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Archives for April 2015

5 Lessons From Minimizing My Wardrobe

By Frugaling 20 Comments

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5 Lessons From Minimizing My Wardrobe. The day has come to minimize my wardrobe. After much delay and caution, I eliminated tens of items from my closet and feel lighter than ever!

I’ve been aching to clear out my closet and see what can be minimized, but I’ve constantly repeated, “I’ve got more important things to do!” Well, today is the day to clean out the unnecessary, unworn, ripped, tattered, and otherwise useless. Spring is here, and now it’s time to find some clothing to donate or throw out!

I’m a rather failing minimalist. Life circumstances (being a graduate student) require that I keep ungodly numbers of papers for years. In an effort to minimize the clutter and paper space, I’ve scanned and digitized everything I can. The rest — what must be held for safe keeping — goes under the bed.

Clothing can’t be moved or digitized, and space must be occupied. While I have ample room in my apartment, there isn’t much “storage.” I don’t have any furniture (i.e., bureaus, dressers, etc.), either. Every time I look in my closet, I’m reminded of the unorganized mass I own. After many weeks contemplating, I decided this would be the day to really review what I have, and decide, In or Out?

Before I review the photos and take you on a little tour of what’s left, I want to explain some rules that informed my choices:

1. While minimal, I haven’t moved to uniforms; thus, multiple outfits remain

2. I’ve trained and run two marathons (and plan on more), which require athletic clothing

3. I don’t like multinational brand names stamped across my chest

4. I won’t replace or buy more clothing by reviewing and donating excess

5. Furniture could help make it look more minimal, but see rule 4

Review socks
Review socks
Review boxers
Review boxers
Review shirts
Review shirts
Review pants
Review pants
Review athletic gear
Review athletic gear
Review hangers
Review hangers
In or out?
In or out?

 

 

Clearing out and reviewing all your clothes is rather time consuming. The first thing I did was wash everything dirty and prep it for the preceding photos. Afterwards, I grabbed my box o’ socks and box o’ undies, and dumped them out. Pair by pair I reviewed for stains, holes, and other unmentionables. I eliminated 8 pairs of worn out or otherwise mangled socks, and 2 stray socks (inevitably lost to the magic of the washing machine). From the boxers, there were 5 that were in total disrepair — waistband wasted. Out they went!

Then, I moved to tee, long-sleeve, and collared shirts. Despite advocating for a more minimal life, I found it hard to let go and/or donate some of my more sentimental — however aged — clothing. The soft texture and wild memories of concert tees were the hardest to rule over. Images of dancing, friends, former girlfriends, and everything in between seemed stained into the shirts. In the end, those with massive pit discolorations were thrown out. Although, I couldn’t help but keep a couple for sentimental purposes (and I wear them frequently). One collared shirt was a big no-no, as it featured a brand I no longer wish to advertise across my chest nor support.

Two pairs of jeans unfortunately needed to go. I had wiped out on my bicycle in one of them, and they no longer met professional work standards. The other had started out as skinny jeans and were quickly shrinking into leggings. I’m not sure if that’s a consequence of weight gain or the dryer; let’s go with the latter option.

My wonderful mother insisted I take a bed protector with me, and I’ve had it for quite some time — unused. I’m not opposed to fitted protectors, but this one is loose. Invariably, it crumples up into an awkward ball in my bed and messes up the fitted sheets. No, it was time to be rid of that stinky old “protector.”

Extra hangers? Out!
Extra hangers? Out!
Halloween costume? Out.
Halloween costume? Out.
Old boxers? Out!
Old boxers? Out!
Lint? Out!
Lint? Out!
Old bed protector? Out!
Old bed protector? Out!
In
In
In
In
Donations to charity!
Donations to charity!

 

 

Despite being an avid runner, I owned too many shirts. Each race you run, there’s a new shirt. Nobody needs this many athletic shirts. I was able to get rid of 3 shirts and one pair of shorts. While they weren’t in bad shape, I’m hoping someone else can enjoy them — I have plenty.

This little In or Out experiment netted 28 items. Those items will either be donated or thrown away. Additionally, I was able to take out 14 hangers from my closet (bringing the total to 42)! Now, it’s easier to get at what I want, as opposed to fighting back and forth to get jeans and a t-shirt. There’s room again, which feels fantastic.

The following are 5 lessons learned in the process of eliminating the unnecessary from my wardrobe:

1. Sentimentality is piqued by things, but inspired by brains

Humans are inherently pulled to place energy and emphasis in things. We name cars, put stickers on everything, and place creative cases on phones, all with the desire to make something nice and unique. Our things get special treatment. They become a time capsule and place to store our memories. It’s important to remember that those mental images are within us — not in things.

