But wait... there's less!

Have you ever opened a gift on Christmas day and been immediately disappointed. "I'm never going to use this" you might have thought. You might have to make a gift face  or think of one of the ten things to say about a gift you don't like. While re-gifting or selling can be good options, another option is to receive better gifts in the first place (like the yummy treats above that my sister baked for me). How can we do this? With So Kind . What is So Kind? So Kind is a gift registry with a difference. We usually think of registries as a wedding thing - so the happy couple don't get double-ups or unwanted gifts. They're such a great idea, so why not use them all the time? What makes it different? So Kind allows you to have a registry for any occasion - or for all occasions. Faced with the endless cycle of gift-giving events - Valentine's day, mother's day, father's day, anniversary, birthday, Christmas - it may be easier to just have an ongoing gi...

During October I set myself a challenge . To make some progress in decluttering / minimising some possessions. I made a list of 31 items / categories that most households could probably reduce. Then each day I tried to address the category of that day. That meant either listing something for sale, recycling it or safely disposing of it (eg. old batteries). So did I do something every day? No, not quite. Maybe most days. But that wasn't the point of the challenge. It was about reducing the overwhelm and making progress. So how much progress did I make? Found a buyer for this unused cookbook :) I reckon we put 47 items online through the challenge. Our current list is bigger by 20 (compared to pre-challenge) and another 27 have sold. (12 of those came from two people who bought six things each) We had way too many tools In addition I've taken a bunch of photos of items I'm still to list. Record achievement? I don't keep month-by-month records but that's definitely the...

I write about investing, because it's a key part of life. Spending less and investing means an automatic income. An automatic income means we can work less (if we choose) and definitely stress less. But where to invest? What to invest in? Many people expect their money to be invested responsibly and ethically - rather than making money through things like cigarettes, weapons, casinos, adult entertainment, environmental destruction, and pollution from fossil fuels. Those are all things we could probably do with less of. So how do we invest to get good returns - and to have a positive effect on the world? Here are some sources I've seen: Ethical Investing in Australia At Frugality and Freedom , Michelle has done a fair bit of research into Ethical Investing in Australia . For herself, she's chosen Bank Australia for banking, Australian Ethical for superannuation, and two exchange-traded funds ( FAIR and ETHI ) for her share investing outside of super. She also gives detail...

Which is more important? Our money or our life? So why do we trade away so much of our life? Vicki Robin's classic book takes an in-depth look at how we can have a better relationship with money. Here are some of my highlights, though there's so much more great value in the book. I found it so inspirational after reading the foreword and the first chapter. While the backbone of the book is a 9-step plan, there are two concepts that really stand out - even if you never start the plan. One is the idea of "life energy" and our "real hourly wage". The other is the point of enough. Life Energy What is money? Vicki Robin comes to the conclusion that it is a form of life energy. It might sound a bit new-age, but it's like the old business saying "time is money". We exchange our time, and our physical and mental energy to get this thing called money. So when we use it we are effectively spending our life. The exchange rate Spending money is almost like...

Decluttering can be overwhelming. I've been stuck. Shelves and boxes and drawers full of stuff I should go through but not sure where to start. Aaagh - there's so much of it. The solution? So for myself (and for you if you want) I've developed a strategy. I've picked 31 categories in advance. I plan to tackle one item per day of October. If I miss a few that's OK. The point is to overcome overwhelm. To focus on one thing at a time. To move forward instead of being stuck. My favourite way to declutter is to sell online . (I even wrote a  free ebook of tips for selling online). I also like to recycle or upcycle things. Wanna join in? I've chosen categories where I think most people would have excess. If there's a category you have already dealt with, that's cool. Have a rest day - or go even further in one of the previous areas. The list Ok so here's my plan for this October. Bookmark this post or download the picture of my notes. For each category I ...

If we spend less, or waste less, then we don't need to trade away so much of our lives for dollars. So what are the other options for our time? Recently I've been looking at social enterprises - businesses whose primary goal is a social outcome rather than a profit. Last month I reviewed the Fruit Butcher . Today I'm looking at the ground-breaking work of Green Fox Studio - who I also discovered at a local social enterprise showcase. Who are Green Fox Studio? Green Fox Studio trains and employs people to do graphic and digital design. By itself that sounds unremarkable but Green Fox has a difference. Their students and designers are serving time. How does that work? We like to think prison somehow sets people straight. But 46% of people in prison end up re-offending and returning to prison. Others end up homeless. Many have reduced employment prospects due to their record. Most organisations aren't willing to train or employ people with a criminal record. Green Fox stu...

