Another Plastic Christmas

November 11, 2010 11 Comments

Before we know it, many of us will be sitting around the Christmas tree opening countless gifts from friends and family.  If we’re lucky, someone will have read our wish list and whatever it is that we’ve lusted over for the past couple of months will be among the pile of presents.  We’ll tear through the carefully wrapped paper in anticipation and squeal with glee when we finally find that piece of plastic we’ve been waiting for.  And when the chaos of opening presents has finally subsided, the floor littered with the dead remains of wrapping paper, we’ll feel like we’ve just had a great orgasm; both exhausted and satisfied.

Is the meaning of Christmas to just buy a bunch of shit for each other?

Over the years I’ve become increasingly frustrated with the holiday season.  Mindless consumption.  Thoughtless gifts.  Excessive spending.  A complete lack of gratitude.  Have you ever asked yourself why you’re even buying gifts in first place?  Is it out of obligation?  Social pressure?  A desire to conform?  A need to create an image?  Do you feel that Christmas wouldn’t be the same without gifts under the tree?

Can you even remember what gifts you received last year for Christmas?  And from whom you got them?

This year I’d like to try something different.  Instead of the usual orgy of presents under the tree, I’d like to convince everyone within my circle of influence (that means you!) to celebrate the holiday season in an unorthodox way, without presents for each other.  My hope for this Christmas is that I can dismantle the “circle of giving” and instead convince my family to pool our money together to buy a cow for a family in Africa.

Tonight was the first time word of my plan reached ears other than our own as Erin shared the idea with her family.  I was disappointed to hear that the suggestion of buying a cow was somehow so absurd that the person on the other end of the phone couldn’t stop laughing and had to pass the phone on to someone else.

I have to be honest and say that I’m not sure how buying a cow for a family in need is anymore ridiculous than buying scented candles or any other thoughtless gift for someone who probably isn’t going to appreciate it anyway.  It’s only ridiculous because we haven’t stopped to question our traditions.

Wouldn’t joining together as a family to make a difference in the lives of total strangers be more in line with the true spirit of Christmas than buying each other cheap gifts from the mall?

Filed under Consumerism, Holidays

The Life You’ve Always Wanted?

August 8, 2010 10 Comments

We all have our ideas of what the “perfect life” would be like but often the images in our mind are a far cry from the reality we are living.  If you were able to travel back in time and ask a younger version of yourself if this is the future they’d choose for themselves, what would their answer be?  Twenty years ago, could you have envisioned the life you have today?  Is it everything you’d imagined or have your dreams evaporated into thin air?

Chances are, the life you are living today is nothing like the life you expected to have.  You sold your ideals for a dollar bill.  Why?  “Because that’s just what adults do.” We have to make a living to pay the bills.  There’s food to buy and television to watch.  How are we supposed to save the world when we’re up to our eyeballs in debt?  The mortgage isn’t going to pay for itself, is it?

“It is what it is.” There’s no time for dreams.  Dreams don’t pay the bills or put food on the table.  Our younger selves didn’t understand what it meant to be adults.  We have obligations now and we’ve built our lives around some idea of what it means to be a “responsible adult” in today’s world.  What we ended up with is a career that steals our time and energy, a mortgage that drains our income and debt from all the Stuff we bought to furnish and decorate our home.  We have many thousands of dollars in Student Loans and a couple of cars to pay for.  Oh yeah, and the credit cards…

It looks like being an adult isn’t all that we’ve been led to believe.  All of our lives we’ve been told that adults are “responsible”, implying that it’s somehow more virtuous to fall in line and follow the leader than it is to follow our youthful ambitions.  The “responsible” thing to do is find a job, get married and have children, buy a house and a couple of cars, then keep your nose to the grindstone until it’s finally time to retire.  When that day does come, we hope that our health will last long enough to enjoy the life of our dreams; the life we’ve been waiting our whole life to live.

And what has it all amounted to?  A garage full of Stuff we never really needed in the first place, kids that seem to resent our very existence unless we’re buying them something, a spouse that we barely seem to know anymore and a huge house we aren’t able to enjoy because we are at the office earning a paycheck to pay the mortgage.

