Luxury or Necessity?

Money Psychology, Brainwashed.

As I sit down to write, suddenly all kinds of things come to my attention: that pile of mail in the corner, the dishes in the sink, the pile of unsorted winter and summer shoes, etc.

At one time, about two years, whatever mess was made by our toddler son at the time, was a lovely opportunity to practice not letting the external circumstance cause anxiety.

Woosaaaaaa.

And I’m here to say, I’m anxiety-free! But with that freedom come certain….other responsibilities.

Now that the kids are a little older, after two decluttering purges, the mess, in the form of random toys, dishes and other non-sense, is still there, but I have now grown past it, hence my conundrum.

CLUTTER=OVERWHELM.

So what gives? After doing hours of research on minimalism, how to declutter, and how to only keep things that serve you and so on, it is still not enough. I would guess, but I can’t swear by this, that if this was my case two years ago, I’d be happy to clean things up constantly, do some more research on how to be more organized and dive head-first into this project. But at this point, I cannot justify such a project any longer. My business and the kids whining and desperate for attention seem to be more important.

So what is the tipping point of when we start recognizing that our time is valuable?

OUR TIME IS VALUABLE.

Almost like the “time is money” phrase, our precious time must be used on important things in order to feel fulfillment. Things such as those which help us secure our financial future, our kids’ future, our health, personal development, and our career/business.

So when is it no longer just a “luxury” to hire a cleaning service, a home organizer, prepped meals or an assistant? Because if we are to be growing, certain things will either hold us back, like me spending over an hour each day cleaning and tidying (shoot me in the eyeball) instead of working on my business or spending time with my kids or husband or just freaking relaxing!? Or that business owner doing his or her own bookkeeping daily and missing dinner with the family?

These “luxury” services or items are what would actually help us grow, that is of course if we are able to give up that control. As a recovering control freak, I can tell you that the time I now spend cleaning up is no longer enjoyable and instead I keep thinking of something more productive or MEANINGFUL to do.

Say you have a project to complete or follow up calls to make or to apply to new jobs weekly till you find the right one, which is more important, cleaning and tidying 5-10 hours per week or spending it on the above? Because the mess may be never-ending, but life is still passing with each minute.

The little voice that used to say, “such services are a waste of money, if you can do it yourself, don’t be lazy and do it” is still there, but I am determined to shush it. SHUSH!

I AM NO YOGI.

I wanted so badly to be at peace with the home environment, whether it was neat or not. But, I must admit, hesitantly, that I am no yogi or zen master. I am simply not there yet (but please check back in five years’ time).

So while the mess or clutter of everyday is not going anywhere and I value other things instead of cleaning up all the time now, for hours at a time, I’m going to outsource. Whether I decide to hire a cleaning service or an organizer, I know that the professional will help me achieve total home organization much faster than I would, and it’s already been two years with little success trying it on my own.

New plan: outsource to a service for that which I suck at, free up time and relieve overwhelm, get more done for work and get to spend more time with the kids and the family. So simple. Right?

Changing our BELIEFS can either be slow and painful or instantaneous (I prefer the painful route).

MONEY PSYCHOLOGY.

The choice is ours: be efficient or be stingy. It also comes to light that spending on things we aren’t used to spending on is very difficult, unless we change the way we feel about money.

For many of us with debt or just coming out of it or coming from poor or stingy families, it can hardly be justified to spend money on more than the "necessities". Then again, a tv or cable isn’t a necessity, yet most of us have it.

If you take anything away from this post, it should be this:

When making a decision to spend on an item or a service, ask yourself, what is it costing me? And what would it cost me NOT to spend on this?

We usually don’t see the value being lost.

Newsflash: money is useless. it’s just a piece of paper (or electronic wire transfer, whatever).

It doesn’t give you love, it has no feelings and it doesn’t keep you warm at night. MONEY IS A TOOL, a vehicle to help you get what you really want and value, whatever will make your life easier or more fulfilling. Those who realize this will suddenly see many new possibilities available to them that weren’t there before.

Live simply, live fully.

Peace and Love,

Tiffany Olson