Minimalist living and financial freedom

The phrase "Financial Freedom" in recent years in Vietnam has been abused and tainted by too many multi-level "scammers" and speakers. Because they used those phrases to scam money like people who desire success but are gullible.

Perhaps in your mind right now, when you think of financial freedom, you think of the image of multi-level young people gathering on Nguyen Hue flower street and shouting the slogan: "I will become a millionaire, I act despite everything, despite difficulties...". Or standing in the halls of several hundred people, they cheered and danced loudly along with the get rich speaker...

In fact, multi-level marketing is not necessarily bad, but the variations of this multi-level activity in Vietnam when selling worthless products, regardless of attracting relatives, the illusion of getting rich quickly makes it become a bad thing. bad.

This is what makes every time the phrase "financial freedom" is mentioned, there is a slight ripple and unsympathetic looks from others that take away the true goodness that "financial freedom" represents. main” brings to our lives.

What is financial freedom?

I don't want to turn my blog or this article into empty concepts or life teaching philosophies because that would be very boring and impractical.

Financial freedom can be simply understood when your passive income is greater than your required expenses. For example, your passive income is 10 million VND/month. Your monthly expenses are only 7 million VND, so you are already financially free.

In the above definition, another concept appears passive income. Passive income is briefly explained as inactive income...

Just kidding ^ ^

Passive income is income that you have while you are not working. For example, if you have a house that you rent out every month, you still have income even if you don't work during that time, or if you have a savings deposit, you still receive monthly interest even if you don't work.

Those are the most basic examples, but in this 4.0 era there are many forms of passive income such as being an affiliate, youtuber, blogger, selling online courses,...

It's different from working an hourly wage job, or working 8 hours at the office. When you stop working, you have no money.

You should not misunderstand the concept that passive income means not having to do anything and still have money. Because in fact, to get that passive income source, you initially need to spend a lot of effort. However, once you have established an income source, you need very little or no effort to make money even "while you sleep".

It can be said that passive income is a very important part of financial freedom!

How to be financially free?

Most people always think that to be financially free we need to try to make more money. This is not necessarily true, because if we try to work more to make money but then use the money to live lavishly beyond our ability to pay, then you will only ever live in a cycle of "pay the bill". .

The harder it is to earn money, the more you spend to relieve stress, the more you spend, the more you need to work to earn money to pay the bills, etc. This spiral is like when you tie a can to a mouse and drop it in. In a circle, the mouse will run and think that someone is chasing behind, running and running and running... until exhausted.

Every inequality has two sides. And the more important thing in this case that you can do right away is to reduce your monthly spending. This is more important than you earning an income. (Don't get me wrong, I mean there's no need to earn extra income, it's just important and easy to do right now)

A person with an income of 30 million/month but spending it all without keeping any money is not as good as a person with an income of 7 million/month but saving 2 million/month.

There are even many people who spend more than their monthly income on credit debt, consumer loans, installment loans, etc. You are exchanging your financial future for temporary benefits. . Instead of your income being increased by savings and investment interest thanks to compound interest, you decide to pay interest to the bank on loans whose interest rates are calculated based on compound interest, which will make you crazy.

So, the first step to financial freedom that we need to do is save.

You may be surprised that the world's richest billionaires like Warren Buffett and Bill Gates still eat at popular McDonald's fast food restaurants worth only 3$, and drive affordable cars.

You will realize the value of savings even more clearly during the crisis caused by COVID-19. Many companies and stores have had to stop operating, workers have reduced income, or even no income these days. If you don't have any savings and spend all your income, you're probably going through very difficult days. And perhaps difficulties will remain even after the epidemic ends when the world economy will suffer a recession caused by the epidemic.

However, you shouldn't be sad either. To be optimistic, this is an opportunity for you to get used to a frugal life when restaurants, eateries, and entertainment services are closed.

A journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step. Your first step to financial freedom is to save.

Minimalist living is a good choice

A minimalist lifestyle will probably be a good choice to help you live more frugally. I don't know if you already know about this lifestyle or if you have incorrect thoughts about it, you can read more articles: "Minimalist Living – Trends & Misconceptions? ” to better understand this lifestyle.

I will try to come up with a few arguments to convince you that this lifestyle will be great for your savings goals and financial future. Can you try to see if it makes sense?

Spend according to your needs

Minimalist living is getting rid of unnecessary or unwanted things, creating a neat living space, thereby making life simpler.

For example, do you really need seven or forty nine dresses and clothes in your wardrobe? It seems like there are a lot of outfits you bought that you haven't worn or only worn a few times, right? Yet you still sit and sigh and sigh that you have nothing to wear...

Do you really need such massive computers with all kinds of gear? Or is just a laptop with enough configuration enough for your needs?

Do you need to go out to eat expensive buffet meals, then jostle and push each other to get the mountain of food to the table, then try your best to eat it all to avoid the "loss" and then torture your stomach? Or just need a meal at half the cost that's delicious and allows you time to talk to the person you're sitting with?

We often spend a lot on unnecessary things and exceed our needs without even realizing it.

When you get rid of unnecessary things and only buy necessary things according to your needs, you will save quite a bit of money!

Eliminate unnecessary things.

If you own things that are not really necessary for your life such as too many unused clothes, technology items, furniture, etc., sell these things off, don't regret it because it costs a lot of money to buy. .

If you leave it unused, it will be worthless to you and its value will gradually decrease to zero. If you sell it early, you will still get some money back.

If you want to sell but feel shy because you don't know where you are, download the app Get it about the phone. I have also liquidated many items on there very easily.

You can also buy used items you need on there because the value is still the same and you can save a lot compared to buying new items. At the same time, it also protects the environment and reduces waste. (When you buy a used item, you just help prevent that item from being discharged into the environment, and reduce the number of new items being produced => double the benefit, right)

Avoid distracting attention on unnecessary things

Pay less attention to what to eat, what to wear, surf shopee or tiki to hunt for promotions - even though you don't really need those items, you just want to not miss out on a discounted item. Stop.

In fact, minimalist living is not only about material things but also about spirit, or how you approach problems. That could be eliminating unnecessary relationships, unnecessary applications on the phone, eliminating online newspaper sites (don't get rid of my blog. It's also quite useful. hehe). . You can read the article I linked above to better understand.

That time you will spend reading books, finding a new hobby, improving your knowledge, having more time for yourself and those around you, and finding ways to find a new source of income. This will definitely have the benefit of increasing your income.

You probably still remember the late Apple CEO Steve Jobs with his legendary jeans and turtleneck shirt. Or Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg with his wardrobe full of gray T-shirts? That's how they avoid focusing on unnecessary things.

We don't need to be that "harsh" but reducing those unnecessary things will help you live more honestly, more peacefully and focus on "unearthing" your own potential and doing your own work. favourite. Then your quality of life and income will definitely increase.

I wonder if those arguments are enough to convince you to try the minimalist lifestyle? If not, that's okay, because in the next articles I will continue to share ways for us to have a better financial future. See you soon!