Sure, we have all the Stuff we could ever imagine.  We drive nice cars and wear nice clothes.  Our home is decorated like a magazine cover and on the weekends we are able to relax with a cold beer in the backyard.  On the surface things seem wonderful.  A little deeper though and things don’t look as good anymore.

What are we sacrificing to create this image of the “perfect” life?  Our time, our energy, our sanity?  If the average person starts working fresh out of college at the age of 22 and retires at 67, that’s 45 years of life sold for a dollar bill.  We’re trading our life to fill our garage with junk, for a heap of metal to take us to a job so that we can pay for that same heap of metal.

What if there were a different way?  What if you didn’t have to spend your entire life working?  Would you do it?  If you knew that in 10 years you could be financially able to walk away from your job with enough money to pay for all your expenses, would you have the ambition to make it happen?

There is a way, it is possible!  The only problem – of course there’s a problem – is that to get there, you have to minimize your spending and save.  “But that’s Un-American!” Our entire lives we’ve been told to “get out there and boost the economy.”  After the attacks on September 11 we were told to go shopping as a way to stand up against terrorism.  Does that mean we’re supporting terrorism by saving money?  Of course not!

What I’m talking about isn’t a new concept.  It isn’t impossible.  It’s been done before and it’ll be done again.  And not just by a few outliers but by many thousands of people.  Will you be one of them???

What’s the secret?

Live Frugally: Cut your expenses to the bone.  Anything that doesn’t offer real value to your life is out.  That might mean going without a contracted cell phone, cable television, TiVo or Netflix.  Find alternatives or other ways to occupy your time.  It may seem impossible now but you can live without these things.

Get Out of Debt: You can’t be financially independent when you’re in debt.  Get out, get out, get out! By adopting a frugal lifestyle, the extra money you’re able to save can be applied towards eliminating your debt.  After you’ve saved up enough money to cover six months of living expenses, every penny should be thrown at your debt.

Save: Once you’ve paid off the last of your debt it’s time to save like never before.  It may take you a few years, maybe even ten or 15, to save enough money to become financially independent but that’s better than 45 years!

Invest: This is where the magic is!  With the money you’ve saved, you can invest it into conservative investment vehicles which will pay you interest in fixed intervals over a specific length of time.  If you’ve saved and invested enough, this interest will cover all of your monthly expenses.  Now your money is working for you, not the other way around!

If you’d like to learn more about the process outlined above, I recommend checking out the book Your Money or Your Life by Vicki Robin and Joe Dominguez.

Filed under Book Reviews, Budgeting, Career, Consumerism, Debt, Employment, Family, Freedom, Frugality, Goals, Investing, Lifestyle Engineering, Money, Opportunity, Potential, Preparation, Prioritizing, Retirement, Savings, Spending

Adventures of a Pawn Star

July 24, 2010 4 Comments

I’ve never been to a pawn shop.  Never, that is, until today.

I’ve been fighting a battle against Stuff for a while and finally decided it was time to sell my Ruger 10/22 rifle.  Finding the easiest, most convenient method to sell my rifle was my primary objective, not money.  A pawn shop seemed like the most logical choice since I probably wouldn’t get a good price for the gun but it would be easy to sell.

When I arrived, I was a little turned off by the place.  The windows and door were covered in steel bars and to get in I had to ring a doorbell and be buzzed in like a maximum security prison.  Inside it was small, cramped and full of people making deals at the counter.  DVDs, flat screen TVs, musical equipment, rings, old coin collections and a plethora of Stuff hung from the walls, was displayed in glass cases and leaned against the counters.

When it was time to do business it didn’t take long to be asked the question I had no answer to, “How much are you looking to get for it?”  I walked in there thinking I’d be lucky to get $50 but I went high, knowing it would be easier to negotiate if I gave myself some room to work.  ”I was thinking about $150,” and then I began describing all the improvements I made to the rifle; the new stock, scope and bi-pod.

 ”Well, it looks like $80 is as high as I can go,” the clerk said, punching keys on the keyboard of his computer.  He pointed out flaws in the rifle that I already knew about and made his case for why $80 was his limit.  Since all I was really concerned with was getting rid of the thing, I accepted the offer.  Afterall, it was $30 more than I had expected to get when I walked in.  He entered my personal information (name, address, phone number) into the computer and I signed a sales receipt before leaving with cash in hand.

