Less house. More fun.

I caught up with a good friend recently. He asked me about tiny houses. Apparently I'd mentioned it a bit the last time we talked.

It's not so much about the tiny house itself. I do like seeing them, and the tiny house TV shows, but it's more about the lifestyle. Part of that is just having fewer possessions. Especially after moving house this year, it seems pointless to have things we never use. We spend more time moving them than using them.

But my friend probably summed it up better than I did. He's talking to his young daughters about money - explaining how that things cost money and that's why daddy goes to work. That's a key part of it for me. Having an enormous house and lots of possessions means more time spent at the office and less time enjoying life with those we love.

One of the people on the tiny house TV show summed it up even quicker. "Less house. More fun."

PS. A guy I used to work with calculated that he spent more time with us at work that he did with his wife and son. Though that's probably the case for many people, I found it slightly depressing.

Comments

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...

But wait... there's less!

Search This Blog