A Simple Life: How to Live Well with Less

Simplifying your life is an essential step to restoring hormone balance and cycle harmony. Check out these 7 tips on how to live well with less.

Wealth is the ability to fully experience life. ~ Henry David Thoreau

In addition to hormone balance, money is another topic that I’m fascinated with – and that’s close to my heart. As you may guess, I’m naturally curious about taboo topics. 🙂

In my quest to restore my cycle harmony and live a fulfilling life, I realize just how important money is.

On the positive side (money is good):

Money can give us time and opportunities to do what we love and spend more time with those we love.
It provides us with resources to express our creativity, travel, learn, and experience a wider range of what the world has to offer.
It allows us to share our bunty with others and help those in need.

On the negative side (money is evil):

Money worry can create tremedous stress on our health and relationships, which will inevitably distrupt our hormones and produce PMS and other forms of menstrual disharmonies.
The pusuit of money can take us away from what really matters in life (to create, to love, to flourish, and to be.)
A materialistic culture can create a constant and insatiable desire for more, which often leaves us feeling inadequate, unsatisfied, and empty inside.

So to create harmonious menstrual cycles and a balanced life, we need to examine our relationships with money. And we need to build a financial foundation that supports and nourishes us, instead of enslaving and depleting us.

How to Live Well with Less

This was exactly what I tried to tackle when I decided to leave my financially lucrative investment banking career to pursue my passion (creating Cycle Harmony) many years ago.

The transition was scary.

“How am I going to support myself without the steady monthly income? Can I survive? Do I need to work at Starbucks if I can’t make my ends meet? Am I okay with that?”

These were just some questions that circulated in my head. I had a lot of doubt and fear. But the scales began to tip as I took steps to prepare myself for this new chapter in my life.

One of those steps is to streamline my financial operations, and to find a way to live with less money without totally wrecking my current lifestyle.

As it turns out, I’m not alone on this quest. Many other people are also thinking about quiting the rat race, to find more peace, harmony, and fulfillment in their lives.

In my Google search, I found many articles sharing tips from people who live “well” on $10-20,000 a year in the U.S.

How do they do it? The secret is to simply your life, stripping it down to the bare essentials.

Here are some practical tips:

1. Reduce rent or mortgage.

Rent or mortgage is the biggest expense for most people. Those who live with less find ways to reduce how much they spend on putting a roof over their heads.

Some live in a RV. Some share a room with others. And some move to the low-rent district.

2. Eliminate car payment.

The second biggest expense for most people is car lease payment. Those who live with less cut down their car expenses by riding bikes, taking public transit, or owning a cheap car outright without monthly lease or loan payments.

3. Stay healthy.

The thrid biggest expense for many is health insurance – and medical expenses. People who live with less do their best to stay healthy, and many opt to purchase a high-deductible/low premium health insurance policy.

4. Eat well.

People who live well with less are not stringent on foods. Eating healthy foods gives them a sense of abundance and a feeling of living well.

Many of them shop at farmers’ markets and health food stores. And they learn to cook yummy, nutritious meals at home. This is perhaps the biggest expense for people who live well with less.

5. Cut down distractions and unnecessary spending.

We may not realize how much we spend on dining out, barhopping, shopping for clothes, or buying things that we don’t really need. They all add up.

Living with the bare minimum really forces you to get your priorities straight – put your money where your mouth is and cut out the rest.

6. Save for the future.

What amazes me is that many people who live with less than $20,000 a year still manage to save and put money away in their savings or retirement accounts.

Many put 10-20% of their income into savings and investments to prepare for their future – rainning days, education, and financial independence.

Again, this is another conscious choice: do you rather spend your money where it matters most and in the long run, or in things that only bring you short-term gratification?

7. Enjoy what you have.

By simplifying their life, many people who live with less also seem to enjoy life more. They have more time to do things that bring them joy. And they learn to appreciate the simple pleasures in life – those things money can’t buy.

It’s encouraging to know that it’s possible to live well with less, and that many people have done it – or are doing it. A simple life may just be the answer to following your passion, and living a content and happy life.

I thought I’d already been living a simple life. But perhaps there are ways to simply it even further. I’m going to try. And I’ll let you know if my hypothesis is true.

Postscript

I wrote this article years ago when I just started out on my journey. Now looking back, I can tell you that these tips have worked well for me.

By choosing to live simply, I’ve been able to design a life that is true to my heart: do what I love, spend more time with my family, and experience more joy and fulfillment every day.

And guess what? With less clutter, stress and internal conflicts, my cycles are also more harmonious — no more horrific PMS anger outbursts and bad menstrual cramps.

I hope this article inspires you to examine your relationship with money and find a way to make it work for you – use it to support and nourish you rather than enslave and deplete you.

Tip: Keep track of your expenses every month and see how much money flow out of your life without your conscious awareness. Examine each expense and see if you can live without it. Calculate just how much money you REALLY need to live well with less. This can change your life – and your menstrual cycles.

Please share your questions, thoughts and experiences. I’d love to hear from you.

A Simple Life: How to Live Well with Less