The definition of financial freedom that I love is this:

You are financially free to the extent that your passive or residual income (income that you earn over and over again for work done once) is greater than your living expenses.

In order to achieve this goal we have two choices: increase our passive or residual income or decrease our living expenses.

In 2010 I drew a line in the sand for myself that my 28th year was the year I was going to truly and officially be financially free (including zero debt.) I decided to tweak both sides of the above equation to gracefully jeté over that line. I radically simplified my life AND I increased my passive and residual income.

I’ll talk about increasing passive and residual income in a future post (so be sure you’re on my list so you get it directly in your inbox) but today I’m going to talk about simplification.

I am not the first person to bring this up. There are bazillions of other writers sharing the power of cutting back and living with less in order to experience more life.

The difference is that I’m not, nor have I ever been, a minimalist. And becoming a minimalist is not something I strive for.

What I’m talking about is the spaciousness that can be created through simplicity.

Up until about two years ago it had never occurred to me to spend less money than I made. I had this erroneous belief that having abundance meant making more money and then spending it. Seriously. That’s what I thought it was about.

I had read plenty of times that we should live within our means but honestly, that brought to mind images of women wearing orthopedic shoes and ugly corduroy jumpers.

It felt limiting. It felt like deprivation. It felt down right unsexy.

But the thing is I had all this credit card debt (to the tune of about $20,000). And I also knew that I wouldn’t consider myself truly financially free until my debt was paid off, even if I was making enough residual income to cover my living expenses.

So I decided to cut financial ties that were binding me, let go of the “stuff” (physical and energetic) that was no longer serving me, and hit the road on The Freedom Tour.

One of the beautiful side effects of taking off on the road in my Prius with just what I considered to be essential was that it decreased my living expenses significantly.

For the first time in my life I was living on less than I was making and the space in my finances felt life affirming.

Giving us extra wiggle room financially births all sorts of possibilities that wouldn’t have come about while living paycheck to paycheck.

Within a few months I paid off all of my debt and was able to dramatically increase my savings. (Not to mention the fact that creating all that space brought true love to my life and a book deal.)

I was finally experiencing what living below my means was really about.

It felt elegant. It felt exhilarating. It felt ripe with potential. It felt deliciously spacious.

I didn’t use the conventional financial wisdom of looking through my expenses to see what I could cut down on. Instead, I focused on what I truly valued and added more of it while eliminating anything that was no longer lighting my heart’s fire.

I moved toward and expanded freedom, adventure. space, connection, quality time with people I love, travel, and wide open sky.

I eliminated clothes I never wore, an apartment that I no longer needed, business relationships that were keeping my partners and I small, and beliefs about my worth that were preventing me from sharing my value with the world.

Now that I’m settled in my home in Maine and no longer living on the road, I continue to stay vigilant to my version of simplicity. Do I have way more pairs of shoes than I did when I was on the road? Yes. Yet I still remain true to spending time and money on only that which brings me true value and joy.

I’ve tasted the freedom and spaciousness of spending less than I make.  And I will never go back to the cramped feeling of spending more but ultimately having less again.

When we simplify from a place of getting clear on what is critical to our fulfillment and enjoyment of life, it feels incredibly spacious and abundant. When we simplify from a place of cutting back it feels cramped and limited.

You don’t have to sell your home, get rid of all of your stuff, restructure your entire life, leave partnerships, and take off on the road to create simplicity. (Though I highly recommend it if it sounds like fun to you.)

Instead, ask yourself the following questions:

What do I truly love?
What do I crave?
What am I doing when I feel I’m at my best?
How can I bring more of the above into my life?
What is no longer serving me that I can release?

Abundance lies in simplification. (Click to tweet.) Give yourself permission to take a leap towards what you want and release what you don’t want along the way. Then relish the space you create.

Is that even possible?

The truth is, we ALL feel freaked out about money sometimes. We live in a world that is completely freaked out about money. So it’s easy to get turned upside down and full of worry, anxiety and stress when it comes to your bank account, job status or the state of Wall Street.

But isn’t all this fear-based hoopla a total downer? If you’re anything like me, you know how ugly it can be when fear hijacks your bank account.

I’m so excited to share a f*r*e*e call that I’ve been invited to be a part of on Saturday, November 12, a fear busting conversation called MONEY PEACE.It’s all about kicking fear out of your bank account and getting on the path to true money peace right now.  GO HERE to check it out.