Erin came along with me wondering how much money she would be able to get for an old ring.  It took the clerk about a minute to come to a definitive conclusion, making it obvious that jewelry is something they deal with regularly.  “$135.”  That was more than I’d told her she would get.  She wanted to check around other places so she thanked him for his time and we left, visiting two more stores; another pawn shop and a store that buys gold.  The second pawn store offered $40 less than the first and the gold store could only offer $85 for the weight of the gold. 

While I was waiting for Erin to finish talking to the clerk at the second pawn store, I began looking around at all of the merchandise for sale.  They had all the same things as the last place; DVDs, CDs, musical equipment, electronics and televisions, jewelry and watches.  As I was looking around, it dawned on me that all these items probably came from people in dire financial situations who were selling their worldly possessions just to make ends meet.  The iPods, video games, DVDs and CDs, the flat screens and computers, the musical instruments and stereo equipment; all the material items that we convince ourselves that we can’t live without become the first things to go when we reach financial bottom.

Somehow these things that we “can’t live without” lose their importance when we find ourselves in situations where we might be without a place to live or are unable to put food on the table.  I wonder, had these people never bought all of this Stuff in the first place, would they have found themselves in a situation where they needed to hock their possessions to survive?

Filed under Consumerism, Life, Money

Guest Post: Credit Cards, Fancy Cars and Caviar

July 3, 2010 2 Comments

The following is an article written by Brandon Bailey.  Brandon’s blog, Adventure Deficit Disorder, is about enjoying life in the present, simplicity, and seeking adventure.  If you enjoy this article, check out his blog and be sure to sign up for free email updates!

As humans, we are horrible at knowing what will make us happy.  From a psychology standpoint, we generally avoid actions that will inflict some kind of pain or suffering and actively pursue what we think will make us happy.  In our modern capitalist culture we have been socialized to think the consumption of goods will make us happy.

But does it?

On a recent trip through Aspen, Colorado I found myself falling into a sort of trap.  Seeing the smiles on the faces of all the beautiful people drinking expensive wines on restaurant patios, the flashy cars rolling through the streets and the gorgeous ski-in ski-out mansions made me envious of the wonderful lives these people seemed to live.  Then I started asking myself questions like,  “Why am I envious of such a lifestyle?”, “Are these people really as happy as they seem?”, “How do so many afford a lifestyle of such luxury and extravagance?”

Envy is a powerful emotion.  According to British philosopher Bertrand Russell, “envy is one of the most potent causes of unhappiness” because it reveals our self-perceptions and desires in relation to others.  At a time when the MTV-lifestyle is seen as the epitome of success and credit cards are readily available, we (or at least people under 35) have been taught to think we need - and deserve – a celebrity lifestyle.  This kind of entitled attitude is dangerous and despite having previously explored a high-life image of expensive dinners, exclusive parties, “celebrity” friends, penthouse apartments and European cars, only to discover that I was more unhappy than ever, I still find myself occasionally drawn in by the Siren’s song of the high-life.

A few years ago it dawned on me how absurd and unsustainable such a lifestyle is while in the VIP section of a nightclub with several well-known NFL players.   I found myself surrounded by so-called beautiful people, wearing oversized watches embedded with diamonds - one more extravagant than the next, drinking bottles of champagne costing several hundred dollars each.  I could feel envious eyes peering in from beyond the red velvet ropes – wasn’t this what I was supposed to aspire to?  MTV and other social indicators told me so, but I couldn’t have felt any more like a fraud.  After I left the club that night, early and alone, I never heard from any of my “friends” again, confirming that I had made the right choice to walk away from that lifestyle.   Through this experience, I now realize that the so-called happiness derived from living this type of lifestyle is fleeting and only surface deep.  

In the subsequent years I’ve discovered that by cutting my expenses, not increasing my earnings, I have more time and freedom to pursue the same things I enjoyed and dreamed about as a kid.

So what did I cut?

