Beware what you read

I can't find it now, but something popped up when I had a Forbes page open, giving 15 (I think) ways to save money to retire early. They were the usual, take your lunch to work, don't smoke or drink, but then there was one "die early". I couldn't believe my eyes.

I don't know if this was some sort of weird spam that loaded - I can't find it now.

There is some logic to it - there was a picture of a guy on a motorcycle, so I guess the idea is, live dangerously and you won't live as long. Therefore, you won't need to worry about having money to retire.

I don't really think this could be considered sound advice.

There was another site which I found with an article Don't Live Cheap Live Smart.


It starts out OK, not great, but no real red flags, until I get to this part;

Why live cheap is not a good idea

Living cheap might hurt your ego and drown you in negativity even more. People do need a form of achievement in their life, and these days, maintaining their lifestyle is arguably the best achievement of all.

Living cheap might also worsen your state of personal finance. For example, if you ’skimp’ on your daily meal, you might get sick - you and I know that getting sick these days is the least thing you want to have.

Ultimately, you have to stay healthy and pumped up to face the current money problems and issues.

OK, if you are homeless it might be a problem to eat, but anyone with a little bit of imagination can eat fairly cheaply. This is something I will blog about later.

I think this site might be promoting credit cards, as along the top it had Home, About, Contact, Advertise, Credit Cards.

That, to me, sent up a red flag.



I didn't click on anything.

Getting Rid of Stuff

In my first blog post I talked about the need to get rid of stuff.

Once I decided to get rid of my furniture, I started thinking about all the other stuff I had to move and store.

That was when I decided the smartest thing to do would be get rid of everything, down to what I could fit in my car. It was hard. Really hard. But, really liberating.

This article, 7 Secret to Happiness, has getting rid of stuff as number 3. Be sure to read the part in bold in the 2nd paragraph.

3. It’s Time to Toss Excess Stuff

If you can barely scrape together enough change to spring for that $4 latte, you’ll love this: Money (and all the crap that you can buy with it) won’t bring you happiness. In fact, when wealthy Americans were surveyed, they reported being only marginally happier than the general public. “When you have limitless funds, you tend to be hellbent on accumulating more,” says New York clinical psychiatrist Janet Taylor. “In the process, you lose the ability to appreciate what you do own and have difficulty feeling fulfilled.”


And you don’t need to be a gazillionaire to get caught in this trap. The problem might be that you just can’t seem to throw anything out. Like your favorite sweater from your high school days, that (hello!) is from the damn Gap, not specially knit by Grandma. “Extra belongings weigh us down and crowd our space, making us feel overwhelmed and disorganized,” says Dr. Taylor. “Lightening up will help you regain control and, therefore, happiness.”


On that lighter note, now is the perfect moment to purge. You don’t have to clean house completely, but you should hold on only to stuff you Love (with a capital L). “If you haven’t used or admired something in six months, part with it. No guilt allowed,” she insists. To be clear: That doesn’t mean stacking things in a giveaway pile in the corner of your room. It entails bagging up the items and disposing of them ASAP — whether you donate them to Goodwill or swap ’em on eBay.

Learning to live cheaply

I retired at 45. I didn't really plan to retire, I just thought I would take some time off between jobs.

Well, it's been 6 years, and I have learned to relax and enjoy life.

But to be fair, for the last 1 1/2 years I have taken care of my elderly mother, and that really is a job, although not a paid one.

How did I do it? Well for starters I got rid of all of my "stuff". I owned a 3 bedroom house with a walk-up attic and a basement, and it was full.

I decided to sell my house in New Jersey and move to North Carolina, but to rent before buying.

Doing so would involve the expenses of moving furniture a couple of time, or at least the cost of storage.

After some hard thinking, and advice from some smart friends, I realized the smartest thing to do would be to get rid of all of my furniture. I could buy all new whenever I bought a new house. Until then, I could rent furnished apartments, or rent furniture.

Once I decided to get rid of my furniture, I started thinking about all the other stuff I had to move and store.

That was when I decided the smartest thing to do would be get rid of everything, down to what I could fit in my car. It was hard. Really hard. But, really liberating.

And now, I get to buy all new stuff!

This blog will be a bit about my adventures over the past 6 years, and things I do today to continue not working.

With the economy in bad shape, I think many will join me, at least for the "live cheap" part.

From AP, Dec. 11, 2008

WASHINGTON – U.S. households, hit by declining home values and stock market losses, have cut back on their debt levels for the first time on record as loans remain scarce amid what appears to be a deepening recession.

And so we begin.

For those readers who English is your 2nd language, the "stuff" I refer to
From the Free Dictionary

b. Household or personal articles considered as a group.
c. Worthless objects.

My "stuff" is both b and c.