Mind the Beginner

A long time ago I wrote about the 100 items challenge and as you might know it’s one of the things on my “Freedom list 2010″.

In a nutshell it’s about getting rid of all your personal possessions save 100 items. Not only does this offer great potential to minimise clutter, it also lets you re-evaluate what really is important enough to keep. But there are some issues to deal with along the way. I’m going to take a closer look at the problems and options you have because I’m experiencing first hand all the problems of taking this challenge.

The problem

It sounds so simple, just take a piece of paper and write down the 100 things you want to keep. Get rid of everything else. But that’s just theory and as you know:

In theory practice and theory are the same, in practice however, they are not.

It’s not the actual selection of things to keep that is hard -well, actually it’s very hard, but that’s a different blogpost- it’s the getting rid of all the others things. How do you get rid of them, especially if they represent a significant value? You could sell them via Internet which is the obvious choice. But doing so will leave you waiting for buyers. Alternatively you could just toss them, but that’s like throwing away money and would be stupid. You end up with stuff you want to get rid of but are waiting for people to buy from you.

That’s exactly the situation I’m in right now, I have a lot of items that can just go, but almost everything represents some value. A problem that can be solved in four ways:

Choose your solution

1. Trash it
2. Sell it
3. Give it away
4. Keep it

Trash it

Not always the best option of course. But there comes a time when you have to realize that nobody is going to buy (or even want) your old bookcase or that collection of Christmas sweaters. You can keep it though but I’ll get to that option in a few lines. If all other options fail this is what you will have to do. It’s tough but when you finally get over this hurdle it’s one of the best feelings in the world. Your possessions no longer own you.  But let’s consider the alternatives first.

Sell it

The best option of all of course. Converting all those items you no longer need to cash so you can spend it on more stuff you don’t need, Oh wait, that wasn’t what we were trying to do. What can you do with the cash? Keep in mind that you don’t want more stuff, you want quality. A clear pitfall here is that you start buying better things all the time to replace the few items you keep. And then you;re stuck with the old thing you can’t find a buyer for. Your buyer wants one of two things: What you have to sell, but dirt-cheap or he wants what you want, the best of the best. And you are selling an older model because you upgraded. If you find a buyer, you’re lucky, but don’t forget: The value is not determined by what you’re asking, it’s what people are actually willing to pay, disregarding catalogue values and whatnot.

Give it away

Giving your stuff away is very liberating and grateful. It’s a great way to be frugal as well. In stead of buying a new gift you can give away what was once yours. The obvious pitfall here is that you give something that the receiver gave to you in the first place. A very painful mistake. Also you might want to check if what you are giving either seems new, or make it very clear that the gift is pre-owned   but still very usable. If it’s not as a gift, you don’t have to bother to much with these things however. Just make it clear why you’re giving it away.

Keep it

This is exactly what happens with most things we want to get rid of. Broken things we plan on mending, once useful things that we haven’t used in years like the spare spare spare bicycle in the shed. (I’m Dutch, there are 18 million bikes here, and one 16 million inhabitants.) Old clothing we will never wear again and why are you keeping those old magazines you’ll never read again? Keeping things you’ll never use again is clutter. If you can’t sell it or give it away you have one last choice to make:

• Will I keep this item that I will never use;
• or should I just trash it.

That’s all you can do. As I already said, things have no value other than what people will actually pay you to buy them. Nobody wants your clutter.

The other approach

I started this blogpost with the idea of writing down everything you want to keep. Let’s turn it around a bit, it just might help. Select 100 things you want to get rid of. Decide how long you will give yourself to actually achieve this and for every item determine if you’re going to trash it, sell it or give it away. Don’t make keeping it an option if you can’t sell it or give it away. You wanted to get rid of it so you know what to do!

After those 100, select a further 100 and keep at it until you have reached your goal. The 100 items challenge actually doesn’t have “keeping 100 items” as goal, it’s all about “getting rid of everything but..”. It’s a huge difference in state of mind. If you don’t feel like getting rid of things but want the minimalists life, you’re going at it the wrong way round. Wanting to get rid of things and living the minimalists lifestyle as a result is the way to go.

