"I guess on paper my life was great - I made $200,000 a year as a real estate agent, I'd just built a huge home that I had designed - but I was completely miserable," Kashlee told news.com.au
"I just sat there thinking 'isn't this what I wanted? Why isn't this making me happy?' - and it just wasn't.
"Through years of climbing the ladder, running in the rat race, my accumulation of 'things' and unconsciously tying myself down, I became someone I didn't like.
"I was short, unsympathetic and had developed a ravenous taste for ... more.
"The problem with my obsession with 'more' is that my thirst for it could never be quenched, leaving me with two choices - keep up the vicious cycle, or press reset and start again.
"Full of fear, but doing it anyway, I hit that massive reset button of my life.
"I quit the job I hated, said goodbye to fake friends, and started my journey of downsizing and de-cluttering the crap out of my life."
The couple had a $25,000 credit card debt, a house with a six-figure mortgage, excessive bills and out of control spending habits.
"We came to the conclusion that the only reason we still had a home was because we thought we had to have one - but we really don't!" she said.
"We had worked so hard to build online businesses we could do from anywhere, so why weren't we truly doing it from anywhere?
"We sold our property while we were holidaying in Mexico and a few weeks later we came home sold everything inside.
"The furniture, the 80 pairs of shoes I didn't wear, and all the other 'must have' items I brought into my life by self medicating with shopping sprees.
"We sold the dishes, the flower vases, and the throw pillows.
"Basically everything.
"This way, we could commit to 10 years of full time travel and not have to worry about paying bills just to house 'things' we didn't even use or need.
"Facebook buy and sell groups is how we listed and sold our things - we could not believe how fast it all went, with people actually coming to pick it all up at our door."
They made $8,800 from selling household items they didn't use, which went directly to paying off their credit card debt."
TRAVELLING LIGHT - TWO SUITCASES FOR 10 YEARS
"We paid off all debts and got our cost of living down to a tiny fraction of what it was, and every few months we pick a different city/country to live and work in, which has been our dream all along," she said.
"The biggest challenge was to identify want versus need - and trust me, I know how much a want can feel like a need.
"I have had many moments in my life where I needed those shoes, that car, those blender attachments and that crop top with the tags still on it from five years ago.
"Some 90 per cent of the crap I spent my money on, I didn't need - not even close.
"We only have what we need and what brings us joy, and that is such a freeing feeling.
"I can't believe I spent so many years thinking things would make me happy.
"In all honesty, I used to scoff at the idea of minimalism, but my mindset has done a complete 180 on that.
"And just because I would now consider myself a minimalist, doesn't mean I just wear the same outfit all the time or am now void of style.
"But if I want a new dress, I buy it, but I must sell or donate one or two old dresses to make room for it.
"And I do have one 'cheat' if you will.
"It's a virtual closet - like the cloud, but with clothes instead of computer files - called DUFL.
"They keep most of my wardrobe on hand and they ship me my items when I need them, anywhere in the world.
"This completely solved my issue of 'what if we go from Thailand to Russia and I need all my winter gear' and vice versa.
"This way I don't need to fly 'home' or waste money buying new clothes just because of climate differences in different countries."
SO HOW DO YOU DO IT?
Kashlee's advice for people looking to downsize, clear debt and start fresh is easy. Just do it.
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"One day never happens without action, so even if it's the smallest step, start now," she said.
"Start under the bed, in the closets, under the stairs and in the garage.
"There you will find boxes of things you don't even remember you had, that you can likely sell and use that money to pay back debt.
"Stop accumulating new things.
"Comb through your credit cards and stop all of the subscription boxes that just collect in drawers and end up costing you hundreds of dollars a year.
"When I added up the subscription boxes, music services, magazines and cable TV costs for one year it came to $2400.
"When something is just $8 per month you don't take much notice to it, but add it up over one full year and see how much you still like it in your life.
"When I was going through things to sell in my home, I found six different eye creams in a drawer.
"I just need one, so why did I buy six?
"I think we need to take a good hard look at why we are spending the way that we do, and work on fixing it at the source.
"My month budget has morphed from spending most of it on bills and 'things', to spending my income on experiences.
"Instead of giving my money to the banks in the form of credit card debt interest, I can spend that money on flights, tours, language lessons and cultural experiences.
"We only get one life and we instead to do as much with it as we can."
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BUT REALLY. HOW DO YOU DO IT?
• Get out your credit card, debit card and PayPal statements for the last 12 months, highlight anything that is a reoccurring charge that is not a car, house or insurance. Then, add up what the charge is for the year and assess what you are paying for. Is it worth the yearly cost? Do you use it? Does it bring value to your life?
• If you have another credit card, call and ask if they have any balance transfer specials. If they do, move your debt around to cut out some interest. Then make a pay down plan so you clear it within the interest free time period.
• Start paying the highest interest debt off first.
• Stop drinking two bottles of wine a week and just have a glass or two on the weekend.
• Stop buying clothes and makeup that sit around and collect dust.
• Take yourself off all the daily or weekly emails that want you to shop - out of sight, out of mind.
• Have friends bring over food for dinner parties instead of eating out all the time.
• Make a rule not to buy anything until yours is 90 per cent gone, and if you have something like it already, you don't need another one.
• Before you buy something think - would I rather go to Italy, or buy this instead?
• To de-clutter, start in one room of the house and start putting similar items in a big pile. The kind of pile you can't ignore. Sort the pile into three mini piles - garbage/recycle, donate and sell.
• Start taking pictures and listing your 'sell' items online. To determine whether you need it or not, consider if you've used it in the last 12 months? Does it bring value to your life? The tip is don't just keep it because it cost a lot of money or you might need it 'someday'.
• Set up an auto-save or direct debit on your bank account. You won't even notice it and after a while, you will have a little travel fund growing right under your nose.