Big nights out.  Dinners at trendy restaurants.  Drinks into the early morning hours.  These things can add up to big bucks.  A nice dinner here or there with people that you really enjoy is perfectly fine, if not important, but should not be a lifestyle.

The wardrobe.  I can’t figure out why anyone really needs multiple pairs of jeans or shirts that are exactly the same (especially t-shirts that cost upwards of $100).  If you are worried that people will notice whether or not you wear the same thing every day, they won’t.  Think you will never have enough clean clothes?  You will.  Clothes are rarely legitimately dirty after one wearing.  Donate anything you have not worn in a year, even if it is a “nice” article of clothing that you “forgot about”.  You probably won’t wear it again anyway.  When getting new clothes, buy things that will serve multiple purposes and can be worn year-round.

The fancy car. This doesn’t mean we should all drive a beater - a car should be safe - but it does mean that having a car that is losing value faster than Lehman Brothers is going to hurt you.  For some reason people seem to forget that cars depreciate and are therefore not an asset.  You’ll also save on insurance and registration if the car is even just a few years old.  Better yet, ride a bike.  Gas is expensive.

The cable. According to the A.C. Nielsen Co., the average American watches more than 4 hours of TV each day.  That is 28 hours each week and 2 months of nonstop TV-watching per year!  In a 65-year life, that person will have spent 9 years glued to the tube.  Figuring in a fixed average cable bill of $71 per month for those 9 years ($71 x 12 months x 9 years) you would save $7,668 just by cutting out cable.  If you think you need television for news or entertainment, try going without it for a little while.  Suddenly that extra 28 hours per week will be obvious.

So how do so many people afford a lifestyle of such luxury and extravagance?  Well, many don’t.  If you follow the news even just a little, you’ve probably heard that the average American carries more the $8,000 in credit card debt.  According to Liz Pulliam Weston at MSN, this isn’t entirely true, claiming that 50% of credit card users owe $8,000 or less.  Still, 1% of the 84 million American households who have at least one credit card owe $21,400 or more – that’s 840,000 households that have racked up some serious credit card debt.  Additionally, as of May 2010 there were 2,082,113 foreclosed homes in the US.  In some states, the foreclosure rates are as high as 1 in 78.

As for the smiles, fancy cars, and castles in Aspen - it’s mostly surface deep and difficult to maintain.  Credit cards are maxed, the fancy cars are just for show, and the ski castles are for sale.  There are a lot of $30,000-millionaires out there living lives well beyond their means who will never achieve the freedom to pursue their childhood dreams.  Don’t be one of them.  Cut your expenses to get the time and finances for doing the things you really want.

Filed under Consumerism, Debt, Freedom, Guest Posts, Money, Prioritizing, Spending

Tax Time: Gucci Shoes or Your Life?

March 6, 2010 5 Comments

It is that time of year again;  tax season!

For many people, a tax return is more exciting than any holiday.  Tax returns mean shopping sprees and vacations.  We dream of Gucci shoes, Prada sunglasses and Coach purses with more anticipation than we do of sugar plums on Christmas morning.

A large return also means a chance to catch up on old bills, bulk up our savings account or pay down debts.  Instead of using your tax return to buy more Stuff, take an honest look at your financial situation and use this as an opportunity to begin your journey toward financial freedom.

A refund can buy an expensive pair of shoes or it can be a chance for you to set the stage for a new phase of your life.  Living with debt limits your potential.  Living without savings restricts your ability to capture opportunity.  Now is your chance to eliminate the limitations and prepare for opportunity.

Nothing you can buy at a store will change your life.  An expensive purchase may bring a rush of endorphins that make you feel on top of the world, but at the end of the day, you are no better off than you were before and another opportunity has slipped through your fingertips.

A tax refund is only the beginning.   A refund means little without a desire for real change.  Your good intentions of paying down debt or building savings can be undone in a moment of indiscretion.  Real change requires discipline and determination on a daily basis, the days when you make small financial decisions.

Tax time comes around but once a year and we are faced with the difficult choice of fiscal responsibility or personal indulgence, yet each day we are faced with countless financial choices that can accumulate and far exceed the value of any tax return, however, we don’t give them the same amount of consideration.  For real change to occur, we need to question the day to day expenses as well.

