Today I’m going to be sharing some little things you can do in your life to make you feel richer. Now, the word richer here is kinda relative. I don’t necessarily look at rich as a final end goal. I think pretty much whatever income bracket you’re in there’s always someone richer, right?!
This is due to lifestyle inflation, which is as your income increases, you increase your lifestyle to match that income. And while some lifestyle inflation makes sense, it also can put us on this hamster wheel of never having enough money. People who make 500k a year can inflate their lifestyle so much that even they feel like they are on this hamster wheel. They still compare themself to even higher earners than them.
Long story short, being rich on paper doesn’t make you necessarily feel rich. Which is good news for many of us because it means we can do little things in our lives to make us feel richer, even if on paper we might not be considered “rich”.
So, let me share my list with you. Some of the things are actual things that can make your home and life feel more luxe, and some of the things are more feelings or concepts. OK let’s jump in.
1. Not Having Debt
When you have debt, your money isn’t really your money and nothing can make you feel less rich than that. There’s nothing that’s more a buzzkill than working all week just to pay loans and interest and it can make you feel insecure in your finances.
But listen girl I’ve been there. About 4 years ago my husband and I had a cumulative $70k in debt between student loans, car payments, and credit card debt. And, we buckled down, made a budget, and simplified our life to pay it off. And I can’t tell you how good living debt free feels when you make money and you know that money is actually YOURS.
It’s honestly a complete shift in how I feel about my money and truly makes me feel richer because I don’t feel imprisoned by my debt. If you want more resources on this check out each of the following blog posts:
How we prevent overspending so we don’t end up back in debt
2. Keep Your Home Clean And Organized
Cluttered spaces are known to impact our mental health and make us feel more stressed. Not to mention, having a less cluttered home gives more of a feeling of abundance in your space which can definitely make you feel more luxe.
There’s just something about an organized space that feels rich, whether it’s a mansion or a studio apartment. I mean, just think about visually if you walked into one house and it was tidy and picked up and then walked into the same house and there was clutter and mess and dirty dishes in the sink, you’d naturally just feel like the first house was nicer and more expensive. Even if they were the SAME EXACT home.
If you need some help in this department I have a free checklist you can use, 52 Things To Declutter with some other helpful decluttering guides.
3. Nice Toilet Paper
One thing that can totally make you feel richer is getting nice toilet paper. Ya’ll ever go to someone’s house and they have the nice ass plush toilet paper and you’re like DAMN THEY MADE IT. No, just me? I’m telling you it makes a difference. And, I’ve found that it’s not actually that much more money to have good TP in your house. Because the cheaper stuff runs out faster, you need more of it, etc.
4. Fresh Flowers
This is something I will usually get 1x a month and it’s amazing what a bouquet of real flowers does to make your home instantly feel more elegant. My trick is I just look for when my grocery store puts a good bouquet on sale. I usually wait until they have a deal and can grab some for $5. There are also places like Trader Joes where you can get flowers for very inexpensive.
5. Having A Back Stock
There’s nothing better than running out of something and just being able to go to your cabinet and restock it. It not just makes you feel richer but just like, an adult you know?! You’re like, damn I’m killing it. And I feel like this one really goes back to number 2 a little bit of committing to a more organized and decluttered home.
6. Setting The Table For Dinner
Set down placemats, light candles, use cloth napkins. It makes dinner feel special, like having it at a restaurant. And, this doesn’t need to break the bank. Guys my candlestick holders and napkins are IKEA, and these placemats were bought on sale at Home Goods. I only have one set of placemats and napkins, and I just use them for each dinner.
7. Have A Minimized Closet
OK in some ways this might seem backward. You might think, no nothing is richer than a big walk-in closet with a wall of fancy shoes and gorgeous dresses. OK, sure that’s a nice idea in the movies, but I honestly could argue that a big old closet like that just might make you feel more anxious and overwhelmed as opposed to being rich.
