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The Unintentional Minimalist

For years I paired down my belongings, decluttered, and was intentional with my purchases. I was an unintentional minimalist. The idea of minimalism still isn't completely sold on me. Click through to read more

Minimalism is becoming kind of…dare I say it…trendy. People are embracing it and have become interested in decluttering, simple living, and making space for what matters to them. I used to never really give the idea of minimalism much thought until several people started labeling me as one.

At 17 years old I got a job at a restaurant cleaning tables. Like many teenagers, I thought about all the things I wanted to buy: movies, video games, books, clothes, concerts, and lots of drive-through junk food (my past obsession with Taco Bell knew no boundaries).

Being an almost graduated senior at the time, a few looks at college tuition prices made me keep my savings account mostly untouched.  Every two weeks when I got my paycheck from the minimum-wage job, I would keep the majority of it in my bank account and give myself a small allowance for food.

I watched as all the other seniors continued to spend their money on mindless things. It was always a running joke to publicly say how little each of them had in their bank accounts. I would laugh nervously alongside them and purposely downplay how much I had in my account.

Many of the people in my class, whether they had jobs or not, had gotten cars back in sophomore or junior year. Their parents footing the bill. I didn’t get my first until midway through senior year after I had saved $2,300 to purchase a used Ford Focus with 131K miles.

I loved and valued the little red car so much. When I went off to college, I packed everything I needed into the backseat and drove to campus. Big U-Haul trailers surrounded me at every turn. It was puzzling to see people carrying several boxes out of trailers and into dorm rooms (the rooms were so tiny, how did they fit it all in??)

I knew my living situation would shift ever so often so I made the choice to pair down all of my stuff. I didn’t have the time or money to cart around a bunch of things. An actual mattress and bed frame? Nah, a sleeping bag would work. A dresser and night stand? I just got something foldable instead.

I made sure everything was small and easily transportable. Throughout college I rarely ever slept on an actual bed. Mattresses were too expensive and a hassle to move.

Whenever people came into my room/apartment, a sudden look of shock would wash over their face. People didn’t understand why I didn’t have decorated walls or furniture. Only a few boxes and small printed out pieces of paper along with my sleeping bag occupied the space. I was content with it and didn’t think much of it besides the fact that it made moving a whole lot easier and cheaper.

Wow, you have so little stuff. You must be a minimalist!” was repeated over and over in varying ways.

All of my childhood and high school relics along with other stuff were kept in a few different boxes. They’ve been in those boxes since 2012, only be opened from time to time when I look through the stuff.

The habit of paring down to the essentials has stuck with me. For the past five years I’ve been an unintentional minimalist, decluttering, focusing on the stuff I’ve wanted to keep, and being intentional with what I’ve had in my possession.

It’s been pleasantly great. Whenever I’ve moved, I haven’t had to worry about getting moving trucks or needing help with moving. All about just packing things in the car!

This made my move overseas to Thailand a lot less stressful. The boxes got stacked and put up. With a backpack and one checked bag, I departed off to from Texas to The Land of Smiles (what Thailand is known for).

Despite unknowingly practicing minimalism for the past several years, I don’t know if I would label myself as one (curse you millennial non-labeling tendency!)

I place value in what I purchase. My belongings are kept to the essentials. I have a simplified wardrobe and practice the simplicity of wearing a “uniform” (simple gray/maroon t-shirt with dark jeans).

However, I also like purchasing things. Books, lenses for my camera, taking online courses through Skillshare, paying extra for convenience every now and then.

Am I really a minimalist? I’m not sure.


How do you interpret the minimalism movement? Do you consider yourself part of it?  

Don’t Neglect Personal Development

Personal finance is about investing in yourself, not just cutting expenses. Click through to read more.

We’re pretty bad at taking care of ourselves. Usually when it comes to health. How many times have you used that gym membership you got three months ago? Health and eating one-to-many sweets aside, the area people just as often neglect is personal development.

Most of us just don’t make space for it in our lives and our budgets.

One of the first things to do when getting serious about your money is to look for ways to cut back your expenses. Cut the cable. Don’t eat out (no more Chipolte 🙁 ), make your coffee at home instead of getting it at the coffee shop. You know the gist.

Everyone is told to do it because of the importance of awareness in spending. It’s what I did when I first set out to understand my personal finances. I looked up “how to make a budget”, quickly got distressed because several of the budgeting styles sucked, then found a budgeting style that worked for me (!!) and got to work on figuring out where I could cut back.

