Minimalism - free up your funds for travel

I've said before that you don't have to be rich to travel. Being a Minimalist means that you have more money to travel. It means thinking about what stuff you really need in your life. I think we get hung up about 'stuff', and forget what's important. If travel is important to you, then it's time to think carefully about what stuff you really need.

Below is a good article from one of my favourite blogs - The Everyday Minimalist

How Minimalism Saves You Money
BY MMARQUIT – 15 JANUARY , 2014

I’m not normally known for my penny pinching ways, since I think that it’s a whole lot of work. However, I don’t like to waste my money on things that aren’t important to me. I find that following minimalist principles can, by default, help me stay on track and ultimately save money over the long haul.

Buy Less Stuff

One of the biggest ways that minimalist principles help you save money is that you buy a lot less in terms of things when you try to live minimally. Instead of spending money on a lot of things that you don’t need, and that you might not particularly want (even if you think they would be ok to have), you spend less because you are buying less.

Minimalism encourages you to spend conscientiously. You think about your purchases before you make them. If you don’t need something, or if it won’t add to the quality of your life, there is no reason to buy it. When you move from spending as a mindless consumer to spending with purpose, you are more likely to spend less.

And, even when you do spend money, it is likely to be on something that will enhance your life in some way. I do like spending on experiences and on a very few things, but my purchases are in line with my values and priorities, which means that when I do spend, I know that it’s something that will be worthwhile to me.

Smaller Spaces = Smaller Bills

With minimalism, you are encouraged to live in smaller spaces. We have a fairly modest house, in large part because we have a small family. We have a guest room and a home office, since I work from home and we often have company stay over, but our home is generally considered small.

We don’t want a bigger home because, often, those types of homes come with other costs and hassles. A bigger home often means a bigger mortgage, higher property taxes, and larger utility bills. We could have another 1,000 square feet, but that would just mean more expenses for the home.

Instead of spending that money on the home, we’d rather spend it on things we enjoy, like travel or eating out. It’s another way that we can avoid spending on things that aren’t important to us.

Plus, since we don’t buy a lot of unnecessary stuff, we don’t have to worry about buying a bigger house that it all fits in. When the house starts to feel cluttered, we know that it’s time to get rid of some of the clutter, and return some of the minimalist principles we have let slide.

No, you don’t have to be completely minimalist to succeed. However, if you take some of the things that characterize minimalist living and apply them in your life, you will likely find that it also helps you save money, as well as to direct your financial resources in a way that is more satisfying to you.

New trip to Central Europe coming up

I have a new overseas trip coming up in July, 2014 between Semesters to Central Europe. The flights are booked; Sydney to Dubai for a one night stop over with Qantas on the A380, and then direct to Prague in the Czech Republic.

The plan is to visit Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Austria and Southern Germany, however followers of my last trip will know that my actual trip and the planned trip didn't look anything like each other. Spain was great, and we spent longer there and visited amazing places like Granada and Cordoba, which we had not planned on doing.

The absolute must do things on this trip will be Prague of course, Budapest in Hungary, and probably Vienna in Austria. I would like to go to Salzburg in Austria the setting for Sound of Music. I want to see the fairytale German castles in Bavaria. Bratislavia in Slovakia next door to Prague is meant to be good.

The reason why the trip is flexible is because we normally use the internet to book apartments through Airbnb and either rail or plane transport at the last minute to allow more flexibility. Some places you want to stay longer, and using the internet and not using a travel agent gives you more freedom.