Can you be a minimalist as family? I would say, the best advice is to try. Kris and I both grow up without a lot of money, so for a while accumulating stuff was part of our programming. When you don’t grow up with much you tend to want to gather stuff.
But over the years we have started to let a lot of our stuff go. Being in the military has helped. When you are required to move every 3-4 years, it really allows you time to reflect on things you need, or may not need. Our move to Japan in 2014 really helped us trim our lifestyle. The living assignments are a lot smaller than in the US, so having a lot of stuff can really be a hindrance.
Once we got back to the US, we started by buying a small home (1660 sq ft). After living in an 1100 sq ft house in Japan, there was no need to go bigger. It seems like every weekend we were trimming things out of our garage.
This has really helped us financially. In the sense that when we bought our third home, it was 2500 sq ft. We didn’t need all that space. We are able to rent out two of the rooms and almost live mortgage-free, all while paying down the principal of the loan.
If we had needed more space, we wouldn’t be willing to give up some real estate to make passive income. We would have needed our “office”, “game room”, “spare bedroom”, or “exercise room”. In the end, our family is living a completely comfortable life, and we are able to save and invest in our children’s future. Not a bad deal. All because we downsized our life and the expectations that we needed from it.
Disclosure: I am not a financial advisor or money manager, and any knowledge is given as guidance and not direct actionable investment advice. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it. I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.
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