This book is often recommended. The author sees shares as safer than term deposits, prefers low dividends and isn't keen on property. I was keen to read it. Here are my highlights: Two tips Spend less than you earn. Borrow less than you can afford. Those two tips alone would help so many people. Assets and liabilities What we often call assets are really liabilities (they cost us to maintain). Houses, cars, boats can be liabilities - useful for "status or position in the pecking order" . He uses the example of a retiree with $3 million in assets. A million dollar house, a million dollar boat and two $500k cars. They sound wealthy but how will they buy food, let alone pay the ongoing costs of all those items. By contrast, assets bring in an income. Attitude to shares He says the sharemarket is our friend, and "provided it is treated with respect, it creates appropriate wealth for all those who use it sensibly. However if we approach it as a gambler, we need to be prep...

We humans like to think we're smarter than monkeys. But we may be getting caught by a very similar trap. The future we choose The book I'm reading wasn't meant to feature here. It wasn't going to be one of my book reviews . I thought it was unrelated - until the subchapter on consumerism. The author mentioned the monkey trap - a fixed container of food with a hole in the side. The hole is big enough for monkey's hand to enter, but not big enough for a monkey's fist (full of food) to be removed. So many monkeys are caught because they can't bring themselves to let go. They thought they were holding food, but it was really the food (bait) that was holding them. At least monkeys do need food While it's understandable that the monkeys would desire food, our bait seems to be consumerism. It's not even the essentials - it's just things that we are told we need. And we believe it, even if it means we're trapped.  Or in the author's words, "...

Supermarket collectibles. Parents go crazy for them. This time I'm in it. Instead of rolling my eyes at the craziness, I'm purchasing, collecting and even trading. Why? Read on. The dogma of more A big key to happiness is to ignore the dogma that more is good. Instead, to be satisfied with what we have. To have enough, but not too much. To ignore the never-ending quest for more. The Little Treehouse series is a classic example of the culture of more. (To explain for international readers, an Australian supermarket is currently giving away a small kids book with every $30 spent in store.) Each book is about the size of a bank card and maybe 3 times as thick. Manufactured desire The (very) short stories are an extension of the Treehouse series of books, which are popular with Australian kids. If the supermarket had not done this promotion, we would all be blissfully satisfied with the original series of full-length books. But that's not how it is. Instead, swarms of parents, ...

By now we should be working 15-hour weeks thanks to the advances in technology. So what happened?  David Graeber argues that the maths is right. The amount of actual work needed has reduced, so now we invent extra jobs that serve no purpose - what he calls BS jobs. Why does this happen and how can we avoid it in the future? Here is what I got from the book. What are some examples? The guy who has to double-check every computer scanned application form to make sure the computer interprets people's handwriting correctly. (Spoiler alert: It does. Every time. But it's in the contract that each one has to be human-checked.) It would bearable if they were applications for organ transplants, but they are applications for loyalty rewards cards. Ugh! The German military outsourced its IT and logistics. Now when a soldier at a base needs to move his computer two doors down the hall, Kurt has to drive up to 500 km to move it for him - and fill out all the requisite paperwork. The travel c...

One theme of mine is that if we buy less stuff we can work less. But what to do with all the extra free hours? Some people choose to start a business, or more specifically, a social enterprise. These are businesses that have a social outcome as their main goal. If they make some money along the way, that's good - but it's not the main purpose. I recently attended a webinar of social start-ups pitching their enterprise. One of these is  Fruit Butcher . The Fruit Butcher? Elliot Carter calls himself a Fruit Butcher. After an animal safari in Africa, he and his wife decided to go vegetarian for a month but found the options limited. A fruit wholesaler by trade, Elliot realised he could use his fruit knowledge to provide tasty vegetarian options for people who want a great meat alternative. Here's his pitch video: Jackfruit's back, alright While Elliot's got plans for a range of plant-based alternatives the first is a pork-like product that's made from jackfruit. A...