Financial stability does not occur as a result of once a year decisions.  Financial stability results from a daily diligence to save, to live frugally and spend wisely.  Financial stability is a result of living within our means and staying out of debt.  It isn’t an annual tax return that creates change.  This is only the first step in the journey towards a life of financial stability.

Will you use this year’s tax return to buy Gucci shoes or will you use it as a stepping stone towards improving your financial situation and changing your life?

Filed under Consumerism, Life, Money, Opportunity, Preparation, Prioritizing, Taxes

Some Thoughts on Gift Giving & the Holidays

November 7, 2009 3 Comments

"Green and Red Christmas Ornaments on White" by Mike Dykstra @ Flickr

My girlfriend and I share our birthdays less than two weeks apart and this year when she asked me what I wanted for a gift the choice was easy; nothing.  While there are random things that I want, I am beginning to move away from the belief that we should purchase gifts for people as a sign of our affection for that person, especially at a time when gifts are “expected”.  When my birthday came around I wasn’t disappointed by not receiving a gift from my girlfriend, was more than satisfied with the birthday card from my mother and thrilled that my sister made a donation to Mothers Against Drunk Driving.  What mattered was that people were thinking of me, not what they bought for me.

As my girlfriend’s birthday neared I asked her what she wanted and was not surprised when she told me that she didn’t want anything but in the back of my mind I asked myself, “Is this a trick?”  When the role was reversed and it was me who was in the position of “expected gift giving” I began to feel uneasy about not buying her something.  I asked her at least a dozen times what she wanted and each time she told me the same thing.  Nothing.  When the day finally arrived I wished her a Happy Birthday and we went about our lives as usual.  As the hours passed I was feeling haunted by not doing something or getting her anything.  I was filled with guilt.  I grabbed my phone and asked if she wanted to go out to dinner for her birthday.  She agreed and we went to a restaurant of her choice and I picked up the bill.  Spending the time together and sharing in conversation over the course of the dinner was far better than giving her an object as a sign of my affection for her.

As the holidays approach, all of us will be thrust into the season of expected gift giving.  How can you opt out of consumerism without looking like a Scrooge on Christmas morning?  Having recently been in both roles of giving and receiving after making the choice to opt out of the consumer lifestyle, I may have some insight.

As a young boy I really enjoyed all of the presents I would get.  Like any child, I had a hard time falling asleep on Christmas Eve.  I was so excited about all of the wonderful gifts that would be carefully wrapped and pouring out from underneath the sparkling Christmas tree.  As I get a little older I have a different feeling about those same gifts.  I feel that we are representing our affection towards each other through pieces of plastic.  We are misplacing our love for each other.

Often we feel that we must quantify our emotions, that there is a correlation between the price of our gifts and our love for the person we are giving them to.  Not to mention the anxiety we feel over whether the person will actually appreciate the gifts we are giving them.  The other side of this, of course, is when we receive a gift that isn’t what we expected or up to our expectations.  We may feel that the giver is unthoughtful or cheap.  There are far too many emotions wrapped up in the holiday gift giving experience.

Raising awareness of your decision to opt out of consumerism is an integral part of the process.  You don’t want to show up at the door without gifts in hand when last year you bought for everyone in the family.  Inform your family about your choice to not purchase gifts and be sure that they know that you do not expect any gifts from them.  Be concise in your explanation so they understand your feelings, don’t just inform them that you won’t be buying gifts this year.

Opting out of consumerism is not an excuse to opt out of the holidays.  Spending time with family and gathering around the dinner table to eat a home cooked meal is irreplaceable and the real spirit of the holidays.  Sharing the holidays in the company of your loved ones is more meaningful than any gift you can give.  Taking time to have a conversation, to really connect with people, is far more lasting than a chunk of cheddar cheese.

You may find that you are feeling pangs of guilt as the holidays approach.  If that is the case, find a meaningful way of communicating your appreciation for the people in your life.  A Hallmark Christmas card is a poor substitute for a handwritten letter.  You might try showing your love with a pile of your famous chocolate chip cookies.  The options really are limitless and none of them will be found at the Mall of America.

