The Importance of Margin: Part 2

Yesterday, we talked about the importance of having margin in your health and in your time.  Having margin in your finances, your space, and your relationships can also help reduce stress.  Margin means having a buffer or extra so you do not run out.  Let's take a look at these.

Your Finances: Okay, that is a topic no one wants to discuss.  However, if you give yourself margin in this area, you will be shocked at how much less stress you have, and again, stress is probably a top trigger for chronic health symptoms. No matter what your circumstances, be purposeful about creating more financial margin than you would if you were healthy. You will likely have higher medical expenses and lower income if you live with chronic health issues, so do not ignore this category.

• If you are working, have enough saved that if you have to take unpaid time off, you can.

• There are LOTS of blogs, podcasts, and youtube channels with information about how to get your expenses down.  https://www.livingonadime.com/ is one of my favorites. When we started on the journey of gaining financial margin, we cut our monthly grocery/toiletries/cleaning products bill from about $1,000 a month to $500 for a family of 4. That still gives us a very healthy diet, plus a few junk food snacks. For curiosity's sake, we cut all the junk food for a couple months and switched from dry cereal to hot cereal. We discovered the four of us could eat healthy for $200 a month!  No one was thrilled with this, so we bumped it back up to $500, but that is still $500 less per month than we were spending! Cut the Cable. Get a cheaper phone plan. Take the bus. Get a roommate. 

• Grow your income.  I have a cousin who is pretty disabled.  On the days that she can, she is a PCA for another disabled family member. This supplements her social security disability.  Figure out a side hustle that does not give you stress.  There are many ways these days to make money online. I also knew a patient who, on top of having epilepsy, has had numerous accidents.  He can barely grasp with his hands, has chronic nerve pain, and has to walk quite slowly.  He works a physical job two days a week.  It goes back to balancing your body's needs with your emotional needs.  He finds his mental health is much better if he works part time than if he does not have a job.  This is not a judgment on my part.  It is just a recommendation to know your limits and be mindful of what is in your best interest.  No one else can tell you what those limits are.

Your Relationships: Remember Maslow's Hierarchy?  It is easy to stop spending time with people when your health needs are not being met.  However, it is SOOO important to keep spending time with people.  If you do not take care of your emotional and social health, your physical health will likely get even worse.

• Make sure you are getting at least 15 hours a week of non-task time with your significant other.  Watch a movie together.  Read a book.  Talk about how your health is affecting you. Share a dream. Play cards. Ask each other about your high and low for the day.
• Have at least 3-5 friends who "get" you. These are the friends who understand when you have to change plans due to a flare-up or when you cannot be on the phone because of a migraine.  These are also the friends who can call  you when they are going through a rough time.  Pour into these relationships.  They bring joy and meaning to your life, and you do to theirs as well.
• Get involved in contributing to the well being of others.  You will be shocked at how much joy this gives you.  It might be an online support group, or helping your sister with her kids or bringing home-made muffins to your neighbor.

Your Space: This is my current goal in life: getting rid of so much of my stuff that NO room in my house feels the least bit cluttered. 

• It is amazing how much more pleasure and peace I get from my house when the space is not cramped.
• It is so much easier to find what you need when everything has a home.
• There is less stuff to have to clean or put away.
• I am moving in the direction of: if we decide to downsize to a smaller home, the task will not be over whelming.  That may not happen for 10 years, but in the meantime, I am shocked at how much pleasure I have found from my home by having it less cluttered! Joshua Becker, best selling author of The More of Less, calls this "rational minimalism". I am not talking about getting organized.  I am talking about getting rid of everything I do not need/have not used in a year or does not bring me joy.  There are a few sentimental items we all hang on to, but not everything needs to be sentimental.  Take a picture, upload it to your computer, and get rid of many of the items that are sentimental.  It is okay to hang on to some of them, but start getting rid of as much as you can.  You will be SHOCKED at how much peace and joy it brings your body and your mind! 

I did not take before pictures, but here are some pictures from after I de-cluttered.  I love the open counter-tops, and I find that when there are just a few items on surfaces in the living room, I am able to enjoy those items more than when there are many, still working on down-sizing the books.  I  have been working on this process for years.  When you have chronic fatigue or chronic pain, you cannot expect yourself to conquer an entire room in a week, but maybe start with one surface.


Your health, your time, your finances, your relationships, and your space, all of these need margin, an extra buffer, in order to reduce stress and live counter to the culture's theme of go-go-go. I am guessing I have missed a few categories.  How can  you slow down your life?  What are ways you can take responsibility for being less stressed in these areas?  What are other categories or other strategies within these categories that you have tried?