But wait... there's less!

If there's so much enjoyment from having fewer possessions why do we have so many? Part of the answer is in marketing and advertising. Some ads are tricky and manipulative. Others are just straight out nonsense, repeated so often we begin to believe it. This ad appeared in my suburb in the lead up to Christmas. If it is to be believed then it must be a terrible Christmas for everyone around the world who doesn't have access to my local shopping centre - the "only place for gifts". Not only are there plenty of other shops, but there are plenty of non-shop options. Sites like So Kind have plenty of other ideas for gifts including experiences, the gift of time (like babysitting) or baking a loved one a cake or batch of cookies. For gifts you could even go to sites like Ebay or Gumtree where people are often selling brand new items that they received as gifts, but didn't want or aren't able to use. Despite what advertising tells us there are plenty of...

So you know that we've been giving away quite a number of possessions we don't really need. Recently I was busy and couldn't arrange a mutually convenient time for someone to pick up the item they wanted. So I left it outside in a small box. When I arrived home it had been replaced with a large box of food. This is that food. Potatoes, turkish bread, pumpkin, lettuce, cucumber, etc. It's great living in a world of generosity. The person receiving my item was very appreciative of my generosity and (on her own initiative) returned it with some generosity of her own. It's such a great change from the what's-in-it-for-me world that seems to dominate our world. When we're generous, we're all better off - and a lot happier.

A group called Advent Conspiracy put together this great little video about how to make Christmas more meaningful, less commercial, less materialistic while also helping make the world a better place. Surely this is a no-brainer. It's a winner on all fronts. I think the only reason it doesn't take off is the massive amount of advertising that tells us that Christmas should be all about consumerism. Which is wrong, but it's a powerful message. You may also be interested in previous videos by Advent Conspiracy. Here are the US version and Australian version from a few years ago. It's pitched at a Christian audience, but I think the message is applicable for everyone.

Have you ever signed an internet petition? Often they are for great causes, and other times it's someone letting off steam about something that irritates them. I recently received one started by a lady upset that she had to pay tax on her redundancy package. I'm not here to debate the merits of the tax system, but in her petition she mentioned being 66 years of age and still having a mortgage to pay. What? How can that be? Surely there's something wrong when a couple who have been of working age for 50 years are still making house payments. This is precisely the kind of terrible situation that I'm hoping to help people avoid. At this age Linda and her husband should be able to spend time with their grandchild and relax a bit. They shouldn't have to be spending their time chasing the government to change the federal tax system. I hope they sell up, pay off the mortgage, and move into something smaller and/or more affordable. They can have more time with the f...

This past week we gave away one of those beach shade tents (seen below in our driveway). It was nothing flash, but handy for avoiding sunburn at the beach. We put it online for free and that night we had 5 replies within a couple of hours and arranged to give it away the next evening. It was great to have a double win. 1. It was so easy to avoid something ending up in landfill (or deteriorating in the back of the garage) and 2. It was wonderful to help out another person (or whole family) at the same time. As the taker said to me in a message afterwards, “we have been wanting one for the kids ... but never really had the spare funds for it.” PS. I left the post online until the tent had been collected. In less than 24 hours, it was viewed over 500 times and I received 21 enquiries. There's certainly a lot of people we can help out, while also de-cluttering our own home.

I get my fair share of teasing for still using a Nokia phone. So I feel quite vindicated that someone has now invented a new non-smartphone . It's pitched for those who want a decluttered life. Instead of features, its selling points are things like "reclaim a little quietude from the constant intrusions of technology", "no internet connection, no app store and definitely no camera for taking selfies". One quote from the article said "as smartphones get bigger and bulkier, there is a place for something small and simplified, without all the functions." That kind of statement resonates with me. Not just for phones, but for so many areas of life - including the houses we live in.

Part of the inspiration of the tiny home movement is saying goodbye to insane mortgages. Psychologists have identified that we humans are good at comparing similar items - like one car versus another - but much less good at comparing between items from different categories. This house auction satirical ad points out the things we sacrifice to be an owner of a home. I think it could go further. Many people spend years, or decades, in jobs they hate - just to afford a house they can call their own. I guess that's fine if you value the house more than those lost years. But if that's not the case, are we better off having smaller homes? Or renting? Or both? Part of what I'm doing is discerning what I value in life, and working out how to make a life that reflects that. I reckon that's part of the key to happiness - lining up our values and our actions.

One of the great things about reducing possessions is thing called 'helper's high' . It's that fuzzy feeling you get from helping someone else out. I got one recently by helping an old man lift heavy groceries into his car boot when he was struggling. But this is not about that. I was about to put some watercolour paints online for anyone who wanted them. Then I remembered a local community group where people do art therapy. I gave the paints to a contact who passed them on to the group. The next day my contact called me to say how much they were appreciated. One of the participants wanted to do some watercolour painting, but couldn't afford the paints. When my contact walked in with free paints the participant was overjoyed to be able to do her art. As far as 'helper's highs' go, this was a slightly removed one - I never met the actual person I helped. But still it was a buzz.

One of the things you look at when thinking about tiny living is better use of space. This video, with more than 13 million views, contains some amazing designs that make it so easy to save space. Why have a bedroom and a study if one room can do both. The furniture may cost a bit, but it would be far less than the cost of an extra room. This is the kind of thinking that is involved in the tiny living scene. It's not ordinary, but it's brilliant. Update: Check out the new transformer table my wife and I recently found.

This is a great video of the benefits of a relaxed short commute. It comes from the evocities website, which promotes smaller cities. But it also applies to smaller living. A simpler life with fewer possessions makes it easier to move (for a shorter commute). Also, with a small (or no) mortgage there's also the option of taking a job closer to home, rather than having to chase the dollars.

This is the book we're reading at the moment. The catchy title You Can Buy Happiness (and It's Cheap) sums up the theme that the best things in life don't cost much. By simplifying and focussing on what actually brings happiness, we can do less of the work we hate and live more of the life we love. There are 3 sections - The paradox of stuff (eg. the stuff you own owns you), Finding happiness through simple living, and Buying happiness. Even if you don't want to be exactly like the author, the micro-actions at the end of each chapter can help you live a life that's more "conscious and connected, sustainable and sustaining, heartfelt and happy". I thoroughly recommended it. ..it's easy to accept culturally defined yet faulty ideas of 'happiness' that are based on acquiring material wealth [but the] question isn't 'What do I need to support my current lifestyle?' the question is 'What do I want most out of life and what ...

We first got interested in tiny homes when Christine found an article of this amazing tiny home . It looks great, costs hardly anything, and looks great to live in. There is a full photo gallery of the house, along with a guided tour of the house by its creator Andrew Morrison. But it's not all about the ability to build a well-designed or cute house for a fraction of normal housing cost. It's about an alternative to the "normal" life of working longer and longer hours under more and more stress to pay for a house we hardly get to see, and buy endless amounts of junk to fill it with. That alternative can be very attractive, and the Morrison tiny house is one great example of that.