But wait... there's less!

Downsizing can help others as much as yourself. Selling items is great, but donations can also have a huge impact. You've probably heard of Movember , the charitable movement that tackles men's health issues of cancer, mental health and suicide. Men around the country, and the world, grow a moustache for the month as a conversation starter about men's health and as a fundraiser for the issues. My mate Phil goes a bit further that most and hosts his own fund-raising cricket match. How Australian is that? I didn't play in the match, but did donate a new match ball I had sitting in a cupboard from my playing days. I could have sold it earlier, but I liked the fact that it would save Phil the full retail cost of a new ball. Cricket balls can be expensive ($25-$90) so the money saved means more funds raised for Movember. It's also good to see an item serving the purpose it was made for. In the same weekend, a lead singer bought my waistcoat for his performa...

Black Friday is a contest. It's you versus the retailer. Read on to find out how to come out ahead. Here in Australia the 'Black Friday' sales have emerged in the last couple of years - but what does it mean? When is Black Friday? Black Friday is the first Friday after Thanksgiving. Yes, Thanksgiving - that American holiday we don't celebrate here. Pretty weird, huh? It's like having Boxing Day without Christmas Day. What happens on Black Friday? In the USA, and increasingly here, stores hold simultaneous sales in order to get shoppers into a buying frenzy. Some offer deals like 20% off everything. Other have big mark-downs on specific items in order to get you in the store - to sell you other stuff you never wanted in the first place. Isn't 20% off a good thing? Not really. There's a psychological effect called anchoring . If there's a jacket for $40 it's no big deal. But if the shop says it's on sale from $50, suddenly we think it'...

Clothes can be tricky to downsize. There's not a huge second-hand market for them. So much is donated - far more than the charity shops can ever sell to their handful of customers. What's the best thing to do? For me it's been an ethical dilemma. Unwanted clothes versus unwanted landfill. Until now Now there's a more planet-friendly option. One that comes with rewards. Drop-off at H&M stores Fashion store H&M has a zero waste goal for the clothes (and other textiles) that you drop off in their recycle stations. So far they've taken in the equivalent of 89 million T-shirts for their Rewear, Reuse, Recycle process. Rewear Clothing that can be reworn is sent overseas for second-hand use. Reuse Textiles no longer suitable to wear are converted into products such as cleaning cloths. Recycle Textiles that can't be reused are recycled into textile fibres or used to manufacture products such as insulation materials. Reward For each bag of used tex...

A memoir is normally someone's life story. For Joshua Millburn it's just 5 years. But a lot happens in that short time. Joshua and his best friend Ryan became "The Minimalists". They also made a documentary , which I asked my local library to stock. "In the meantime," said my helpful librarian, "would you be interested in a book they have written?" . The book is written by Joshua with short notes inserted by Ryan - an entertaining way to have co-authors. It feels like you're sitting in the living room with Josh telling you a story. In the adjacent kitchen, ostensibly doing something else, Ryan is close enough to throw in the occasional interjection - sometimes profound and sometimes just poking fun of Josh. Two women In a short space of time Joshua loses both his mother and his wife. In different ways the two events bring him face-to-face with the way we accumulate stuff to make us happy (which it doesn't) and the degree to which we o...

How early is too early for Christmas trees? I was bemused to see these three at my local shopping centre - and a nativity scene just out-of-shot. It was Monday 29 October, but I'm guessing they went up a few days earlier - before the weekend rush. Does your local shopping centre have decorations up yet? Let me know in the comments. Reli-gious? I'd like to believe that the centre CEO or managing staff are just so full of the joy of Christmas, that they just couldn't wait to put out the Christmas decorations. But does anyone even have their home tree up yet? Or Really-just for money? I can't help but think this is just a sneaky sales tactic. Decorations prompt shoppers to put something extra in their trolley "for Christmas". The longer decorations are up, the more action they get at the cash register. While the nativity scene depicts people worshipping baby Jesus, the intent is more about worship of sales figures. Later in the year, look out for news in...