Top 5 articles of 2019

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 bigger place.

1. Don't dump on charities

This time last year, Marie Kondo's documentary hit Netflix - and decluttering became trendy. Combined with post-Christmas cleanup, new year's resolutions and (in Australia) summer holidays) donations to charity surged.

Trouble is that it already costs charities 8-figure sums each year to dispose of the "donations" left outside their store.

In my post I put forward a better solution

Want more?

If you'd like to read more in 2020, you can follow on facebook, or sign-up for the monthly-ish update. It's a quick convenient way to catch-upon all that has happened on the blog.

Happy New Year

Hope your 2020 is a year of less. Less stuff, less clutter, less expenses, less debt, less pressure and less stress. :)

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...

Too Much Stuff

"Why is it so hard to resist new things even when we know we already have too much. Can we find an alternative to the more, more, more mentality?" That promo got me hooked into the half-hour doco "Too Much Stuff". Australian viewers can see it online . Otherwise, here are some of my highlights. Host Sarah Wilson sums up the problem right at the start. "At every turn we're urged to possess the next thing that will make us feel smarter and more desirable. Anything we want is available with just one click. We're filling up our lives with stuff; yet ultimately, many of us feel empty, guilty and stressed out by our consumption." She sets out to explore an alternative. To see if "radically reducing our consumption" can lead to a better life. (Spoiler alert: Yes) Sarah says many people call her a minimalist but she's not so much about getting rid of things, more about not buying stuff. What's wrong with the Marie Kondo approach? Each ep...

But wait... there's less!

Search This Blog