You should be buying cheap shit

Just last week I said that you should stop wasting your money on shit. A big part of that is not spending money on cheap shit that falls apart after a couple of uses and you have to constantly replace.

I'm not changing my mind, but sometimes you really should buy cheap, second-hand, knock off shit before you buy the expensive top of the range good stuff.

Acorns - 12 month wrap up

Acorns are offering double sign up bonuses for September, which has drawn eyes there way and lead to them being crucified in the media with sensationalist headlines. But after a almost a year I feel like I've got the right to say, they ain't that bad. In fact, the returns are decent, the apps easy to use and the mindless investing structure is a great starting point that everyone should get behind.

If you need convincing, here's an almost 12 month wrap up.

Stop buying shit

Shit, slang something inferior or worthless.

This is where the frugality movement and the minimalism movement come together and truly shine. Because you can be a minimalist with only a few things, but they can be crappy things you have to replace every two weeks. Or you can be frugal and buy something on super special, but maybe you didn't really need it.

The Year of Investing - August 2017

Smashed my savings goals and smashed my investing goals. A month of low bills and upward trending markets worked out wonderfully!

The oft forgotten value of doing absolutely nothing

The average adult makes 35,000 decisions a day. Ranging from breakfast, to business deals, to whether to bother to find matching socks, to how to politely tell your annoying coworker to chew with their mouth shut, we do a lot of thinking.

I'm going to bluntly and honestly say I'm tired of thinking! Instead I challenge you to embrace the oft forgotten value of doing absolutely nothing.

The sky isn't falling, and you should be investing

I generally avoid mainstream media. I realised very young that most news shows are interested in showing you all the horrible things happening in the world. They devote 90% of an hour news block to tell you about all the bad things that will never affect you (Do we really care that a flock of chickens escaped and are running amok in a caravan park?) and the other 10% to sports.

Unfortunately this obsession with the worst news has burrowed into the minds of most people, and turned us all into hopeless pessimists. Investors are convinced the next market crash is right around the corner, and sitting on their piles of gold, waiting for the best time to invest.

That time is now.

The Holy Trinity of Financial Success

For most people three primary expenses dominate their expenses - housing, transport and food. 

In my case they take up 37.5%, 0% and 6% of my expenses - in that order. Lower expenses are a key path to Financial Independence, which is why finance bloggers spend so much time talking about food.

By keeping my expenses lower, I'm fast-tracking my path to Financial Independence, and I'm doing it on a pretty cushy lifestyle.