But wait... there's less!

What do Snoopy and the Peanuts gang have to do with decluttering? It's a typical example of parting with things we no longer need. In doing so we're making money, saving money and bringing joy to the lives of others. Peanuts While I still enjoy the Peanuts characters, comics and movies, I wasn't really using these Linus and Lucy figures. They were sitting in a shoe box (along with Schroeder and Snoopy). Schroeder and his piano now serve as a bookend on our bookcase . But for Linus and Lucy I decided they'd be more loved by someone else. The other day a Peanuts-loving parent bought them for her (and her kids) to enjoy. Another success is increasing the joy in the world. Numbers I love stats, so I keep a record of our sales. Together, these two Peanuts figures were the 598th sale my wife and I have made. This particular sale because the $8 took our combined sales to $4,500 (over several years). I've double checked with my tax accountant and this is tax-free income. :...

"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...

Ever felt yourself wondering where all the time in the day went? Or asked yourself why the things you wanted to do haven't got done? This book might be what you're looking for. Jake Knapp and John Zeratsky worked for Google. They helped redesign Gmail and You Tube. Then they worked out a way to redesign how they spent their time. They share their tactics in this book Make Time: How to focus on what matter every day . As you might imagine, I really like the idea of doing more of what matters by wasting less time. Two big things that steal our time The Busy Bandwagon is the "culture of constant busyness - the overflowing inboxes, stuffed calendars and the endless to-do lists" . Much of this not really necessary. Infinity Pools are "sources of endlessly replenishing content" . Social media, TV and streaming services are examples. Obviously when there is no end to the content, there's no limit to how much time they can suck away from you.  Apparently the ave...

One of the difficulties of downsizing our possessions can be the regret of sending things to landfill. Fortunately more and more solutions are becoming available so that unwanted possessions can have a second life. Today I'm looking at shoes. If they are still wearable you can sell them - or give them to a friend. But sometimes they've just reached the end of their usefulness - as happened to my blue sneakers. I'd got every last bit of use out of them and was thinking they'd be going in the bin. Then I found out about the clunkily-named ASGASOS initiative . What can be recycled? Basically sports-shoes. Sneakers, trainers, runners, football boots, and thongs. Sadly no business shoes or workboots. See the full list . What happens to them? The shoes are broken down and the usable components (rubber, leather and fibres) are extracted to make new products including gym mats, floors and playgrounds. Where can shoes be recycled? I took mine to a JD store, but several retailer...

"Been busy?" is a question we're often asked. Sadly we're often far too busy and don't have time for the things we really want to do. We've made working our number one priority and are suffering the consequences. But it doesn't have to be this way. Author Celeste Headlee explains the reasons work takes up too much of our lives and shows a way forward to being less busy, less overworked and more happy. The title "Do Nothing" might put you off reading this book. I recommend you read it anyway. The subtitle "break away from overworking overdoing and underliving" is a better description of the book. In a world of overworking we seem busier than ever. How is it that our grandparents had so much leisure time even without the assistance of robot vacuums, online shopping, microwaves and the internet? Author Celeste Headlee suggest that instead of gritting our teeth and forcing our "body and mind to work punishing hours" as if they w...

You don't have win the lottery or receive a big inheritance. Money magazine interviewed seven people who are getting financial independence on fairly average salaries. "They are followers of the popular personal finance FIRE movement (financial independence retire early)"  who are saving rigorously, investing sensibly and enjoying a modest lifestyle. The article describes the FIRE movement as "the opposite of working flat-out through-out your life, piling on debt, living beyond your means and consuming voraciously." "While most Australians rely on drip-feeding their ... retirement account FIREs are aggressively saving much more outside super." So who are these people doing it so well? Kate is 22, aiming to retire at 40. Pat (32) is on track to retire at 35. Dave retired at 28 having left school in year 11 Leo  (34) and Alisha (32) will retire this year on 90k/year Serina  (48) retired at 46 with a family on 60-70k/year Jason  (48) is nearly at his 9...