2. Clearing out old clothing is therapeutic

What seems to be a chore at first is rather calming as you go along. There’s a routine: open, dump, review, decide in or out. That’s all there is to minimizing your wardrobe. In the calm of a weekend day, it can be a meditative task to focus on the here and now.

3. My nice things might be necessary things to another

I have ample clothing, even after minimizing some. What helped me decide to donate a couple more items are other people. It helped to focus on them. The “nice” stuff that I rarely — if ever — use could be immensely helpful and necessary for another person or family. I’m not just removing stuff from my closet and tossing it, as I want some of these things to have better owners.

4. It’s embarrassing what we keep around or forget to throw out

I don’t know how 2 stray socks slowly buried their way into the bottom of my box o’ socks, but they did. I probably wouldn’t have noticed for a couple years, if I didn’t engage in this cleanse. Also, the Halloween costume from a couple years ago? Yeah, no need to keep that around.

5. Minimizing your wardrobe takes far less time than you think

I procrastinated for weeks about getting rid of extra clothing. I didn’t want to let go of anything, and felt like I had more important things to accomplish. In some ways, I did, but that was also a tool to delay the inevitable. Now, the day of reckoning is here and complete. My closet looks way better. In reality, what I thought would take hours only took one. One and done to be lighter than ever.

Filed Under: Minimalism Tagged With: Charity, closet, Clothes, Clothing, Consumer, donate, jeans, minimal, Minimalism, Shirts, socks, Wardrobe

Frugal Articles of the Week

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Reading Nook Photo

Every week I like to feature a few frugal articles that caught my eyes. Curl up in your favorite reading nook and enjoy. Hopefully these encourage you to live frugal lives!

The Men Powerful Enough to Wear the Same Thing Every Day by Alex Hawgood
I’ve got a couple articles this week that feature people who are wearing the same thing nearly every day. From fashion icons to tech CEOs, there’s a movement to simplify wardrobes. In becoming more minimal, we can save money and worry less about what we wear.

Why I Wear The Exact Same Thing To Work Every Day by Matilda Kahl
Like I mentioned, here’s the second article on wearing a single uniform. Curiously, this one features an art director who “leaves the creativity behind when it comes to her professional wardrobe.” I think a movement is happening here!

Freedom > Money > Stuff by J. Money
In case you need a reminder, J. Money has a simple mathematical formula for life. Prioritize free time and freedom over anything else. Then, save whatever you can — make that money work for you. And if, after all that, you still need stuff…

California Drought Tests History of Endless Growth by Adam Nagourney, Jack Healy and Nelson Schwartz
California is currently suffering one of the most punishing droughts they’ve ever experienced. All signs point to climate change and poor water rights/restrictions. This article is a likely harbinger of the trials and tribulations that are to come if we don’t do something about climate change — fast.

Filed Under: Save Money Tagged With: articles, Budgets, California, climate change, Clothing, Frugal, New York Times, Outfit, weather, week

Is Capitalism Compatible With Caring?

By Frugaling 6 Comments

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Google Campus Photo
Google is known for being one of the best places to work, with some of the happiest employees.

On the cost of caring

Each year, 217 million workdays are lost or less productive due to mental health concerns. Indirect mental health costs on companies are estimated at $59 billion. But some estimates put these costs as high as $80 to $100 billion. These staggering numbers often serve as motivators for human resources departments and corporations to take action and “solve” mental health crises.

For each specific diagnosis, the statistics vary widely. Researchers tend to look at indirect costs, direct health coverage costs, productivity disruptions, absenteeism, and failure to be mindful while on the job. One of the more common ones, depression, costs employers about $44 billion in lost productive time. Additionally, employees with depression miss about 4.8 days of work and 11.5 days of reduced productivity every 90 days.

Another frequent mental health concern in employees is anxiety. Symptoms of anxiety manifest in various ways, but generally are closely linked with stressors. Anxiety disorders cost about $42.3 billion in the 90s. Inevitably, that estimate would likely be far greater today.

The most expensive diagnosis is usually bipolar disorder. From absenteeism to lost productivity to medications, this disorder has a potent effect on profits. In fact, it costs about $6,836 per employee with bipolar disorder. Closely linked, suicide amounts to $34.6 billion in medical costs and work lost. And non-fatal suicide attempts cost $4.3 billion in lost wages and productivity.

