But wait... there's less!

As we wrap up 2019, here are the most-read posts here on But Wait There's Less . 5. Books. Do we need them anymore? Why do we keep books? To read them again? How many do we ever read a second time? I worked it out .For me not many. This lead to a second post on my technique for streamlining my book collection . 4. Living in a converted barn. This was something my wife and I tried on a trip away this year. Check out the pictures . I still reckon it could be possible long-term. We really don't need as much space as we have. 3. What's your retirement age? It's not 67. At least it doesn't have to be. If we spend less, compulsory work can become optional at a very early age . It could even be in your 30s. 2. The automatic guest room On the same trip as number 4, we stayed with a friend who (with some clever furniture ) converts her living room into another bedroom. It's a clever way to be able to have guests, but without paying a heap of money for a bigge...

To me a "win" is giving a great present to someone who'll enjoy it, and not being wasteful. That can be tricky with these games. What is Stealing Santa? It's a version of secret santa played at workplaces or in extended families. Each person contributes a gift, and draws a number to determine the order of play. Player one selects a gift and opens it. Each following player opens a gift and can keep it or (forcibly) swap it with any already-opened gift. The last player has the choice of all the gifts. Why I hate this game Clearly it runs totally against the idea of buying a present for a specific person who you have thought about and brought something that would suit that person. Also, giving gifts for an unknown recipient often results in unwanted and wasteful purchases, sometimes thrown away. Why I love this game If played well, the worst outcome is neutral and the best outcome can be someone getting a gift they love. What? Let me explain. My wife didn't...

Today was the sad passing of Marie Fredriksson of Swedish pop-duo Roxette. She is best known for the song It Must Have Been Love , from the Pretty Woman movie. She died of a brain tumour at the age of 61. Why it matters to me? I'm not normally affected by celebrities passing. But this is different for two reasons. As a youngster I was a big Roxette fan. Most of their best stuff was before my time, but I scanned records stores (when music was sold in shops) to find their older stuff. Those CDs got very heavy listening in my younger years - and again tonight as I write this. Also Marie was 61, the same age my mother passed away - almost to the day. So it's an extra stark reminder that the phrase "life is short" is often truer than we expect. On average we live longer lives than generations before us, but it's obviously not the case for everyone. What does it mean? For me it's a reminder of that we only have a finite number of hours on the planet. ...

How far would you go for financial freedom? It's the subtitle of Scott Rieckens' book and also his year-long quest featured in his documentary . What is Financial Independence? Basically it's as simple as spending way less than you earn, investing the difference and getting to a point where the investment income supports your lifestyle. For some people, financial independence comes very naturally. And then there's Scott and his wife Taylor (and baby Jovie). Their income is good, but they also lease a BMW, are members of a boat club, frequently spent hundreds on dinner and live in an expensive part of San Diego, California. At least, until now. Why the book? Scott says that the idea of the book (and documentary to come) is to show "a journey with all of the anxieties, disagreements, negotiations and mistakes that I imagine so many others would expect or fear" . He makes good on that promise. He figures that this is an option for many people - and he ba...

I'm reading "Playing with FIRE" by Scott Rieckens. He realised he could save a 6-figure amount just by not having a sandwich and coffee on his way to work each day. Traditionally Scott would buy an coffee and a sandwich on his way to work. It was "only" eight dollars so it seemed like an easy purchase. Even with free coffee at work, eight dollars seemed a small price to pay with a sandwich included. Doing the Math Then Scott crunched the numbers. Eight dollars each workday came to $160 a month. $1,920 per year. Continuing this habit for 30 years of work would cost him $57,600 . If he invested that $160/month instead, he would accumulate $133,161 (invested at 5%). Translating that into Australian dollars it's $194,765.27 (to be precise). How the little things add up It is amazing how even little things add up if we do them a lot. $8 doesn't sound much - until he realises he's buying 7,200 coffees and 7,200 sandwiches. Are we getting...

OK, my headline is an exaggeration. But these seats to a great game were a brilliant Christmas gift. My sister-in-law is a season-member of the Brisbane Lions. She gave my wife and I "guest passes" for Christmas last year . The 'twilight' schedule adds atmosphere as afternoon transforms into evening during the play. Most of the match was excitingly close before the late surge by the home team. It was a great day to share with my sister-in-law and her partner. Afterwards, he took us on a tour of the members' area including a gallery of sports history at the venue. Number 1 tip In my free ebook 10 Great Gift Ideas for People who Don't Want Stuff , the gift of experiences is the first suggestion. They're great gifts. Very enjoyable, clutter-free, and the shopping stress is minimal or none. As a bonus, with the magic of nostalgia the memories get better with time. PS. For readers outside Australia, the Brisbane Lions play Australian Rules footba...

