Put the public library at the top of your entertainment
category. Libraries are the forgotten goldmines of our society. The equivalent of a
Ph.D. education in every field imaginable awaits within, and that's before you
get into the latest fiction, movies and documentaries on DVD, music, magazines,
nice people, and a generally classy and quiet place to relax or meet someone
new. And kids love it there. And, it's free. How could this not be anyone's top
choice for lifelong
entertainment? Use utilities efficiently. Cut your costs by thousands per year by challenging yourself to be just a bit
less dependent on climate control (a cooler house in winter and a warmer one in
summer). This also improves your physical fitness and expands the range of
weather you can comfortably enjoy outside. When possible, hang clothes to dry
instead of using the electric dryer, only wash things when they need it, replace
your 20-year-old fridge, and use only CFL and LED light bulbs, and try a
lower-flow showerhead. Insulate your house well and open any South-facing blinds
and curtains during the
winter. Bike more. The bike is an automatic life-balancing machine. A money-printing fountain of
youth. The health and financial benefits can make the difference between “broke"
and “millionaire.” within a few decades. And in many areas, you can travel 5-10
miles faster by bike than by car, because you are immune to traffic jams and can
maintain a constant 20MPH without being bound to regular roads. Choose your
house and job around bike transportation, rather than around the
car. Look to Nature as your primary source of recreation and
peace. Even the best human-made tourist attractions and cities are nothing compared
to what Nature makes available for free, 24 hours a day and 365 days per year.
When you get out and soak it up, it brings unending entertainment and peace,
because you're pressing your own biological health and happiness buttons. It is
scientifically proven that every exposure to nature and plants improves health
and
focus. Cut car use. Ride a bike, walk, or run whenever you can, and use your car only as the last
choice. By planning errands in advance (like "Wednesday evening is Car Errands
Night"), you avoid making several trips daily. Most things can wait a few days,
if you really think about it. If you're missing one key ingredient for a recipe,
just write it down and make something else for dinner,
etc. Choose vacations that are rich in
experience. As for travel, camping and active vacations are my favorites for domestic
trips. Internationally, practice authentic “slow travel” where you live like the
locals rather than carrying the United States lifestyle with you and just seeing
things through the windows of the hotel and the tour
bus. Only buy clothing you need. While remaining well-dressed, you can choose to own less clothing (it can
still be of high quality) and use your clothes until they wear out. We easily
spend under $300 per year for the whole family and still have plenty of fine
clothes and hiking and biking gear
here. Invest in people. Develop great relationships with the people all around you, at work and even
in your own neighborhood, since this leads to both more happiness and better
work opportunities. By cutting out solitary time-drains like television-watching
and car-commuting, you open up more time for things like group activities,
entertaining, and volunteering, which will increase your family, social, and
business
networks. Invest in yourself. Develop extra skills over your lifetime, so you can maintain some of your own
stuff (house, car, body, garden). The assumption today is that you are busy and
successful, so you deserve to hire someone to trim your trees while you relax on
the weekends. Take the opposite approach and insource the widest variety of
tasks possible, to build a broader mesh of mutually reinforcing skills. The
result is that you get better at everything, more employable, happier, and your
cost of living
plummets. Cook at home more often, and take good nutrition
seriously. Eat less meat and avoid packaged convenience foods and anything with added
sugar. Eat more vegetables, less bread and pasta and more healthy fat like nuts
and olive oil. Shop at discount bulk stores like Costco. When traveling or
working, bring your own food rather than throwing yourself at the mercy of the
fast food system. This old advice is deceptively powerful, because it saves you
thousands per year while also drastically improving your health (and thus, your
energy level, focus, and ability to lead a happy life and earn more
money). Save restaurants for special occasions. Consider restaurants a treat that allow you to live like a king for one night
as a reward for being debt-free and saving so much of your income, rather than a
convenience because you just happened to have nothing in the fridge that
night. |
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