Skip to main content

Big motivator for small living

It's been a while between posts here - mainly because we've been moving house. It's been a real motivator for downsizing.

Packing each and every item we owned, really makes me wish there were fewer of them.

Moving everything from the old apartment to the new one made me envious of those people who live in a "tiny house on wheels". For them moving house simply means towing it to a new location. No packing required.

The whole process has reaffirmed our commitment to owning less stuff. So we're going to be intentional about downsizing. It will be an ongoing activity. My environmental heart couldn't stomach a spontaneous dumping of things into the garbage, but it's also more fun this way. Selling things online brings in some handy pocket money. Giving items away is also a great community activity, whether it is to friends and family, to charity or to people in the neighbourhood.

I'm looking forward to it as a lifestyle rather than a task to do. It's about not being so tied to material possessions, about doing more giving and less taking, and about having fewer things but enjoying them more.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Simple phone

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.

Why own a car, when you can go get?

That's the slogan of one company providing an alternative to car ownership. Here's our experience with them. Why not just have our own car? Another time I'll write a full post about that, but suffice to say that car ownership is a pain in the neck. The servicing, the maintenance, the repairs, the parking, the traffic, the registration, the insurance, the cleaning... For my wife and I, about 98% of our transport needs can be done on foot, by bike, by train, bus or ferry. Maybe 99% if you include rideshare. So we choose to avoid the pain (and cost) of car ownership. However, car use (I think of it separately from car ownership) can be handy in certain situations. We had one of those situations last weekend. Here's how it went. Booking a car My wife signed up for GoGet , and booked the car online for the time window she needed it. As a first-timer, she received her little membership card in the mail. On the day of the booking, GoGet sent her a reminder email about 20 minut...

The Latte Factor

For the first time ever I'm reviewing a novel. Latte Factor is a short story  - around 120 pages - and is equal parts of inspirational story and financial education. The combination of the two is quite rare, and done quite nicely. The story is about Zoey Daniels, associate editor for a travel magazine. Although she's never been outside the USA  - "a travel editor who's never travelled". She struggles with money and is considering a higher-paying job at the company her friend Jessica works for. The job would provide more income, but would also be more stressful and demanding. She already has a nightmare about being on an increasingly-fast treadmill that she struggles to stay on. Her current boss Barbara - aware only of the money situation - suggests she talk to Henry at the coffee shop. This peculiar suggestion is where Zoey's life begins to turn a corner. Spoiler Alert Being a book of fiction, I don't want to spoil the story for you. It's a book you ca...