I’ve noticed that many prices seem to be lower here in the United States than in Canada. Am I imagining it? With the help of my Canadian friend Annette (an experienced shopper), I decided to find out. Methodology I selected a basket of 20 common retail items (food, alcoholic beverages, Continue Reading
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Premature Blogging
Blogging confounds me (Premature Vexation). I really enjoy writing (Premature Satisfaction) and sharing my stories (Premature Narration), but I have a hard time living up to my own standards (Premature Expectation). I want to create things (Premature Generation) that I’m proud of (Premature Gratification). I have a desire (Premature Compulsion) Continue Reading
Less Personality and More Character
When I was a young, if you asked a child, “What do you want to be when you grow up?”, they would almost certainly name a profession like doctor, teacher, or police officer. Often the response would include a more glamorous profession of the day like cowboy, astronaut, or in Continue Reading
Premature Conversation
I’ve started to play a word game with a few friends (Premature Competition) The object of the game is to insert creative 2-word phases into any conversation. (Premature Interjection) Each phrase must begin with the word “Premature” followed by a second word ending in “tion” or “sion” (Premature Formulation) The Continue Reading
My Experiment in Community
When I started the latest incarnation of my blog, I gave careful thought to what I was doing (The Blog) and why (Why am I blogging?). After 6 months of active publishing, I think it’s time to take stock of how I’m doing. Here is my self-assessment. Of the 4 Continue Reading
Some Things I’m Doing About My Struggle with Stuff
I wrote previously about My Struggle with Stuff, my challenges with materialism, consumerism, and accumulation. Apparently, I’m still thinking about it. I really want to master my stuff, rather than the other way around. Below are some of the things I’ve tried with varying degrees of success. Note that I Continue Reading
Is Life Getting Too Complicated?
Is life becoming more and more complicated? It sure seems like it. Do you remember the days when telephone service was simple? When a handy person could maintain his own car? When you could buy things without handling fees, fuel surcharges, and 3 types of tax? When you didn’t have Continue Reading
My Struggle with Stuff
I’m a hoarder by nature. Not a ‘reality television, can’t move around in my house and as a result they are taking me away’ kind of hoarder, but a ‘you never know when you might need it’ type. I’m hesitant to get rid of things for an abundance of reasons, Continue Reading
Coming to terms with an alternative lifestyle
Even after I had decided that not working at a job was an option for me, it took months to transition to my alternative lifestyle. The hardest part of this was the mental shift required. I’ve had to deal with all sorts of issues and insecurities that came up. I Continue Reading
How can we afford to live like we do?
I’d like to be able to report that I’m one of the impressive people who travel continuously, funded fully by a sustainable income from a location-independent business, e.g. http://manvsdebt.com/ Although this could happen eventually, I’m not currently actively pursuing this. But people often ask how can we do what we do. Continue Reading