Top 5 of 2018

Here are the But Wait There's Less Top 5 most popular posts of 2018. The ones you read the most.

I considered a Top 10 but, like most things, less is better.

1. Minimalism: A Documentary

Two long-time friends ditch "success" for happiness. They debunk the consumerist message and find we can have more happiness and less stress by simply having less stuff.

2. It's so good - we DIDN'T buy one

Sharing items can be way better than owning them. This story also shows how you can share items in your area.

the handy travel pack you don't need to buy

2b. Do we have affluenza?

An oldie but a goodie. This post about consuming less and Buy Nothing New Month was written a while ago but still gets lot of reads in 2018.

3. Jerry Seinfeld and the finance guy

I'm guessing the Seinfeld stand-up is the big drawcard here. Both guys give good reasons to have less junk at home. One very funny. The other very insightful.

4. The best day for a garage sale

I'm a big fan of downsizing by selling online (check out my book Less Clutter More Cash). In this post I give tips for a garage sale - including the best day (for Aussies) to hold one.

5. Tiny House, Big Living

This is about one of my favourite shows. People moving to smaller houses and talking about how freeing it is to finally have less stuff.

Thanks for being part of this journey in 2018. I hope your 2019 is a year of less. Less stuff, less clutter, less expenses, less debt, less pressure and less stress.

Comments

Monopoly, money and you

One of the most well-known board games can also be a great way to learn about money and investing - according to this book. Perhaps one way to teach kids (and maybe ourselves) about finance is to play a board game. In so many ways, the game parallels our own financial life - and we can practice financial decision-making without losing any real money. Is monopoly like life? Yes and no. We manage our cash, negotiate, make deals, make choices, go through tough times, make investments, pay tax and reap rewards. To do well we have to make investments. It's very hard to win just by collecting $200 each time you pass go. There are rules, and wise moves. The better we know them, the better we do. However, in real life, you can win without forcing others into bankruptcy. Principles that work in the game and life Diversify. You might have hotels on the two most expensive properties on the board, but if no-one lands on them, you still might lose. Investments have a price and a value. They are...

The 'keys' to happiness

At the moment my wife is practising a song. She'll be performing it on piano at the upcoming wedding of a friend. She wants to do lots of practice so it can be just great for the day. But we don't own a piano. At this point the material world says "Well, go out and buy one". But these days there are many more options. After a couple of practices on a friend's piano we put out the call on Streetbank - a community site for people to share things with their neighbours. Within a day we had a couple of offers of a keyboard to borrow. It's a great solution as it was free for us, and made use of keyboards that were just sitting around unused. One was so unused that the owner said he would test if it still worked before he lent it to us. I'm told that Aristotle once said that joy was in use not in ownership. I think this is a good example of that philosophy in action. Although sometimes I question if it's "joy" to hear the same song pract...

Are cooktops a waste of space?

Who has ever had four saucepans cooking at once? So why do we have four hotplates on cooktops? Back in the day of all-in-one units, four hotplates were a nice fit on the top of the oven. These days the cooktop and ovens are usually separate but we've stuck with four hotplates. In many homes and apartments it's worth re-thinking. Is this is a wise use of bench space? Two-saucepan cooktops are making an appearance and freeing up some bench space in smaller kitchens. Aldi are taking it a step further with the Induction Cooking Plate . It's a stand-alone single-hotplate device that can be packed away when not in use. Aldi says it has 8 temperature settings, 5 preset cooking functions, a timer, touch controls and overheat protection. Could this be the future of smaller kitchens? Cost-savings in building. More bench space. Less energy consumption with the efficiency of induction cooking. Another great example of less is more. I don't mean this to be an ad, but...

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