Why does time feel so scarce? Maybe we're not spending it as well as we could. James Wallman offers helpful strategies for improving our leisure time, in his book Time and How to Spend It . Why don't we like leisure? The happiness course I took included a study where researchers measured people's happiness at work and at home. Surprisingly, it seemed that people were often happier at work. Part of the explanation was that at work we are trained, doing tasks that challenge us and (hopefully) achieving goals. At home we flick channels hoping for something better than when we checked 10 minutes ago. But who wants to work more? Free time is scarce enough already. Isn't it? Why are we so time-poor? James gives seven reasons why we are time-poor. Reason 1 is that we now earn so much, so are more tempted to trade away more of our free time. Reasons 2 to 6 relate to digital devices (see my review of Digital Minimalism ). Reason 7 is the basis of the rest of the bo...

Irish Leonard explains how his family of four lives on a sailboat. No inheritance. No lottery. Just not wasting money - or his time. How does he afford it? He explains by showing the average Irish household expenses, converted into hours worked. Here's the result shown as a working week: We work a lot to pay for our cars. As he puts it: Almost 20% of our working lives is spent so that we can afford to get to our working lives. So Leonard eliminates or massively reduces most expenses. On the family boat, he sails "in a climate that requires no heating or air conditioning, doesn't own a car and generates what energy he needs using solar panels". Remove the unnecessary costs and you remove most of the need to work. He calculates that we can feed and clothe our family on 5 days work per month, or the equivalent. By contrast the average Irish couple devotes 19 hours a day to work, including commuting. Why all this focus on time? In Leonard's words "I...

Work seems to be compulsory. But it doesn't have to be that way, according to Tanja Hester and her book Work Optional . It's essentially a guide book; showing you how a Work-optional life can be done and giving you the practical and psychological guidance to achieve it. We work full time, with increasing hours and responsibility. There go most of our prime years. We spend our money to "soothe the stress" and get a few years of retirement at the end. That's the script we're given. But what if we write a different script. That's what Tanja's book is all about. She found that even in her chosen career, working full-time forever is not all it's cracked up to be. Alternatives to tradition Traditional retirement, and the pension, were first invented to entice older workers to quit and open up jobs for younger workers - not for the benefit of the retiree. It's "no reason to shape our entire lives in a conventional way on a made-up timeli...

Two mock ads. Opposite points of view. Head-to-head. Which is better? That's The Pitch - part of Aussie TV show Gruen . The ads are just for fun, but the topics are real. The latest episode focuses on retirement. Hiring more elderly workers versus compulsory retirement at 65. Here's the ad in favour of retirement. It features retired people making (pretend) regretful statements about work. None of which are in the least bit convincing - especially when said while the person is enjoying their post-work life. "I wish I'd spent more time at work" "I'd kill for a conference call." "I miss my emails" "What I'd give for one more rush hour" The ad ends with the slogan "Retirement never gets old" . While it's talking about retirement at 65, the same point could be made for 60, 55, 50, etc. For many the only reason to continue as far as 65 is monetary. Basically, we spend too much money on questionable ...

For 28 days I took 5-10 mins each night to write down 5 things that day that I was grateful for. Why did I do this? This was my assignment for the Science of Well-being course that I did online. The science shows that money and stuff usually don't increase our happiness . Often when they do it's only by tiny amounts. On the other hand, 40% of our happiness comes from our thoughts and actions (see the 13 happiness hacks ). A gratitude journal is one of those actions. Assignments are great That's not normally a phrase students say. But when I know I need to write down 5 things at the end of the day, I operate differently. I look out for experiences to savour - one day I stopped at the corner to savour the sound of the birds singing. I look to connect with people socially - even for us introverts, social connection does increase happiness. I look for activities that use my signature strengths . Rear-view mirror Apart from seeking positive experiences, the recording...

There is no doubt. We spend far too much time fiddling with our phones and staring at social media. Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport gives a plan to separate what's useful from what's a complete waste of time. This plan helps use digital tools to add value to our days, rather than suck the hours out of them. This review gives you an idea of what's in the book, and I recommend reading it for yourself. I find his writing witty in places and wise throughout. His stories - including those of people who have tried the plan - really add to the experience. The Battle He sets the tone of the book by describing this as a battle. The devices and apps are like poker machines and cigarettes, with the companies trying to increase our time spent using their product. Far removed from the reasons we signed up in the first place, these devices and apps "control more and more of how we spend our time, how we feel, and how we behave" . Digital Minimalism So what's o...

One of the secrets to this lifestyle is determining whether things provide value for their cost. Weighing up the cost Cost is not just money. It's the hassle of buying it, the space to store it , the time to clean and maintain it and, for the eco-conscious, the impact of disposing of it later. Is it worth all that cost for the benefit it brings? What ads say The trick is that society (particularly advertising) will tell you the opposite. Provided you have the money - and often even if you don't - something that brings any value at all is something we are urged to buy. Sometimes it's even just the slim chance of a tiny amount of value. This current ad is a classic example. Telstra, an Australian telco, is known for its comprehensive area coverage, particularly in remote areas. The proposition seems to be that you should pay for this extra coverage incase: You are a footy fan, AND you're in a remote area on game night, AND the power goes out during the game,...