Filed under Consumerism, Family, Holidays

The Art of the 5-Minute Shower

September 15, 2009 13 Comments

"the last shower - golden droplets abound" by winterofdiscontent @ Flickr

Something I’ve always found enjoyable is a long, hot shower.  There is something soothing about the process of washing away the stress of the day yet I have begun to question the need for such “therapy”.  I am beginning to see a long shower as nothing more than yet another form of consumption & waste, a pattern which I am attempting to eliminate from my life.

The decision to restrict my shower time wasn’t an easy choice to make; the thought of it brought about a mix of emotions.  On one hand I knew that by taking a short shower I would be helping the environment by reducing my water consumption yet the thought of taking away such a simple pleasure kept me from pushing beyond the “thinking about it” stage.

Finally, after a long while of contemplation I decided to give it a try & see what happened.

First, I needed to determine a sufficient amount of time to get the job done & not have much time left to linger.  Five minutes seemed fairly reasonable.  I programmed my cell phone alarm 5 minutes into the future and jumped in the shower.

Usually this is where I would stand under the stream of hot water, letter the sweat, dirt and stress of the day wash away, literally and spiritually, but not this time.  This was a business engagement & I had work to do.  I grabbed my shampoo and washed my hair.  After I had rinsed my hair it was onto scrubbing the cracks and crevices of my body.  If I hurried maybe I would have time at the end of the shower to relax under the faucet.

I scrubbed from top to bottom and rinsed myself.  I seemed to be doing well with time so I grabbed the razor for a quick shave (yes, I shave in the shower).  I was able to finish my shave just as the alarm on my phone went off.  I still needed to rinse off but all in all I did pretty well.  After rinsing myself off I turned the water off and grabbed my towel.

I wasn’t able to get my moment of peace within the 5 minutes I was showering, but I was able to get the job done.  This is my first attempt, so maybe there is room for improvement.

The idea of a short shower has long been something I’ve grappled with.  I suppose it is not much different than someone who smokes.  They know they should quit but for whatever reason they continue smoking.  I’ve known for a long time that my long showers were doing nothing to help the environment and were a complete waste of resources & time.  Even though a long shower is something which has brought me peace and comfort throughout my life, I know that I will find that same peace and comfort in another form; one which is not wasteful.

Filed under Consumerism, Environment, Minimalist Living

100 Things Challenge

September 12, 2009 Leave a Comment

"Sistema di seduta (Minimal)" by Marianone @ Flickr

Goal #106 on my list is to minimize my material possessions.  Until recently I maintained a typical consumer mindset in which I felt good about my situation in life by owning Stuff.  The more I was able to amass, the better I felt.  I was making money & buying Stuff to show my financial strength.

In the process of searching for a solution to my personal financial crisis I began reading about frugality & the power of less.  The financial impact of reducing my consumption was obvious; don’t buy Stuff that I don’t need & I will have money for the things that matter.  Even more than this economic impact on my life was the idea of finding comfort & peace with what I already possessed.

At times, accepting the idea that I could be happy without buying Stuff seemed ludicrous.  How would I cope without the newest DVD?  No more shopping sprees at the mall!  Opting out of the consumer lifestyle would require serious changes & at times, struggle.  I had moments when I doubted the whole idea of minimalist living yet I persisted.

Once I gained control over my compulsion to spend I began to analyze my possessions.  I questioned how my Stuff was affecting me emotionally and mentally.  I began to realize that having more Stuff couldn’t bring me happiness & satisfaction.  Each purchase I made was an external attempt at filling an internal void & each purchase left me feeling even more empty than before.  Almost like a drug addict, each time the endorphin rush wore off from my new purchase, there I was searching for my next fix.

Once I understood the affect that Stuff had on my life I knew I needed to do something.  I began sorting through my Stuff, looking for things that would be easy for me to get rid of.  Anything that no longer provided purpose & meaning to my life was on its way out.  I sold as much as I could on eBay & donated the rest to Goodwill.  Anything that couldn’t be sold or donated was sent to the trashcan.

