But wait... there's less!

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...