Finding that work life balance can be tricky business and tricky for your business. Instead of trying to make more money so that we can live more, we should instead be learning how to spend less so that we can work less.
Work out your budget
The first step to working less and spending less is more work. Before you can begin working less you need to figure out your budget for life. This isn’t easy and nor should it be. The first thing you need to do is decide what is enough for you. At what point will you be happy? How much less can you spend without going without things that make you happy?
Money can only buy you happiness up to a certain point. According to one study in 2010 by Princeton University, that point is $75,000. However other studies show that that number is different depending on where you live. According to a recent study from Gallup and Sharecare, the average American adult living in Atlanta reaches peak daily happiness when they earn $US42,000, while someone in New York City doesn’t reach peak daily happiness until they earn $US105,000.
Compromise
If you’re someone that likes to exercise you may want to switch up your gym membership for a run around the block or a bike ride. If you usually schedule in yoga practices, you may want to switch to doing at least some of your practices from home. Memberships to clubs can cost a small fortune especially when considering that most of the time exercise can be free.
What about other compromises? If you’re a foodie, you may want to try mixing it up at home. If going out to restaurants is a social thing for you as well, invite your friends over and cook together. Experiment by finding recipes of your favourite dishes online that you usually go out to eat. Like to shop? Shop online for bargains instead or buy second-hand homewares and clothes rather than heading to the shops. Compromises like these can save you a lot of money over a year or more.
Spend time, not money
We’ve already established there’s a price point that you’ll be happiest at but money doesn’t equal happiness for others either. It can be a lot of fun to buy things for friends and family but those moments of happiness are very fleeting and often don’t compare with simply spending more time with you. If we spend less to work less, we have more time to give to others.
Instead of spending up big for birthdays and Christmas, simply spend more time with your family. I can almost guarantee they’ll prefer it over gifts that won’t last. Did you know that nearly 1 in 5 Americans never use half their gifts or that on average more than 1 in 4 gifts go unused? According to Spare Foot, for the majority of gift recipients, it’s not about the stuff. 81% of Americans said they’d rather receive the gift of an experience, than one more gadget, item or other “gift-of-a-thing”.
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