In writing this blog, the topic of Financial Independence is coming up again and again. So what exactly is it? Here's a brief intro. In short, Financial Independence (or FI, or FIRE) is the point at which your investments provide enough income for you to live on, and you do not need to rely on a traditional job. It sounds like an out-of-reach dream but the FI community is about using financial literacy, thinking a bit outside the box, and sharing clever ways to make it easier. How much would I need to do that? The rule of thumb I see most is an investment of 25 times your annual expenses (also known as the 4% Rule ). It's more of a rule of thumb - and some will prefer to have more (just to be sure). But for now let's use 25. If annual expenses are $40,000 that would imply an investment target of $1 million. Woah. That sounds enormous. Yes it does - at first. But it's simpler than it sounds. And it gets easier as you go. The two key principles are to spend less than we e...

If you're 21, you can probably stop reading now. If you're a bit older and own CDs keep reading.  CDs are an example of "calendar clutter" - once-useful items that time has rendered obsolete. But what should we do with CDs rather than dump them in the garbage. Is there a way to recycle CDs and DVDs? Other options Obviously I'm a big fan of selling (people bought my Batman DVDs and my Abba CD) or giving away. These are both better options than landfill. But there are discs that no-one wants. The installation disc for the printer you no longer own, the Microsoft Encarta 98 disc, the CD computer backups (pre-external hard drives), the disc of digital photos from your holiday with a friend, and self-made music CDs (the 90s/2000s equivalent of an 80s mix tape). Unless you want to do a crafty DIY project the next best option is to recycle them. But where? Officeworks This is me at a nearby Officeworks, recycling a bunch of discs we've had for ages. Out of interest...

It's no secret that almost all of us have too much stuff. Peter Walsh's book Let it Go is very helpful for people looking to do something about it. Aussies may know Peter Walsh from Space Invaders , where he regularly assists people in letting go of about 75% of their clutter. In this book he gives a mental framework, and practical approach and a step-by-step guide for downsizing your physical possessions. It's particularly geared for people moving house, often in a life transition such as marriage, job change, kids leaving home, retirement, or moving into aged care.  Here are some of my highlights: Why is this so hard? At the moment the Baby Boomer generation is inheriting a lot of stuff from their parents while also entering retirement and trying to downsize. So they pass things along to Gen X and Y. The event that caused the downsize can be stressful in itself. Then we realise that we own way more than we want or need. In our society, consuming and accumulating is consid...

It's been about 10 years since I've owned a car. My wife doesn't own one either. "You must save a lot in petrol" That's one of the frequent reactions when someone discovers we don't own a car. "Of course, but it's just the tip of the iceberg" is the usual theme of my reply. Many people I've talked to just aren't fully aware of the real cost of owning a car. Or even that there are six different costs of owning a car. Six? Really? Yes. Occasionally a work colleague or friend will boast their car only costs $X per week. Of course it turns out only some factors have been counted. Sometimes it's just petrol alone. To some people, that feels like the only cost they pay each week. Why does this matter? You might be questioning the need for a second car in the household (or even having one at all). Or you might just be choosing which car to get next. Either way, to make an informed decision we need proper information. So let's look at...

One of the themes of this blog is buy less spend less, work less, stress less. Some things are essential. Others are far from it. Like personalised licence plates. I've never fully understood the desire for them. I get that people like to express themselves. But it still feels like a waste of money. I took a deep dive to find out how much people pay for this self-expression. The plates website says each plate "has a character behind it and a story to tell" . Let's have a look at some of the 'stories' being told and what they cost. Colour This is the "colour" category of plate (though the owner chose white on black). Buyers can choose a combination of 3 letters and 2 or 3 numbers. Why has this person chosen to make a word like camera? Are they a professional photographer - or do they like the irony if they ever get caught on a police speed camera? I'm not sure, but at $485, it's an expensive joke. Theme Another motorist is spending $485 to ann...