I've recently been doing a happiness course through Yale University and am excited to find so many proven methods for increasing our happiness. Here's a brief summary of some of them. You can find out more and go deeper by doing the free online course . My previous article was about our brain often making mistakes in picking the things it thinks will make us happy. So the first part here is quick happiness hacks to get around that. The second part is about wanting the right parts of the things our brains think will make us happy. Then there's the course experiments I did - to 'rewire' our habits for greater happiness. 1. Quick happiness hacks Experiences make us happier that things Stuff doesn't make us as happy as we think. "A new car sticks around to disappoint you. But a trip to Europe is over. It evaporates. It has the good sense to go away, and you are left with nothing but a wonderful memory." Studies show that (compared to material pur...

I've learnt some surprising and shocking things in this Yale University course on The Science of Wellbeing . The professor gave the class the warning "Everything you thought was important for being happy is not" . Miswanting We want the wrong things. Typically people think happiness comes from a good job, money, cool stuff, good grades, good looks etc. A range of studies show the effect of these things on our well-being to be either negligible, non-existent or even negative. It reminds me of that quote "People may spend their whole lives climbing the ladder of success only to find, once they reach the top, that the ladder is leaning against the wrong wall" . 4 ways our thoughts trick us Our intuitions are often wrong - much like the way our eyes are tricked by optical illusions. Even if we know the trick, our eyes still get tricked by the illusion. We judge things in relative terms rather than absolute. Bizarrely, many people would prefer a lower pay...

We're wealthier than ever - so why don't we feel like it? Australia has gone almost three decades without recession. The stock market recently hit a record high. Our wages are record highs. Home loan rates are at record lows. We live in one of the richest countries in the world at the richest point in history. So what's wrong? Comparison Wealth is relative. So what do we compare to? Where we expect to be? "When your wages growth is only 2 or 3 per cent, you don't feel as well-off as when it's going up 10 per cent. That's that nominal distortion that people often suffer from" , says economist Shane Oliver, and that "expectations have grown a lot faster than reality." We're earning more than last year, but we want even more. So compared to our imaginary situation, we see ourselves as worse off. What we see around us? Shane Oliver again. "If you think about it - Australians today are a lot wealthier. They're living far ric...

Yes! A movie about minimalism. Well, yes and no... I was immediately interested by a movie called Downsizing . It's not exactly about reducing material possessions. At least not in the normal way. Synopsis In an attempt to solve the problems of population and global warming, a Norwegian scientist invents the process of downsizing - where humans are shrunk to a height of 13 cm. Paul Safranek (played by Matt Damon) and his wife have financial problems and look to downsize as a way to solve their financial problems. Obviously, life is cheaper when you can live in a doll's house and a biscuit could feed you for a month. What interests me? The movie received mixed reviews, based on performance, but the premise (described as "profound") is what interests me most. There is an obvious comparison to my type of downsizing - consuming less and having fewer possessions, both for the planet's sake and for my own. Take the pressure down At the school reunion Paul meets...

We live in one of the richest countries but even the 'rich' feel poor. That's what Richard Denniss calls affluenza. Here are some of my highlights from his book. "Just as a fish can't taste the water it swims in" , it is hard for us to notice how weird our culture has become. "We have built a culture where buying things is increasingly unrelated to using things." Each year we "throw away mountains of perfectly edible food, perfectly wearable clothes and fitness equipment that has never been used." Advertising is a big infector He points out that advertising's aim is to make us feel insecure. While there are truth-in-advertising laws, they don't stop the big lie that "a new car, a new soft drink or a new credit card will make you relaxed, popular or sexy." We cure it by changing culture Culture decides the desirable options. This is why we pay through the nose ($14 billion in the USA in 2015) for bottled water (whic...

Given the choice, would you prefer to feel good or feel bad? The answer is not as obvious as you might think. If someone said to me "Here's an activity that will make you feel worse about yourself" , I don't think I'd take them up on the offer. Yet that's kind of what we do most days. Perhaps because we don't realise it. How do we know? One of Google's many great toys is predictive search function. You start typing something and instantly get suggestions. If I start typing my name, it suggests David Bowie, David Tennant, David Beckham and David Attenborough. Here's what happens if I type "facebook makes me feel" and "instagram makes me feel" I find the differences interesting. It seems that facebook is the best if you want to feel like a failure or left out, while Instagram works better if you want to feel fat, inadequate or insecure. If you want to be feel depressed, lonely, or like a loser, then either platform can...