More clothes doesn’t necessarily always mean you have more to wear. What really is the key is having a closet that when you open it up it’s ALL clothes you LOVE to wear, fit you great, and work for most occasions. Sure a closet of fancy dresses and high heels is nice in theory, are you wearing high heels and fancy dresses on a regular occasion? Cause I`m not… Definitely not. So I find a closet bogged down with all these types of clothing I can’t wear most days just makes me feel overwhelmed and it’s impossible for me to find what I want. If you’re curious about creating a more organized minimal closet, read this post on how I cut my wardrobe in half and always have something to wear.
8. Felt Hangers
On the topic of clothing, upgrading to felt hangers can totally make you feel richer and you can get these for very affordable. In general, just having a closet with all matching hangers will make you feel totally boss, but taking the one extra step to all felt hangers will make you feel V fancy even with a smaller, more minimal closet.
9. Matching PJ Sets
When you make the upgrade to wearing matching PJ sets, you’ll definitely feel like you’ve upgraded to the next level in life. And again, this doesn’t necessarily need to be a huge investment. Sure you can splurge on a nice set or two, or ask for them for as a gift, but I find even just having a matching PJ set, even if they aren’t some fancy $100 pair, makes me feel so much more like, I have my life together, it feels sort of lavish and fancy.
10. Have Money In A Savings Account
As I said in number 1, living debt-free is definitely the first step to feeling rich, but the next step once you don’t have debt is having money in your savings. I mean, what else can make you feel richer than an abundance of money that allows you to have some in savings.
Not to mention, money in a savings account gives you some serious financial safety and security of knowing if something happened you would be OK. A car breaks down, you’re faced with a big house repair, you lose your job- if something happens you’re going to be OK. And that feeling is seriously priceless.
11. Live On Less Than You Make
This is another one that might seem backward because you’d think of being rich as using and enjoying all the income you make.. but when you’re not living at the top of your income it gives you an amazing thing called WIGGLE ROOM in your budget. Once my husband and I finally got our finances under control, we started setting up our life to live on ONE income. We set ourselves up so that we can pay all our necessary monthly expenses on ONE of our incomes. Which means extra income is wiggle room. We can use it to save up an emergency fund, to save up for a vacation, to put away cash for bigger purchases like a kitchen renovation we hope to do in the next year.
12. Shopping Small/Local
It can be easy to fall into the “ease” of buying things from Amazon and Target. The prices are good and the variety is abundant. But in 2020 my husband and I started making an effort to try to buy more things from small and local shops. Listen don’t get me wrong I’m not swearing off Target by any means here, but just by making the small shift to make a conscious effort to buy more things from small local businesses makes it feel like so much more or a luxury. I mean not only is customer service 1000x better but there are usually little touches that make the purchase feel nicer. Not to mention, lots of times the actual product you’re getting IS NICER.
13. Something To Make A Fancy Coffee (Or Tea)
The reason getting coffee or tea out feels better than at home is because they do little things that we feel like we can’t do at home. So, think about what it is for you that makes cafe coffee better, and get that for your home. Maybe it’s a milk steamer, maybe it’s a fancy flavored syrup, a really nice mug, a pour-over station. When you can make high-quality coffee (or tea) for yourself at home it’ll make you feel very opulent. One thing we have is we bought ourselves these nice vintage espresso cups. We love a decaf espresso after dinner. It feels fancy and like something people only do at nice restaurants. But now we can recreate it at home.
14. A Good Skin Care Routine
When I say GOOD I don’t necessarily mean expensive. Just the process of having a skincare routine you do every day can make you feel a little bit like you’re having a mini spa at home. Personally, I am a huge advocate of the Good Molecules skincare brand. Good Molecules products are all extremely well priced. Most items are between $8-$15.
Then, I love a good face mask 1-3 a week, and a face mask is something I might splurge on, but because I use them sparingly they usually will last me an entire year. So it really doesn’t need to break the bank, it’s just about having a routine you really like, makes your skin feel amazing, which for me, Good Molecules’ stuff does.
15. Mindset
Ever heard the saying “there are people out there happier with less than you have?” Again this goes back to my original point that being rich isn’t an end goal to achieve, that’s going to put you on the hamster wheel of NEVER GETTING THERE. Instead, it’s about finding “rich” inside your income bracket and a lot of that is learning to shift your mindset from saying “if I made more money I could ABC” and instead of looking at what you can do inside your income bracket to achieve your financial goals.