My friend, inspirational catalyst Christine Arylo, has gathered four of her smartest money-minded, miracle making friends, a true Money Peace Dream Team: a Harvard MBA, a Harvard PhD Economist, a Spiritual Minister, and a Serial Entrepreneur for a transformational conversation in which we will all…

• GET REAL about the truth of how fear hijacks us through our relationship with money
• GET WISE about how we can make different choices, ones that lead us to MONEY PEACE instead of MONEY MADNESS
• And GET INTO ACTION and receive tools for switching our minds and emotions from fear to peace when we face financial challenges

 ***Check out my Glimpse TV with one of my fellow Money Peace guests, Manisha Thakor, author of Get Financially Naked, and find out the three most important things you should be doing with your money.***

There’s no one better to lead this call than Christine Arylo. She’s the popular author of Choosing ME Before WE and the co-creator of the wildly successful 40-Day Fear Cleanse … suffice it to say she knows her stuff when it comes to clearing fear and becoming happy.

We all have a lot of things we could be doing on a Saturday morning … but given the current state of money fear out there, I can think of nothing more important than to be with you all kicking fear out of our bank accounts and bringing the truth about money peace (plus Christine will also send you a recording of the call so you can turn your Money Peace on whenever you need.)

If you are tired of waiting for the day when you can feel peaceful about your $$, this call is for you. Regardless of your situation, you’ll leave this call feeling like a Zen Money master, with tools, techniques and wisdom to set foot on the path to true Money Peace!

Sign up for the call now and become a money miracle maker yourself… more calm and confident about cash than you ever thought possible.

Here are the deets:

Date and time: Saturday, Nov. 12, 9:00 a.m. PST / noon EST

Call-in info: **You’ll get this info once you sign up!**

Who: Christine Arylo and the Money Peace Dream Team  – Reverend Karen Russo, Dr. Margaret Smith, Manisha Thakor and me – check out the website to find out exactly who we are and why you want to jump on the opportunity to join this fear busting conversation. (And don’t forget to check out my Glimpse TV interview with Manisha Thakor below!)

Why: Gain wisdom about your relationship to money and get on the path to Money Peace right now.

P.S. Can’t make the call live? Go here now and sign up anyway to get the recording. Create some ME time this weekend and tune in. You deserve MONEY PEACE of mind.

p.p.s.  No one, including you, should have to wait until the future to feel a sense of serenity about money... I like having nice things as much as anyone else, but honestly, aren’t you over people trying to sell you the secret of how to make a million dollars so you can be happy?

Why should you have to wait til then to feel secure, happy and taken care of. You are worth happiness right now, regardless of your bank account balance.

You deserve money peace right now … tune in Saturday the 12th!

Glimpse TV with Manisha Thakor

And now, I’m so thrilled to present Glimpse TV with women’s personal finance expert and author of Get Financially Naked, Manisha Thakor! I stopped by her gorgeous home in Santa Fe, NM about a month ago, shared a delicious home-cooked meal (not only is she amazing with money, she’s also a great cook!), and had a chat about the “he-cession” and the “she-conomy”, the next HOT commodity we should all be paying attention to, the three things you must be doing with your money, how to talk to your guy about money, and more. Cuddle up with us and get ready to get more intimate with your money!

More Manisha:

Money Zen Blog

Facebook

Twitter

Money Peace call with both of us!

Did you like what you saw? Excited about the Money Peace call? TWEET about it and share the love!

Copy and paste the pre-written Tweets below to Twitter or Facebook to give your sisters a leg up in the money game!

Get financially naked with @katenorthrup and @manishathakor #glimpsetv http://bit.ly/rQ1i2Y

The 3 most important things you have to be doing with your money per @manishathakor on #glimpsetv w/ @katenorthrup http://bit.ly/rQ1i2Y

How to talk to your man about $ w/ @manishathakor + @katenorthrup on @glimpsetv http://bit.ly/rQ1i2Y

What if you didn’t have to wait to have a million dollars in the bank to feel good about your financial status and security? http://bit.ly/v1M084

Turn your freak-out about $money$ into a peace-out about $money$ @Christine Arylo @katenorthrup #fearcleanse http://bit.ly/v1M084

Kick fear out of your bank account today… it’s got no business being there @ChristineArylo @katenorthrup #fearcleanse http://bit.ly/v1M084