Make companies care through stats

All of these statistics come from fairly reputable sources such as the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), National Institute of Mental Health (NIH/NIMH), National Alliance on Mental Health (NAMI), and peer-reviewed journal articles. As an academic, I trust that these organizations are estimating — to the best of their ability — the high price of mental health in America.

In the past, many companies discriminated against applicants with mental health concerns. Frequently, people were ruled out for jobs they would otherwise be qualified for because of mental illnesses. What the CDC, NAMI, and NIMH have worked tirelessly to do is normalize mental health concerns and reduce stigmas. They’ve worked to interject a hypothesis for companies, which is that everybody wins when you care for employees.

Each organization learned that to talk to companies you need to focus on the bottom line: profits. They’ve excelled at making terrific inroads with corporate giants that have instituted better fringe benefits, fun activities in the workplace, and greater time off. They know that companies want happy, healthy workers because that leads to greater sales, revenue, and shareholder returns. And, for the most part, it’s helped.

Treat the illness and profits will boom!

Mental health advocates in the corporate world seem to politely accept that companies are only motivated by numbers. They argue that untreated and undertreated mental concerns cost more than proper treatment.

Understanding this basic premise, companies have accepted a Mr-Fix-It-style psychology. Treat the illness, get better, and then get back to work! Similarly, healthcare companies rarely offer long-term mental health treatment, as it’s limited to short-term, brief therapy. To offer something more substantial would require companies to pay more profits to care for employees.

This pressure has led companies to ask researchers and academics to think of faster ways to treat distress. The question seems to be, How can we rapidly patch people up so that they can get back to work?

Models of treatment have focused on prescription pills and quick rounds of talk therapy to douse the fires. We’ve learned to cap emotional distress — to keep it in line with what corporate America needs.

Companies aren’t the victims, we are

Capitalism is predicated on a fatal flaw: work hard and be rewarded. Unfortunately, people are all born with different strengths and weaknesses, positions in society, and economic hand-me-downs. Working hard will look different for everyone. We are fundamentally created unequal, unlike the founding fathers suggested.

Men are generally taller than women, but that doesn’t mean they should get paid any different. Women live longer than men on average, but that doesn’t mean companies should begin to hire women because they could spend more years working. Our differences must be balanced out, because purely capitalistic forces fail to change the systemic problems.

And just like the aforementioned physicality and livelihood between genders, there’s great variety in mental health needs. People are not raised equally. Some parents are wonderful — others abusive. Some schools are the best in the country, and others are the worst. Some experience difficult traumas, and others seem to float by without incident. Our experiences from womb to tomb will vary greatly, and we need to learn to embrace this fact. Some people will need greater mental health care.

Flipping our understanding of mental health

Anything that gets in the way of working hard, being productive, and increasing revenue has — up until this point — been seen as an impediment. Being depressed has become a “bad” thing that you should avoid. Get that treated! It’s considered a flaw to suffer and hurt, because of the cost to a company’s bottom line. You’re causing profits to dip! Additionally, it’s encouraged people to stay tight-lipped and private about their struggles for fear of being ostracized.

When dollar signs flashed before corporations’ eyes, they listened. They understood that by making their employees healthier, they’d increase their bottom line. It would seem — for a moment — that capitalism was compatible with caring. But what if the money wasn’t there, would companies still care?

Companies desperately need to change the way they do business. Companies must see their employees as autonomous, capable, and creative humans. Companies must provide a space to excel, but also to seek freedom. Companies must look beyond the dollar amounts and pay for better time off and vacations. Companies must do their best to disregard the power of shareholders, in favor of respecting their employees.

Medical and mental health are in decline in America. Our system is bloated, expensive, and frankly, embarrassingly flaccid. It’s time we flip the paradigm. It’s time we say that workplaces need a reboot. It’s time for employers to receive the treatment. Perhaps it’s time to make companies work for us?

Filed Under: Social Justice Tagged With: America, Capitalism, care, Companies, employees, Finances, Google, illness, mental health, Psychology, statistics

I Have Zero Business Degrees

By Frugaling 13 Comments

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My Graduation Day 2011

What are my credentials?

Frugaling is a personal finance website where I regularly talk about financial concerns. I provide advice to save and make money, editorialize social justice issues, and argue in favor of minimalism over consumption.

But you might be wondering what credentials I have to proffer this help. Well, that’s a funny thing: I don’t have any. I didn’t get a business-related degree — there’s no formal finance education or economics indoctrination. My words are informed by something greater, and my hope is that they’re not the rote, memorized drivel that many financial advisors spout.