This process of selling, donating & trashing had a huge impact on me.  It made me realize exactly how much I was living a life of excess.  I had collections of everything imaginable, from records to trading cards, action figures to comic books, DVDs & CDs to coins, even old Playboy magazines that I never looked through.  I had so much Stuff that I needed to rent a storage unit in order to contain it all.

Over the last 9 months the process of selling, donating & trashing has now reached a point where I am able to look at each item I own with a feeling that in some way, that item brings value to my life.  Whether it is the stone Buddha statue on my living room floor or the Camelbak I use while hiking, each item offers utility.  I still have some paring back to do; some items I haven’t had the ambition to try to sell still linger throughout.  I hope to have these few things taken care of in the near future.

This brings me to the point of my post today, I’d like to share with you a website devoted to living simply, with as few (one hundred) personal possessions as possible.  David Michael Bruno is attempting to live for one year with 100 personal items or less.

The idea of doing this myself began to bounce around in my mind.  With all of the purging I have been doing recently, I might already be below the 100 mark.  I looked around my living room & started making a list.  By the time I was done with the list I found myself well below the 100 item mark.  Then I realized I had forgotten a space in my closet with my winter coat & sweatshirts, which put me at 111 items.

All in all I would say that I have done a good job at reducing the amount of things which I own, yet I feel there is much room for improvement.  In my count there were things which I intentionally ignored such as hygiene products & trinkets I’ve collected through my travels.  I counted collections as single items and anything which is shared property didn’t make the list either.

I hope to be able to further reduce the number of material possessions I own.  There are things which, while I enjoy to some extent, I could easily live without.  I challenge you to look around you and find the things that you could live without & live without them.  Opt out of the consumer lifestyle & harness a life of simplicity in which you thoroughly enjoy what you already have & don’t worry about the things you don’t.  In time you will begin to appreciate the simplicity and as you remove yourself from a lifestyle of consumption you have the resources (money) to pursue those things that matter to you the most.

For those who are interested, here is my list of 100 Things.

Filed under Consumerism, Minimalist Living

Master of Our Own Slavery

April 17, 2009 6 Comments

"Old Slave Bell" by Schalk Marais @ FlickrIn the not so distant past there was a distinct line between the slave and his or her master.  The slave was considered to be less than human, more closely related to the horse or oxen than to a human being.  They were there to harvest the crops and tend to the chores around the home.  Eventually, common sense prevailed and slavery was abolished, however slavery continues today in a more subtle form and of our own making.  We have become the slave and the master.

Everyday throughout this country, people force themselves to show up for work at a job they loathe.  They do it because they feel as though they have to.  There is no other choice than to suffer through another day, another week, in order to get that paycheck in their hands so they can put food on the table, a roof over their head and clothes on their back.

What people fail to realize is that their money isn’t being spent only on basic necessities such as food, shelter and clothes.  We buy expensive cars, motorcycles, boats, flat-screen televisions, iPods, iPhones, CDs, DVDs, Blue Ray, green rays, plasma rays, death rays, fast food, Aqua Globes, Snuggies, gym memberships, touch screen car stereos, vacations, shopping sprees, designer jeans, perfume, cologne, teeth whitening systems…

If we didn’t buy all of this unnecessary Stuff, just how much less time would we need to be slaves in a job where we are unhappy solely for the purpose of financing all of the things we buy but don’t actually need?  I live a pretty basic life today compared to how I used to.  Sure, I still spend money and enjoy my life, but I do it more responsibly.  I think about how I am spending my money and how it will affect my future.  I consider whether or not what I am purchasing will add value to my life or if it will end up on eBay or a landfill before I buy it.  I used to blow my entire paycheck buying things like DVDs and CDs.  I didn’t have a penny saved, but I had a lot of Stuff sitting around my apartment, collecting dust.  At least I had something to show for all of my hard work, right?

While I did have a lot of things as a result of my ability to spend frivolously, none of it added value to my life.  I may have been entertained while watching a movie, but wouldn’t I have been just as entertained had I rented it or borrowed it from a friend?  Of course I would have and I would have saved myself about $15 in the process, but I wouldn’t have anything to show for my work.