Why do so many go mainstream? Once you discover the benefits of an alternate lifestyle (for want of a better phrase) it's hard to see why more people haven't taken it up. Whether it's minimalism, part-time work, frugality, financial independence or eco-friendly living; at some point we ask ourselves why so many people live the mainstream lifestyle. "Why do people own so much stuff?" we might wonder, "Surely they must realise how little joy they get from those items.". "Why do people (and companies) insist on working 40 hours a week rather than 30?" "Why do people spend practically all their income, rather than investing for a passive income that could last forever?" "Why do people drive so much when there are healthier, more affordable and eco-friendly ways to travel?" The wisdom of Solomon I recently read about the conformity experiments of Solomon Asch. He gave people simple multiple choice questions and record...

My friend Stephen asked about charging for things. He felt bad about charging someone $30 for an artwork - even if it cost him much more. Should he feel bad? No. If someone wants to pay the price, they obviously value it highly (at least more than the $30). If he's willing to sell, he must value it less than $30. So it's going to the person who will get more joy out of it. Why not just give it to them for free? Money is a convenient way to measure value. It's also a way to share the joy. If Steve gives the art away then he no longer gets to enjoy it - so is worse off. By selling it for $30, he is happier with the $30, and the buyer is happier with the artwork. The end result of the sale is that both people are happier than they were before. Here are 3 reasons it's better to sell than to giveaway and how it helps you declutter and minimise better. 1. Money (most obviously). It might just be a few bucks here and there - but it adds up. My wife and I often sell an i...

Could investing $13,000 be better than investing $70,000? In this case, the answer seems to be yes. In Making Money Made Simple , Noel Whittaker compares two hypothetical investors: Person 1: Invests $ 1,000 a year from age 18-30. Person 2: Invests $ 2,000 a year from age 30-65. You might think that person 2 would be better off, but here's how it goes (in chart form): Person 1 stops investing at 30, but their investment keeps growing. At that point, person 1's yearly growth is more than person 2's yearly contribution. That's why person 2 never catches up. Person 1 ends up about $ 150,000 ahead, despite investing about one-fifth of what the person 2 invested. What if growth isn't so good? These calculations assume 10% growth. What if it isn't that high? Fair point. I've run the numbers at lower rates of growth. At 9%, person 1 is still better off. At 8% it's close, and person 2 comes out slightly ahead. But that's not really the poin...

Author Noel Whittaker says two things are needed to be wealthy. Knowledge of what to do and the discipline to do it. He gives you plenty of the first in his book Making Money Made Simple . This book covers a broad range of topics; saving psychology, loans, insurance, real estate the stock market, tax, superannuation, inheritance, and more. It's a cross between a mini-wikipedia of finance with medium-length articles on different topics; and a journal of helpful money advice that an older (money-smart relative) might give. Here are some of my highlights (though far, far more was covered). The 7 things that make the difference Only 8% of people make it financially, says Noel - meaning they can retire on a liveable income. Why not more people? He list 7 "drawbacks" that prevent a lot of us from achieving better. Lack of knowledge Lack of foresight "Must have it now" mentality Borrowing for things that lose value (eg cars) No goals and no plan Confusin...

People in the superannuation industry will say you need millions to retire. But it doesn't have to be that way. The Barefoot method If you've got millions in retirement good for you. But if not there's another way as outlined in book the Barefoot Investor . It's quite an effective strategy especially for those of who have had low income, variable income, or who are retiring early. The idea is, by 67, to get your superannuation balance close to the maximum you can have before it starts reducing your pension. Assuming you don't have other significant investments, at this point you can get the full age pension, plus some handy superannuation income. (Barefoot Investor also suggests some very-part-time work to boost it even more.) How much are we talking? Depending on your situation, you could get 50% more than the age pension. For instance (as of June 2020) a single homeowner gets $22,375 age pension. At 67 a super balance of $225,000 would provide additional i...

"What am I meant to do with my life?". Whether you're choosing a career, changing career, retiring, or reaching financial independence and no longer need to earn a paycheck; discovering your purpose is key. This is where Jeff Goins' book The Art of Work can help. He encounters hundreds of stories to discover the common characteristics of people finding their vocation / calling / life's purpose. He identifies several key themes and illustrates them with stories of real people. At the end there are exercise and questions to help you along the path to find your purpose. Here are some of the key points I took away from reading this. Why it's more important than ever We live longer than any generation before us. Generations ago, men "rarely got to see life beyond careers" . Even our parent or grandparents usually worked for several decades to pay the bills before getting the chance to consider their calling. Only 13% of workers are engaged in th...