As a kid, I always thought I’d pursue something in finance. In fact, I want to tell you a little story from high school. It was there that I decided that to pursue a financial career path would leave me deeply unsatisfied, but my passion for personal finance never stopped.

Sam, you’re on the line!

I was giddy, but tempered in my high school science course. In about 10 minutes I’d ask my teacher to step outside and make a phone call.

My battery was fully charged, but I had to find a better signal. There was a field, away from the building, that provided a comfortable amount of strength. I dialed the number; I believe it was somewhere in New Jersey. I stayed on the line for what seemed like an abominable amount of time.

Occasionally, a pre-recorded voice piped up, that encouraged me to stay on the line. Then, I heard Jim Cramer’s — host of Mad Money on CNBC — voice and he shouted in my ear, “Sam from Golden, Colorado…” I melted with nervousness, but miraculously stated a ticker symbol (which I cannot remember) for a stock I was interested in.

Stocks were more important than classes

My latter high school days were filled with these moments. While fellow students studied diligently for their ACTs and applied to elite schools such as Duke and Stanford, my time was spent reading, trading, and watching the stock market. Because I was under 18, I forced my mom to co-sign and create a custodial account on an online trading site. I was hooked, and I loved the adrenaline.

Numbers pulsed through me, and I would binge on stock charts for hours. I hogged library computers and printer time to map them. In hallways and breaks, I drew lines on the charts, and practiced what I saw in books and television.

As an autodidact, the stock market provided an endless supply of data to be analyzed and understood. And the spoils went to the most educated people. I wanted to be one of them.

One form changed my degree, life

College was the path I was expected to follow. While my parents and grandparents never “forced” that path, it was strongly encouraged. The university life was where people went from good to great. I was open to that potential.

I applied to two colleges. The one I wanted to go to, Colorado State University, accepted me, but didn’t directly admit me into business. My less-than-stellar grades and contempt of mathematics meant that I would be an “open-option” business student until I proved my competence via good grades.

Prior to departing for Colorado State, there was an open house session. I attended one event geared specifically towards open-option students. For one hour, an advisor talked about academic success and finding your purpose in college.

I remember rolling my eyes, as the cynic in me dreaded the activity to come. We were split up into groups and then given about 10 minutes to complete a form and talk among the members.

The form asked us some simple questions, but one stuck out; it read, “How would you use your degree?” Despite the stupidly simple question, I had not really thought about this question before. I saw a response, “I want to help others.” Then I thought about my business degree — something wasn’t quite right.

I went to my advisor as soon as school started and asked to switch to psychology. There, I envisioned being able to listen and talk with others through their problems. That would be a degree to “help others.”

The psychology of money, spending, and society

After undergrad, I applied to graduate school and got into a counseling psychology doctoral program at the University of Iowa. I still wanted to follow the goals set forth in that open-option day. But in the back of my mind I recognized that investing and money issues still held great interest.

I still invested and read everything I could get my hands on regarding the stock market and business. I changed career paths, but my intrinsic passion for personal finance lingered.

As my own debt and spending spiralled out of control, I started Frugaling to right my course. It worked. I paid off about $40,000 of debt in about a year. I completely revamped my life — now incompatible with wanton spending and extravagances.

But I also started Frugaling as a perfect combination to meld my converging interests. I found that people’s (me included) monetary issues were closely linked to psychological concerns, distress, and stressors.

Psychology and business weren’t divergent topics. Additionally, I realized that most financial gurus blamed personal responsibility and character flaws on poverty, bankruptcy, and inadequate financial planning. There was room for a different voice — informed by psychological concepts and real counseling work with people suffering.

I’m not a financial-affiliated spokesperson

Over the nearly two years that Frugaling has been around, I have become an increasingly more passionate advocate for the underdogs. Financial markets are deeply unforgiving and unequal. People need to stand up and help others across diverse, multicultural backgrounds.

I ask you not to trust me for my financial degrees and letters after my name. I ask you not to trust me for how much money I’ve made for other people. I ask you not to trust me for being personally wealthy. I ask you not to trust me for my reputation (or lack thereof).

All I ask is that you consider the possibility that financial voices of reason come from those outside that insular world. I’m here to stand up for those who’ve been drowned out for too long. And I’m excited to continue building an audience (you included) that is inspired into action over social justice concerns and reducing consumption.

Filed Under: Social Justice Tagged With: Advice, Business, college, Finance, graduate school, investing, Personal Finance, Psychology, school, Social Justice, Stock Market, stocks, university

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