Simplify Your Life: Financial Self-Care by Subtraction
What You Need to Know About Self-Care by Subtraction:
Self-care isn’t just about doing more. Sometimes, the best thing we can do to care for ourselves is to do less.
Financial self-care by subtraction helps reduce burnout and reconnects you to your values.
A quick exercise: Reflect on what to pause, decline, or delete from your money routine this season.
Let's Redefine Self-Care, Without Adding to Your To-Do List
We all know the feeling of wanting to "get it together." It usually looks like adding a bunch of new stuff to our lives. Buying a new planner. Downloading the latest budgeting app. Upgrading to the unlimited yoga package. More, more, more, all in the name of "self-care."
And while any time of year can be busy, I'm writing this smack in the middle of peppermint mocha season, aka the time of year just after open enrollment and too early to say, "let's circle back in the New Year."
If your brain feels like mine did when I accidentally tried to write an email for "October 34th" (true story), that version of self-care might not be serving you. My calendar mix-up (calendar hiccups are my warning sign that I’m doing too much) was a clear sign that my brain was asking for more breathing room.
It might be time to shift from adding more to your plate to practicing self-care by subtraction.
It's a simple, therapeutic reframe: what if the best thing you can do for your well-being, or your finances, is take something off your plate? If you're craving a low-maintenance life that actually supports your mental and financial health, this is your invitation to try a new and much gentler approach.
What Is Self-Care by Subtraction?
Self-care by subtraction is precisely what it sounds like: taking care of yourself by doing less, not more.
It's the opposite of what the wellness industry typically sells us. Instead of thinking, "What else can I add to optimize my life in the name of self-care?" Ask: “What can I let go of to feel a bit more like myself or less frazzled again?"
This approach is particularly powerful at the end of the year, when your brain is trying to wrap up Q4 tasks, plan holiday travel, and reflect on your annual goals.
Simplifying your life is one of the most undervalued forms of self-care, and we can extend this low-maintenance life hack into all areas of our lives. If "doing less is more" feels radical, that's kind of the point.
How I'm Practicing Subtraction Right Now
Here are three very real, very human examples of how I'm simplifying in this moment of life. I want you to notice that these aren't glossy Instagram influencer rituals or just repackaged productivity hacks. They're somewhat subtle, but they definitely help me feel more grounded and might spark something for you, too.
For this example, I'm looking at three areas in particular: mental health, work, and finances. And yes, I fully count this as financial self-care. (Reminder: Financial self-care is taking care of your finances, which affords you the ability to take care of your physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual well-being. I wrote all about financial self-care here.)
1. Mental Health: Less Phone Time Before Bed
I'm not banning phones entirely. I'm committing to one night a week on Mondays to read a book instead of scrolling.
Instead of overhauling my nighttime routine or banishing my phone from the room, I’m keeping it simple: plug it in across the room on Monday evenings, far from my nightstand.
It's a simple version of self-care by subtraction. I'm doing less and making it uncomplicated. If starting the week with better sleep nudges me toward more restful nights later on, great. And if not? Monday was still enough.
2. Work: Two Consecutive Weeks Off
When my longtime marketing strategist said she was taking two weeks off at year's end, I thought, "Good for her." Then I realized, oh, this is good for us.
We’re closing shop together. And to make sure we’re really caring for ourselves, we are being intentional now and actually planning ahead. This isn’t about overworking now, so we can “earn” a break. We’re considering what tasks need to get done now, what can wait for later, and what we can scrap from our to-do lists altogether.
That way, when we put up our out-of-office autoreply messages, we’ll know that we can really clock out without worrying that we’ll return to piles of emails and to-dos from one another.
3. Finances: No New Money Goals or Year-End Hustle
This time of year can stir up pressure to go out with a financial bang: save more, earn more, max out everything. But this year I'm not doing any of that. Our household emergency fund is where it needs to be. So, there's no sprinting toward a random financial influencer's arbitrary savings challenge or trying to beat last month's income.
The only financial shift we've made is to do our year-end giving earlier and donate to two local nonprofits addressing recent SNAP cuts.
Simplify Your Life With This Exercise
If you're curious about practicing self-care by subtraction, you don't need a brand-new bullet journal. Simplify your life by reflecting on these questions as you read this. It'll be even more impactful if you grab a pen and sheet of paper (yes, the back of the envelope that yet more junk mail arrived on works) to have an extra sprinkle of intentionality.
Here's a Mind Money Balance exercise (this was nearly identical to the one I shared in my newsletter in the "Trust Yourself to Try" section):
Pick one or two areas of your life to reflect on
For example, work, money, relationships, mental health, physical health, or spirituality.
Then Check-in
Then, ask yourself, "What tasks or acts of self-care am I doing in this area?"
Once you see that list, follow up with these compassion- and curiosity questions:
What can I pause?
What can I say no to?
What adds more stress than support?
This helps you get clear on which "self-care" items aren't actually helping, and you get to strike them right through on the list. Notice that none of these questions ask, "What can I do better?" or "What should I add?" You don't need to optimize right now. You just need to listen to what your body and brain are asking you to subtract.
Examples of Financial Self-Care by Subtraction
If you're stuck on where to begin, here are a couple of money-related examples to help you practice financial self-care by subtraction:
Curate your influences. Unsubscribe from any money newsletters, podcasts, or creators that make you feel anxious, behind, or inadequate.
Let go of money goals rooted in pressure. If you made a goal back in January that no longer fits, you're allowed to scrap it. Financial wellness isn't about sticking to everything with rigidity; it's about aligning your money with your current life.
Stop budget micro-managing. If you've been tracking every expense down to the penny and it's making you feel more panicked than relaxed, it might be time to step back. Consider shifting to a weekly or even monthly check-in instead of daily monitoring. Want some inspiration? Here's my money routine.
Let Automation do the Lifting. No awards are given for paying your bills manually or for physically logging into your bank account to transfer money to your savings account. Do less by turning on automation wherever possible and revel in the blissful joy of knowing you're saving, paying your bills, or investing without having to think about it.
Doing Less Can Be Healing
You don't need a dramatic "New Year, New Me" overhaul to practice financial self-care.
Self-care by subtraction is a way to push back against the idea that productivity equals worth and move toward a more low-maintenance life.
This week, choose one thing to subtract.
This self-care by subtraction might look like leaving the dishes until morning (I promise, they'll be fine), declining that optional meeting you were invited to, or deciding that your money goals don't need a December makeover.
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