This week Taryn, Katie and I (and Hank--our mascot/resident HYD baby) road tripped to Nashville's City Winery to see The Minimalists and Rachel Cruze on their Simply Southern Tour. The evening in Nashville was a wonderful hybrid of minimalism and financial freedom conversation. Our cliff note version of the evening is below!

If you aren't familiar with The Minimalists, we recommend starting with their documentary on Netflix and reading about them on their website!

A fun bit of local trivia-- In 2011, the Minimalists came through Knoxville and announced on their website that they would be at a local coffee shop...no one came until they were packing up to leave and then 2 people recognized them. This past Tuesday night we saw them in Nashville at a sold out show! Suffice it to say, they have amassed quite a following in the last 7 years!

Money Tips from Rachel:

While many people view budgets as being limiting, they can actually give you more freedom. A budget gives you permission to spend. When you budget, you tell your money where to go.
"Live like no one else now, so later, you can live like no one else." Dave Ramsey
Real freedom requires discipline
Comparing your real life to the social media version of everyone elses life is never helpful
The three money muscles are "give", "save", and "spend"
Attack your smallest debts first and work your way up to your largest ones. Once you've checked one off of your list you gain hope!
Check out the Every Dollar App for a really easy way to budget and keep track of your income, spending, and finances
For more from Rachel, check out her new book!

Minimalism tips from Josh and Ryan:

"Minimalism is the thing that gets us past the things so we can make room for life's most important things--which actually aren't things at all."
It's important to acknowledge that they things that are necessary for my life, may not be the necessary things for yours. Minimalism looks different for every person in every season.
Minimalism allows you to continue to question the things you hold on to.
The average American household has 300,000 items in it.
Tips on selling stuff vs giving it away: If you can make $20 or more, sell it-- if not, just let it go.
When getting rid of stuff, give yourself deadlines. Ex: If you are trying to sell something and it doesn't sell in 30 days, lower the price or donate it.
Understand "sunk cost". The amount you paid for something when you bought it is not going to be the value of it when you are trying to get rid of it. Accepting the fact that you will not make your money back is "sunk cost".
All things in life fit into three categories. 1. Essentials: Food, shelter, clothing 2. Non-essentials: the things you don't "need" but add value to your life and 3. Junk: everything else that we pretend has value
The things we buy and "hope" to use really just have asperational value, not real value.
Use social media (whether for personal or business use) to add value to others lives, not to add to the noise.
"Love people and use things, because the opposite never works"- The Minimalists
For more from the Minimalists, check out their book.

We had an absolute blast and wanted to share just a bit of our experience. You will be able to listen to the full audio the evening on The Minimalist podcast in the coming weeks!