While I didn’t have the big evil cable bill, I was able to find different areas I could cut back. Some of my bills, auto insurance especially, I was able to get reduced by calling in and asking about ways to lower my bill.

Fresh off from cutting expenses, I felt great. My budget categories mirrored what was on other popular budgets, so it made me feel good. I’m in with the crowd! I have a budget and know where my money is going! *gives self a high five*

But then things started to suck. Not in the typical, “I hate budgets” kind of way (because I had found a budget style that worked for me). What sucked was guilting myself out of buying anything that interested me educationally or in a growth sort of way.

A membership to Treehouse? Sounds awesome! But it’s not really necessary, so I don’t need to buy it. *spends the rest of the day passively watching TV while the thoughts of not having the thing consume my mind*

Often times, in the quest to cut expenses, spending on personal development gets cut. Sometimes without even realizing it. Many budgets don’t have a category for personal development. And if you do spend on personal development, then it’s seen as wrong or unnecessary.

When a book lover mentions that they *actually* spend money on books for leisure reading, the spending is knocked down. You know there are libraries, right?! Just read stuff online for free!

These purchases aren’t bad. Spending money on yourself, on things you feel will enrich you, is not bad. When you consider how personal finance is largely behavior and personality influenced, you can start to see how closely it relates to personal development. Personal growth matters in personal finance.

Recently I’ve started allotting money towards personal development every month. It’s now factored into my budget. Sitting pretty right in between that pesky electric bill and my entertainment budget. So next time I see an e-course on self-pub book design, photoshop, or a hand-lettering guide, I can buy without remorse because I know I’ve made space and budgeted for it.

The Price Tag of Motivation

What happens when your motivation goes away and need some more? More self-development books? Sign up for a yoga membership? Click through to read about the price tag of motivation (and a better way to help reach your goals!)

I never cared much for the movie Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues. Like many unnecessary comedy sequels (I’m looking at you Zoolander 2) it felt forced and flat in comparison to the original Anchorman movie. Which, let’s be honest, everyone can at least laugh at little at it.

Ron Burgundy’s special bond with his beloved dog Baxter made #dogbonding even more profound. Every wants a bond like that!

The difference between Anchorman and Anchorman 2 is the fact that the first one gave people an upbeat feeling and feel-goodness while the second movie went downhill fast and wasn’t very satisfying.

Motivation kinda words the same way.

Having motivation is a wonderful thing…but not all it’s cracked up to be. I mean, it can be really freaking unreliable. It’s kind of like the over zealous friend who, on a Tuesday morning, proudly declares to go out for drinks on Friday night. Then Friday rolls around and they cancel. (Maybe try again next week?).

When you run out of motivation
When you run out of motivation

Everybody loves a good motivation boost. The most notable one being New Year’s resolutions. You know how it goes. You set a big, ambitious goal to (lose weight, be productive, write the next great American novel, etc) and for the first few days, things are good. You go to the gym (exercise! new body, who dis?), be super productive (even with checking your phone every five minutes) and write your heart out for half an hour on your novel.

Then you might skip a day. Practice a little less the next day. Get busy for a week. Then it’s all over and your back to being in a slump. The motivation is gone and you need some more.

How much is all of this motivation costing you?

Buying a bunch of self-development books

…without taking action after reading them. I see this sometimes when discussion comes up about self-development and motivation booster books.

“Yeah, I just finished Big Magic. It was so good! Now I’m reading Daring Greatly, then I’m going to read The Desire Map!” 

Woah, slow down a little! All of those books are great (and you should definitely read them!) but don’t let yourself get caught up with reading so much that you don’t practice some of the stuff you have read. Action cures a lot.

Getting yoga and gym memberships

Signing up for a yoga and/or gym membership seemed like such a great idea. Maybe you were enticed by the promotional New Year’s pricing and felt like you just had to sign up. Getting a gym membership seemed like the perfect motivation for exercising more. Now every month you’re dropping $30-100 a month on something you might only be using whenever you have a motivation boost.

Small “treat yo self” splurges

A Starbucks latte is a powerful thing. Mainly because it’s loaded with sugar and only about %5 coffee a motivator for people. The perfect “pick me up” to starting something. Even if you only buy one $5 dollar latte per week, that means your motivation boost is costing you around $20 per month.


We’re addicted to constantly seeking out motivation. We have a price tag placed on it, get it, then it runs out, and we want more. It’s a good thing to get started with but not all that reliable.

