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This concept may seem counter-intuitive but looking at our own lives and around us we see it is true in various areas.
Less eating = more health
One of the biggest issues today is obesity and the related health issues1. Paradoxically one of the biggest issues in society today is also inequality where we have millions of people in great poverty and starvation whilst millions of others are obese. Of course balance is required both on an individual level and an international level. However for those who are obese, less food will lead to more health, especially if the harmful foods are reduced from the diet.
Overeating causes many problems including heart problems, knee and hip problems due to excess weight being carried by the joints etc. In addition there can be a loss of self-esteem, lethargy etc. So for many people less food will lead to more health, as well as of course
secondary benefits such as saving money and time due to spending less time looking for food, cooking and eating.
Less spending = more money
Many people spend much more than they can afford and rather than live within their means they take out debt to fund excessive lifestyles. This trend is not just confined to the UK or the US but is also becoming more prevalent in other countries.
Americans now owe $1 trillion in credit card debt alone as well as a roughly equivalent amount in student loans and auto-loans and debt is also high in Europe and rising in Asia2.
Spending less would of course free up more money so that people wouldn’t need to rely on debt. In addition it would save time – a lot of time is spent going out looking for clothes, perfumes, searching for and spending time on holidays etc. that are excessive to a person’s means to afford. Yet more time is spent on trying to make the money to fund the excessive lifestyle and pay the debts or paying a mortgage which is too heavy in relation to the household income etc. Further time is lost from having difficulty deciding what to wear, extra washing and ironing, lack of space in the house due to too many superfluous items causing searches for storage space or even a bigger property etc.
Less spending could therefore lead to not only more money, but more time and more peace.
Interesting connection
There are other examples where less is more too, for example even when boiling water in a kettle one should boil the water required and not fill it excessively. Doing so would waste electricity, waste time if you’re stood around waiting for it and also waste water. Similarly with electricity in general, it is best to turn off lights etc. when they are not being used.
Now one may ask these actions won’t save much money, but what is more important is that doing these things on a regular basis will gradually build the mindset of avoiding wastage. This can then save huge amounts of money when a big decision has to be made, for example when buying a house one may take on a more affordable mortgage, or decide not to purchase an extra car when they already have one etc. and save a lot of money in the long run as well as stress as they are trained to be more prudent.
Take-away point
Balance is the goal but for many of us we need to do less to achieve the balance as we are already excessive in some areas such as eating, spending etc. Getting the habit of being more careful in areas such as food, spending, using water and electricity etc. will train us in the right mindset which will be very valuable both in the short and long-term.
Written by Saqib Hussain.
References
1 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/health/obesity-crisis-britain-increase-strokes-heartdisease-lifespan-a8079006.html “Obesity crisis threatens to increase stroke and heart disease…” – The Independent
2 https://www.ft.com/content/3215e960-3faa-11e7-9d56-25f963e998b2 “Global debt woes are building up to a tidal wave” – Financial Times
