clutter from our life.

In Summary, I’m enjoying the new direction my life is going and I’m excited for a future where I have little or no dependence on material things to bring me happiness. I have learnt that my happiness is not linked to possessions but experiences. I plan to continue reducing my outgoing and need for material possessions and focus on growing my experiences and memories with my family at my side. I would rather spend £500 on a trip away doing something memorable than having nice decorations on a wall that will date but the memories of the trips and experiences with my wife and boys will live forever, in the pictures and my thoughts. When I’m gone my boys will remember me! Hopefully I can help them learn earlier in life that life is for living not accumulating stuff.

Planning food for minimalist family

Currently we spend £400 a month on food our short term goal is to cut this in half. Feeding a family of 4 with good quality protein,  carbohydrates and fats on a reduced budget will take planning.

For months now I have been testing a diet that is suited for minimalists, as a large proportion can be grown on the allotment. The diet uses fat as a fuel opposed to carbohydrate this has been medically proven to benefit our bodies as fat is a more stable fuel, it also allows us to reduced our dependence on glucose which is addictive and a poor fuel, but cheap which is probably why we have grown to be so dependant on it. So far I have seen my blood sugar reduce to 4.2 and my cholesterol drop to 4.4 both now perfect in just two months.

The targeted ratio 

Carbohydrates- between 5 and 10% of daily

Protein- between 15 and 30% of daily

Fats- between 60 and 80% of daily

Targeted macros 

I have created 4 different weekly menus of foods we like to eat and eating them in the correct quantities will align with the above macros. If you are eating 30g of carbs in the morning then the other meals need to be carb free. These menus will reduce our shopping bill by more than half! They give us a guide for planning our trips to the shops, so we don't get distracted and buy other stuff. Currently we are still on the waiting list for a allotment, so we still need to buy all our food. Meals are planned in conjunction with what we plan to grow so eventually, we will be able to cut our shopping budget by half again.

PS where I put pasta this it either marrow/butternut pasta as it is lower in carbs

Maximum weekly spend to achieve the 50% reduction is £46.

On average we will spend £30 on the meal plans this will leave us £16pw for addition items like cleaning products and other sundries if and when required. Looking at the menus above it is clear we can save £2392 over the year which is a great reason to follow the plan.

Future planning "allotment" to save further!

allotment planning general overview a detailed allotment blog will follow soon.

our target allotment is 0.7miles from our house but we are 18th on the list, so we have a few years of waiting

Main food groups

Protein

Chicken, rabbit and fish will be raised on the allotment they all have a dual purposes outlined below

Chicken - these are split into two groups meat birds and layers. Eggs form an important part of our diet. We will need 16 eggs a week to feed our family of 4. The meat birds will be housed separately, we aim to have at least 1 to 2 chickens a week for our pot.

Rabbit  - These amazing animals provide good source of protein, and pelts for garment manufacture.

Fish - these form a key part in our garden as they fertilise and supply nutrients for all our green house plants as part of our aquaponics setup once there at size we will harvest and consume. Once experience is gained we will have prawns and fish.

There is also potential to generate a small additional income through these animals. At farmers markets and through a Facebook page, this is forward thinking but essentially it would be a sign of success as if we are selling we are well fed.

Carbohydrates and Vegetables 

Potatos, fruit trees and soft fruits and vegetables will be farmed on the allotment

Potatoes, sweet potatoes and sweed - well these are a must especially with children as they are versatile and store well

Fruit trees - apples, pears, cherry and plums will be grown at the allotment and in our garden what we don't eat fresh will be pressed and turned into alcohol. Apple and pear cider, the plums will be converted to spirit alcohol to be transformed into gin 

Soft fruits - raspberries, strawberries, gooseberry and currents will be grown these will be eaten fresh what's left will be frozen or preserved for winter months

Vegetables- salad items and various vegetable will be grown either conventionally or via aquaponics 

Herbs and botanicals - these will be grown to add to food and make essential oils for fragrances and soaps a small hobby we have interest in 

Fats

Nuts will make our only source of grown fat these will be walnut and hazelnut. dependant on quantity butters will be made from the surplus.

It is important to recognise it is impossible to grow everything, so surplus should raise sufficient capital to buy what we can't produce. Our goal is to live in balance with our planet if we can feed ourselves we don't need to work as hard, ultimately a life where we feel we are living for us is the ultimate goal.