Related: Creating Positivity on Demand

Building new habits is hard and solely using a motivation boost to develop them isn’t going to go over well. Motivation is fleeting while consistency and daily actions are constant.


The price tag of motivation. How much are you spending on it? 

Thailand so far…

I’ve been in Thailand for over four months now! Things have been going great and I’ve gotten into a good routine with lesson planning, work, and taking trips on some of the weekends. Thailand has really grown on me.

A big thing getting used to has been not being able to take hot showers (whaaa?). During the first month when I was traveling around Thailand and doing my ATI course, I stayed in hotels and hostels where hot water for showers was a typical thing. Every one of the showers had small hot water heaters hookd up to the side of the shower. My apartment doesn’t have that. Hot showers aren’t a typical thing here.

Learning about money management definitely wasn’t something I was expecting as I started working here. When you’re making a small salary and still want to satisfy your travel bug, you have to get good with your money!

It’s interesting to see the different ways all of the teachers talk about and manage their money. Saving 50% of your salary is a big thing in the personal finance world. At my school, some of the foreign English teachers try to do just that.

At the start of every month, when I get paid, I put half my salary in an envelope and try not to touch it. The rest of my salary is mine to spend. It works kind of like Paula Pant’s Afford Anything Anti-Budget. I just pull my savings off the top and spend the rest. For the first two paychecks so far, I’ve been able to save slightly more than half my salary.

Thailand Culture

Land of smiles

They don’t call Thailand the “land of smiles” for nothing. People can be very friendly here! The clerks at the bank and 7-eleven smile when assisting you, thai teachers smile at you in the hallway. It goes a long way.

Now everything wasn’t always so rosy. The first two to three months were a difficult transition. Everything smoothed out as time went on, though. Culture shock is always something to content with when traveling. Especially when you start living and working in another country.

Taking shoes off

I’ve gotten used to taking my shoes off. At my school, I have to take off my shoes before entering the kindergarten classrooms. It’s also customary to take shoes off when entering temples, some tourist attractions, message and spa parlors, and other places.

In Thailand, the head is regarded as the most important part of the body, because it is where the spirit resides. The feet are the furthest away from the head so they are the lowest part of the body spiritually. Feet are not to be pointed directly at buddha relics, and other important and spiritual things.

I’ve even started taking my shoes off at the door of my own apartment!

7-elevens and message places everywhere

There are 7-elevens every two to three blocks. It’s crazy. I thought at first how was  it possible to have so many. Wouldn’t it cause trouble for each establishment since there are so many? Nope! Every one of them regularly gets people coming through the sliding beeping doors.

Like the stores back in the states, the ones here have a variety of prepackaged food/meal items. Although, the selection is different for the stores here in Thailand. There are a bunch of rice and noodle dishes for 37 baht ($1.06 USD). There’s “toasties” as well!

Message places can be found on every few blocks as well. Hour long messages can be done for around 200-300 baht ($5.70-8.55 USD). So inexpensive!

Holiday trips

I try to make a habit of going somewhere every weekend. It doesn’t have to be big or in some far off tropical beach, just something. Thailand is so so so beautiful and diverse. I love the different shaped mountains, Jurassic Park vibe from looking at them (yeah, haha) , beautiful beaches, and diverse atmospheres.

Three big trips I’ve taken since I started work: Chiang Mai, Ko Kret+park, and Koh Chang.

Chiang Mai

It’s commonly said how “everyone loves Chiang Mai”. While maybe not everyone loves it, it is a pretty neat place. Being in northern Thailand, the weather is a lot more compliant to visitors than the hot and polluted atmosphere of Bangkok (Bangkok is still a great place though!).

Chiang Mai is considered the digital nomad capital of the world. It offers a low cost of living, good internet speeds, and plenty of attractions and laid-back culture.

Wat Chedi Luang in Chiang Mai, Thailand
Wat Chedi Luang temple in Chiang Mai

Chiang Mai temple hopping

Ko Kret & Chaloem Kanchanaphisek Park

Just outside of Bangkok’s bustling and chaotic nature lies Ko Kret, a small artificial island that resulted from a canal being dug to provide an easier route along the Chao Phraya River. Ko Kret is known for its laid-back peaceful rural atmosphere and pottery.

The island doesn’t have any official paved roads, just a narrow concrete path circling the small island. There is a nice weekend market here that makes it perfect for a weekend day trip. I went on an early Saturday.

I rented a bike for 40 baht and spent the next three hours riding around the island, making multiple stops along the way.

Ko Kret, Thailand water lady

After Ko Kret, I went to Chaloem Kanchanaphisek Park. Stunning views in this place!

