My wife is an ardent follower of Marie Kondo. Marie Kondo is a Japanese tidying consultant who has sold millions of books and has a hit TV series on Netflix. I have reluctantly sat through some of her home make over episodes.
Much as I am not a fan of organising closets I picked some money tips from her approach. Marie is effective because she focusses on the spiritual side of tidying up. She often begins her makeovers by praying with the family. She them expresses gratitude to the house for protecting the family.
She then establishes what kind of life the family wishes to live. Through this she taps into the emotional dreams and aspirations of the family. As they begin to sort and fold clothes she encourages the person to recall some of the good memories and to thank the item before it is discarded.
By the time the session is over the family is often in tears for the magnifiscent transformation they have gone through.
Many of us have messed up financial situations which need cleaning up. We can apply some Japanese techniques to help tidy up our financial houses. One popular technique is called Kakeibo.
This system involves maintaining a physical book or journal where you hand write your money inflows and outflows on a daily basis. As you record these transactions you are supposed to reflect and ask whether these expenses are necessary and made you happy. You also write down your monthly saving goal and set the money aside.
By forcing you to be mindful with your money the kakeibo system begins to trigger behaviour change patterns in your lifestyle. At the end of the day you end up saving alot of money. You also gain control of your impulsive spending habits.
For further insights try out a book called Kakeibo – the Japanese art of saving money by Fumiko Chiba.
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