About

Welcome to But Wait There's Less. You've probably guessed what inspired the name.

It starts with the infomercials

It's their catch-phrase. "But wait, there's more" they say, knowing how that lures us in.

Does the "more" bring any extra value. It seems not to matter. We've been conditioned to think that more must be better - so out come the credit cards.

They say it every time because it works every time.

The "more" world

It seems there's no problem for which the answer is not more. Buy more stuff, you need more space. Buy a bigger home, you need more debt. To pay off more debt you need to work more. More income also means more of it goes in tax.

More work means more time away from friends/family. More spent on childcare. More of our life traded away for dollars. More of our life spent complaining about the boss/work we don't like.

Does "more" make us happy?

Often we just have more clutter, more maintenance, more debt, more stress and more worries. Perhaps it's time for a different way.

A life of less

We've reached the point of realising that generally less is better. Less clutter. Less stuff. Paying less for a home. Spending less time at work. Less stress. Sounds good doesn't it?

Who are we?

My name is David. My wife and I discovered just how much stuff we had (way too much) when we got married and combined our apartments into one. How on earth did we accumulate so much stuff?

Jerry Seinfeld is right - it makes senses that the words garage is almost the same as garbage. It's the place we put those things that will be handy "someday" (ie. never).

Our declutter

We discovered joy in decluttering: extra space in the home, the cash from selling unwanted items (grab my free ebook of tips), and the joy of someone else appreciating the item we give them. It's been said that decluttering is getting rid of what you don't want, minimalism is discovering how little you need. That's probably where we are now.

Minimalism

It's not about depriving ourselves, it's about discovering what brings us value. Spending less time and money on things that don't really add value to our lives (even if advertisers insist they do) frees us up to focus on the things that do.

Finance

Recently I've also been sharing what I learn about finance. The better we manage our finances and invest our savings, the less dependent on work we can become. It's amazing the difference that a few small changes can make.

If you'd like to follow our journey, subscribe to my monthly-ish email or follow us on facebook.

Comments

Are you missing out on your $5,200

According to research by Gumtree, the average Australian household has $5,200 of unwanted goods sitting around the home. Why not cash it in? I'm sure we'd all much prefer to have a few thousand dollars rather than all that clutter we no longer use. So far we've made over $1,630 We didn't have many valuable items - just a fridge and a lounge suite. Most of the cash came from lots of little items (around 170 of them) for 2, 5 or 10 dollars. It all adds up - to a surprisingly high amount.

Inheriting Clutter

This book stood out on the library shelf. Massive clutter can create anxiety at any time, let alone when it has to be dealt with during one of the toughest points of life. Author Julie Hall deals with estates for a living. Her book covers the nitty-gritty of dealing with all that stuff. It also covers caring for parents while they are here and what to do to make life easier for them, your siblings and you. Parent Logic We may wonder why parents keep so much stuff. Julie explains that our parents (having grown up in a different time) have their reasons. Often they had to 'go without' as kids and so don't want to 'go without' again. Sometimes they think items will become valuable with age. Also there's the thought "the more I leave the kids the more they will have" . This is obviously mathematically true - but whether that's a good thing is questionable. Ironically, this admirable quality of aversion to waste often ends up causing waste. Items get s...

Monopoly, money and you

One of the most well-known board games can also be a great way to learn about money and investing - according to this book. Perhaps one way to teach kids (and maybe ourselves) about finance is to play a board game. In so many ways, the game parallels our own financial life - and we can practice financial decision-making without losing any real money. Is monopoly like life? Yes and no. We manage our cash, negotiate, make deals, make choices, go through tough times, make investments, pay tax and reap rewards. To do well we have to make investments. It's very hard to win just by collecting $200 each time you pass go. There are rules, and wise moves. The better we know them, the better we do. However, in real life, you can win without forcing others into bankruptcy. Principles that work in the game and life Diversify. You might have hotels on the two most expensive properties on the board, but if no-one lands on them, you still might lose. Investments have a price and a value. They are...

But wait... there's less!

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