Thailand Park outside Bangkok

Ko Chang

This has been the best trip by far (sorry Chiang Mai). There was an five-day weekend due to Thai Lent holiday. Me and eight other teachers from my school went to Ko Chang for the holiday.

Ko Chang is Thailand’s second biggest island, after Phuket. It’s notable because it’s one of the Thai islands that remains not too negatively affected by tourism.  I got to the island by taking a five-hour bus from Bangkok to Trat then a ferry to the island.

Everyday, us teachers took to the beach and every night we took to the clubs. The white sand beaches were seemingly endless. The mountains and cliffs gave a very Jurassic Park vibe. Seeing them was so spectacular and something only my eyes could catch (the camera images did come close though 🙂 ).

It’s a great feeling to be around fun and spirited people. That’s what I got while in Ko Chang.

Ko Chang, Thailand

Ko Chang, Thailand


All in all, Thailand has been great so far. Midterms at school have just been completed after a 2-3 week process. Now back to the daily routine!

What trips are you dreaming up or planning to take? 

Creating Positivity on Demand

I love it when I feel naturally positive. I feel like I can conquer the world and do anything. This usually happens when I think up some genius idea and Friday rolls around so I think about all.the.time. I will have to work on it. The feeling fades as the weekend rolls quickly through and Monday rears it’s head again.

Feeling positive is one of the greatest things ever. Mental blocks and gloomy days are bound to happen. Figuring out ways to combat them are important. Click through to discover some ways of creating positivity on demand!

Having a positive outlook feels great. Sometimes like the best feeling in the world. My brain rolls around. I imagine it doing backflips and jumping around in excitement in my head because of how positive things are.

Then there is the opposite side to positivity. Feeling negative, down and in one of those gloomy moods. It isn’t full-on depression, just one of those bad kind of days where you feel unmotivated, not good enough, and in a mental block that just won’t go away.

It’s usually the feeling you have of wanting to throw your jotted notes to the side, grab your laptop in a fit of redirected determination, and spend the rest of the night binging on Netflix to ease the pain. Ahhh, I just finished watching Freaks and Geeks all the way through for the second time in a row.

I don’t want the whole Netflix defense mechanism to become a common activity. So, I’ve thought through the ways I’ve gotten past a mental block and put focus into creating positivity on demand.

Big poster boards are your friend

I used to think creating mood boards/dream boards was just some baseless thing used more as an icebreaker back in school rather than anything important. Well, I was wrong. They are freaking fantastic. Although I just stick with calling them my “big white poster board full of an overflowing amount of goals I’m trying to make sense of”. It’s a longer name than mood board, but it works. 🙂

I buy a 50 cent poster board (or if I’m feeling spiffy, a nice dollar foam board) and get to work creating a road map of goals: three months, six months, one year, and so forth. I’ve made a point of looking at it every morning before I go off to work. Good way to see what I’ve written down over and over!

Re-stating your goals to yourself= great solo accountability

In the last few weeks, I’ve gotten into the practice of saying my goals and wishes out loud to myself once a week, usually on Sunday nights. This has helped a ton in “lighting the fire under me” to keep going on what I’m doing and remember what things I still want to do.

Repeating my goals to myself out loud makes for great solo accountability.

Be aware of the things that trigger your positivity

I’m not much of a quote person. They’re great but other things help in creating positivity on demand even more. What are they?

A big one is nature. I really love going on hikes. It’s a goal of mine to visit The Grand Canyon, Horseshoe Bend, and several national parks in the U.S. in the next year. Even when I’m not actively doing this, simply looking at the photos of past ones makes me feel more positive.

Books give me a jolt of inspiration. The big thing around town seems to be reading several self-development non-fiction books but I get inspired and positive from non-fiction and fiction alike.

I’ve read the first chapter of David Arnold’s Mosquitoland too many times. The Index Card: Why Personal Finance Doesn’t Have to be Complicated is something I’m constantly marking up.

Podcasts are another positivity boost. Lately, though I’ve been yearning for shorter podcasts (5-15 minutes) to listen to while I clean or brush my teeth. I’m loving Paul Jarvis’s The Freelancer so far. The podcasts are short and to the point.

Longer (30 minute to one hour) podcasts I listen to include Brian Clark’s Unemployable, Kayla Hollatz’s #createlounge, and Climb Out of The Cubicle with Amber Monaco.


What are ways you go about creating positivity on demand? Recommendations always welcome!

 

 

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