A quick edit: I stumbled across a blogseries over at simpleorganizedlife.com with a version on my blogpost. It’s called the 10 Things Challenge and David has been at it for weeks on end. Selecting 10 items each week and getting rid of them, A real inspiration there!

As you might now I ride a rather old motorcycle that’s not very fuel efficient (Roughly 42 miles per gallon if I converted it correctly.  18 km/l). As I was riding on the highway last Saturday my fuel ran out, thankfully I have a reserve in the tank so I switched to that. An additional 3 liters of fuel (0.8 gallon) to get me home. More than enough range but as I rode off to uni today I was feeling a bit uneasy as to how much fuel was left, I didn’t fill up yet. Would I run out halfway and have to walk?

This wasn’t the case, but after class I walked back to my motorcycle wondering if I could make it to the gasstation. I can tell you, it’s very unpleasant riding like that. Anyone driving a car with the fuel light on can tell you that.

Well, now something interesting happened: I started holding back. Easing down on the throttle, trying to predict/time stoplights and even shutting down the engine entirely on a long stretch downhill, all in the name of fuel economy. This huge change in style got me thinking, how much effect can you have on your mileages if you change your driving style. I usually tend to gun it a bit.

A short internetsearch later I ended up with a frequently used term on the internet although I’ve only found it in combination with cars (and hybrids in particular) “hypermilers”. A phrase used to describe those people who try to squeeze every last inch out of every gallon while using street-legal production cars.

Although not all tactics are usable on a motorcycle there is one main tactic that is more important than all others combined: stay calm and relaxed. This means no sudden changes in speed or direction, also described as “Foot control, hand-eye coordination, and anticipation”. One study found that jackrabbit starts and hard brake stops reduce travel time by only about 4 percent—that’s 75 seconds on a 30-minute trip. And we didn’t even factor in tire, engine and brake wear. A few tactics applicable to motorcyclists  are:

• Stay off the brakes
• Accelerate as slow as you can without causing problems for other road users
• Idling is zero miles per gallon…. stay moving if possible
• Stay out of puddles and grooves
• Uphill: gather momentum to take you over, you’ll slow down at the top. Time it so you barely roll over and start gaining momentum again on the downhill.
• Turning off the engine and rolling (Can be illegal, check local laws)
• Tailgating/slipstreaming (Again, can be illegal)
• Get your tuires up to proper pressure, perhaps even a bit harder
• Clean out the air filter
• Check and clean your oil regularly
• Keep the chain properly lubed and at the right tension
• Try to minimise drag
• Try to minimise weight

Try these tactics at your own risk of course, and please do put on a high-vis vest, you’re vulnerable as a motorcyclist even without doing these things. And of course, if you can do something on a bicycle or by walking, don’t use something with a combustion engine.

Now if you’re wondering why I would like to save gas, I have exactly one reason for it: Frugality. If I calculated this correctly I filled up my gastank today at the cost of $7.31 per gallon. (€1.32 per liter). Thankfully it’s a small country and my average trip is just over 40 miles but still, it’s no fun seeing all that money just evaporate so some frugality is in order. I’m not one for extreme green thinking, I wouldn’t mind solar panels on my roof and a windmill in the backyard but it’s not a must for me. Just by being a minimalist I find that I’m greener than most, no need to overdo it and build a composting loo as well. When the time comes for a “new” car I’ll go for a prius or some other hybrid but for now, it’s an old ratbike and doing everything I can to save money on gas.

Stay calm while riding and control your right hand, slow down and enjoy the view at the same time. It’s a true challenge to get as many miles as possible, treat it as a game and constantly try to get the new highscore.

Good luck and remember: relax, focus and have fun!

Everywhere you look there are commercials, influencing us and trying to convince us to buy the next best thing out there. Where this used to work on a massive scale it’s now getting more and more personal with even directly addressed ads showing up on your doormat and tons of spam in your mail.

Not a single day goes by without coming under this influence. But there is a consciousness developing all around. People start to become insensitive to ads.
Just today I discussed this with a few fellow students. The perfect example came up. A “pop-up” stating you are the gazillionth visitor to a site and you just need to click the ad to claim your prize.

But what is this was a real prize and not a scam? Would you see the difference? I sure wouldn’t. Those pop-ups are just to common. As a consumer we’re starting to become defective. The ads are loosing their grip.

