But wait... there's less!

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. 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 (che...

Often Christmas is about more, more, more. More spending, more gifts, more stuff. It's tricky for the person who is happy with less stuff. Three cheers for my family My loved ones have done exceedingly well this year. All the gifts I received on Christmas day could fit in one envelope - not including those that fitted in my stomach ;) . My free e-book 10 Great Gifts for People who Don't Want Stuff has a great range of gift ideas. Here are specific examples that are giving me joy rather than clutter. Hand-made gifts It's an unexpected treat to get something someone has put their time into making. A friend (and her 8 and 6 year old daughters) made us this collection of soaps. We'll appreciate them as we use them up. Held up to the light, they're amazingly colourful and bright. Even the bag they came in (courtesy of the kids) was fantastically cute. Vouchers Vouchers can be hit and miss. The tip is to go broad if you don't know the person well. Only ...

Sadly many Christmas present miss the mark. They are not at all what the receiver wants. They waste a bunch of time and effort - not to mention the money. That's part of why I wrote 10 Great Gift Ideas for people who don't want stuff. If you didn't get a copy (or you loved ones didn't) you may be receiving some less-than-welcome gifts. This novelty Christmas card has some out-there ideas on what to say when you open that gift that leaves you speechless. After Christmas, you may want to sell your gift online (and buy something you will actually like / use). Download my free guide Less Clutter More Cash .

What do you get your loved one when they don't want "stuff"? Why do we buy stuff? It's especially tricky at Christmas. All those Christmas images of big shiny box-shaped presents sitting under an enormous tree. All the ads and all the stores showing us objects that we can buy for each other. Everything points us that way. So much pressure to do the 'Christmassy thing'. Does it makes us happy? More people every year find they have enough stuff. Too much stuff. The thought of receiving yet more stuff is the opposite of a Merry Christmas. "I don't want any more stuff" they'll say. "But it's Christmas, and I want to give you something", you say. Here's the answer You can both enjoy Christmas if you give a gift that isn't "stuff". You can show you care. They get a gift they really appreciate. But we need ideas from outside the box. Ideas that we won't find in sales catalogues. That's what my new...

Yes, workplace Secret Santa sucks. Here's how to make it better. The dreaded email It's early December and you open the all-staff email about the secret Santa. Arrgh! As if the Christmas period isn't busy enough already, now you have to spend time, energy and money in the stressful shops-at-Christmas environment trying to find something under $10 that will be appreciated by Tim from the finance department. It's extra hard when you don't really know Tim from finance. Until you drew his name, you weren't even sure which of the finance guys was Tim and which was Steven. A waste of time? Is any of this necessary? Has anyone's life been meaningfully improved by a workplace Secret Santa gift? Are the token gifts worth all the time we spent brainstorming and buying gifts for near-strangers? I doubt it. And a time of waste How many gifts end up in the bin the next day? We buy stuff we never needed only to produce more garbage the planet doesn't need. ...