Every single week of my life I have $82 withdrawn from my checking account to make my car payment.  That is money that I never see, it is just gone;  $328 in after tax money each month.  That is over 33 hours worth of work just to pay for a car (net income divided by a 40 hour work week), which is used primarily to take me to work.  Sweet irony.

Many people don’t consider how much money they actually bring home.  A person may gross $40,000 a year but thanks to Federal Taxes, State Taxes, FICA, medical and dental insurance, 401(k) contributions, alimony and whatever else a person may have deducted from their earnings, their checks don’t amount to $40,000 at the end of the year.  People rationalize to themselves that buying a $20 DVD is only an hour and a half of work, but in reality is more than that because you are paying with after tax dollars.

We are spending ourselves into a situation where we really do need that job that we hate so much because now we have a mortgage, a car loan, consumer credit card debt and we keep spending more and more on things we don’t need.  We are the masters to our own slavery.  Until we are able to break ourselves of these spending habits we will continue to rely on a job that doesn’t make us happy.  We will continue to shuffle our feet through the door of a company which doesn’t allow the personal freedom or creativity we desire in a job.

We may as well be pulling a plow across the earth like our ancestors.  The major difference between then and now is there wasn’t a choice in the past but today there is, and we are our own masters.  Whenever you feel like it is time to break free from the chains of slavery, you are in control to make that decision.  The more debt you accumulate and each dollar you waste is another day of slavery.  It doesn’t need to be that way…break free.

Filed under Consumerism, Debt, Employment, Freedom, Motivation, Prioritizing, Savings, Spending

Prison Walls of Barbie Dolls

March 22, 2009 1 Comment

"Looking for Jack Kerouac" by manlio_k @ FlickrI’ve been giving a lot of consideration about what I value in life.  Is it a house or a car?  Is it the glass cabinet full of statues or the flat screen television hanging on the wall?  Is it the painting I had imported from Spain by a favorite artist?  While all of these things give my life convenience or provide a superficial pleasure, none of them matter at the end of the day.

In my eyes these things are slowly changing shape.  Instead of the television creating an escape, it has become an anchor.  My piles of clothing that once seemed appropriate now seem more than any reasonable person would need.  All of these things that once seemed to me to be important are now simply not.  My values haved shifted.

I no longer desire to live my life in pursuit of material possessions.  Quite the contrary.  I’ve found that the fewer possessions, the closer to my ideal lifestyle I become.  I find my joy not in having something tangible, but rather in experiences and relationships. 

I value time more than a dime.  I would rather have the freedom to pursue my desires, my dreams, my goals, my abitions than to be oppressed by an object.  Having so much stuff in our lives is like building our own prison cell.  Each new addition is another brick in the wall.  We are losing our freedom as we accumulate more and more.

It is my dream to be able to spend some time of my life on a journey around the country with nothing more than a tent and a backpack tossed in the backseat of my car.  There are so many places I want to see and so much more that I want to do.

The whole idea of minimalist living is a bit utopian.  While I wish for nothing more than the time and freedom to travel the world I know that I must be a part of the “real world.”  In order to find acceptance a person must conform to the standards which have been dictated by a society.  While I don’t dream of becoming a transient, I would like to spend a portion of my life in a state of freedom which could only be found in this sort of condition.

I found a beautiful quote by Jack Kerouac which fits my frame of mind perfectly:

“The hobo has two watches you can’t buy in Tiffany’s, on one wrist the sun, on the other wrist the moon, both bands are made of sky.”

While many people look at the destitute as being of want, maybe they have something we will never have; freedom to enjoy the world surrounding them.  Our days are filled with responsibilities; work, school, kids, laundry, dishes, in-laws, bills, American Idol.  As these forces continue to push inward the prison walls built of our possessions are pushed ever closer.

This is our life.

Editor’s Note: Three months after writing this article I was laid-off from my job.  This opened the door of opportunity which I so desperately needed in order to take the time to travel around the country with nothing more than a backpack & a tent.  I spent a month cruising the highways of the United States and Canada.  This opportunity made me realize how important it is that I live my life, to stop dreaming about living & just get out there, to stop making excuses, to not accept mediocrity, to strive for my own personal best and stop living my life in fear of the “consequences” of my actions.

Filed under Consumerism, Random Thoughts

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