Will we be OK in old age? How much will we have? One of the great things about living in Australia is superannuation. Our employers are required to pay into an investment account for our retirement. In recent times, my wife and I have been in several conversations with friends who are wondering (or worried) if their balance will be enough. That's what inspired this article. Great question It's a great question to ask, especially around the age of 35 to 40. At that point, old age is less of a distant abstract concept. It's becoming a medium-term reality. At 35 the number of years of living off super is possibly more than half of your remaining years. At 40 you may consider yourself about half way through your working life. Looking at your balance, it's easy to think that twice that balance may not be enough.  Read on, because I have good news for you. It's better than you might think As I've mentioned in earlier posts, compound growth means the investment grows f...

Yes, by now we all know that smartphones and social media are doing us harm. How do we harness the benefits of them without the destructive effects. The book Offline makes 5 main points. If you've only got a minute, here they are: The addictive design keeps us on online platforms longer. The 'brain hacks' disrupt our brain's ability to function. Humans need "real" interaction, and social media does not deliver this. Technoference (digital over-riding direct interactions at the play ground, coffee shop, dinner table) result in something valuable being lost. Speed of the transformation is astounding. 75% of people are connected, with almost half using social media. We have no idea what the long-term effects of this real-life experiment will be. Going a bit deeper, here are some of my highlights from the book. So what are side-effects? According to various studies, the effects can be grouped into the physiological (poor sleep, neural re-wiring, and increased str...

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...

Here in Australia, there's a new TV show -- Space Invaders. The expert team visits ordinary families and help them declutter their home and improve their lives. Just one episode in and it's already a must-watch for me. Meet the Team "Declutter Guru" Peter Walsh is accompanied by renovation expert Cherie Barber and treasure hunter Lucas Callaghan. Their mission is to help households remove clutter, renovate the decluttered space and maybe find some treasures along the way. Episode one Empty-nesters Julie and Pete were in need of help. Julie's birthday presents lived on the dining table as there was nowhere for them to go. The spare room had barely enough floor space to walk in. The main bedroom was not much better. Pete's clothes were stored in the living room. Julie herself admitted "each thing I recognise and love - but as a whole it's just become a bit of a mess" . So what did they lose? Julie's nine racks of clothes were reduced to three. ...

Here's a superquick way to work out how much money your investments might make. No need for fancy exponential maths . Just simple division and some doubling. Maybe you can even do it it your head. The rule of 72 Years to double = 72 / growth rate That's it. Pretty simple. Just 72 divided by a number. Working out the double-time So a 2% investment would take 36 years to double in value. (72 divided by 2) At 6% it would take 12 years, and at 8% it would take 9 years. How many doubles? Let's say someone is investing $50k for 36 years. At 2% , it would double once. Result $100k . At 6% , it would double three times. (36 years divided by 12 years). Three doubles means it becomes 100k, 200k, then $400k . At 8% , it would double four times. (36 years divided by 9 years). Four doubles means it becomes 100k, 200k, 400k, then $800k . This is astounding I was stunned when I first came across this. I probably still am. It's amazing to think that moving from 2% to 6% changes things ...

Joshua and Ryan (The Minimalists) have a new documentary Less is Now . Their key message - life is better with less stuff - remains the same. This time around they've interviewed regular people, and looked into the causes of our consumerism - and how it hurts us. Here are some of my highlights: S‫imple vs Easy They're not the same. Easy is going with the flow. Buying whatever advertising tells you to. It takes work to be intentional but it's worth the work. Haste makes waste The idea of anything we want being "on your doorstep within 24 hours" sounds convenient. But convenience can be our enemy . "If I can get you to purchase before you can think, I'm gonna get you to buy stuff you don't need". Manipulation Selling is OK - we want the grocery store to sell us food. But what people are pushing is not always compatible with what we need. Corporations are there to make money, make sales, and make more of both. Marketers are "really impressive...