The dream

Well, so far the fantasy. Fact is that ads still work and sucker people into buying all sorts of things they never knew they needed in the first place. We’re also lead to believe that buying certain things will make us popular and grant us superstar status. Dream on kids, super star status comes from eating your vegetables, it’s not about what you own. So eat up and become a superstar.

Although I present a weak case here it’s just as likely that you reach stardom through your stomach as reaching it through buying that latest thing. We just don’t realize that very often it seems. I’m fond of my veggies but don’t want to become a star, I’d rather stay relatively anonymous. Thankfully there is no guarantee I’ll reach stardom through vegetables.

In my last post I talked about a problem with humanity, we’re lazy and if we can find a way around thinking for ourselves we’ll take that path.

Actually all it takes for ads to loose their grip and rendering you defective as consumer is to think for yourself and not to believe everything you hear/read/see. Smoking won’t make you an attractive cowboy, rough around the edges. Buying that latest fitness thing won’t get you that flat stomach. Or in the extreme department, taking that pill won’t make certain body parts bigger overnight.

Ignorance is what ads thrive on. Stay awake and think about things, before you know it you’ll be defective and on your way to saving a lot of money on useless stuff.

Now remember to eat your veggies.

Yesterday, the lottery in The Netherlands was up to a record breaking amount of money (€27 million)  to be won and it was guaranteed to be won by someone. You can imagine the frenzy. People literally bought hundreds of tickets and were already spending the money in their head. You know how that goes. “I would by a new car! No wait, two cars!” Aside from the stupidity of buying a new car as opposed to a relatively new used car is that really what’s important?

It’s well known that people who suddenly come to great riches tend do squander it just as fast. They’re not accustomed to managing money. One of the reasons few people become rich.

Even so, (almost) everybody dreams of being rich. I found a great quote on that I’d like to share with you:

“The best way to make your dreams come true is to wake up”
- Paul Valery

Yes, well all share that dream on one way or the other. Even those who are rich dream of being richer. It’s almost a universal truth. And yes, I dream of being wealthy too, or at least, having enough savings to be able to live comfortably from the interest. I estimate that goal to be €1,3 million in the bank at 3,5% interest. If the interest were higher (and it often is) say 5% under a million (.96) would more than do it. With relatively low risk to your savings you can generate an even higher interest rate.

See those numbers? It’s not that big now is it. Even if you don’t make a six figure income you can reach this point. It all depends on two things: Be realistic and be frugal, keep it simple and keep it safe.

Okay, now it’s time for you to laugh. Here I am, a blogger/student who’s 26. Doesn’t have a penny’s worth of savings talking about having a million in the bank. My old classmates are lawyers, engineers or otherwise already earning an income. And I’m being realistic or dreaming?

Actually, yes I’m dead serious. Chances of you winning the lottery are astronomical at best. You’re better of putting that money to some use instead of throwing it away. Let’s say you’re a typical player buying two lottery tickets every month, €5 Each and you do that for forty years, most people play their entire life. That’s €4800 spent. But with an interest of only 3.5% you could have had €10,337. An increase of 46% over all that time and very likely a better “result” than playing the lottery.

Okay, those are small numbers but there are so many things that are simply not worth what we pay for them. Most things we don’t even need. As I talked about before, the reason minimalists often have such great homes is because

• 1: They aren’t cluttered and
• 2: because they only need a few things, the few things they do buy are of good quality.

We live in a world that’s trying to convince us that quantity is all that counts. After all, we’ll buy two new cars when we win. More jewelry, more expensive watches, more bling (What a horrible word btw), more TVs, more useless clutter you “need” to show others your wealth.

It’s time to stop dreaming about those riches and come to grips with reality. You will not win the lottery. Being frugal and saving is the way to go. It’s not glamorous and it’s slow, but it’s a far better path to riches. And besides, you’ll learn a great deal about managing your money so by the time you do reach that point when you can live off the interest (a passive income)  you’ll know how to manage your money and you’ll think twice before buying a new car. Make a habit out of saving and being frugal. Eventually you’ve worked so long and hard to get where you are, you’ll take great care not to throw it all away just like that.