SimpleFinancialAdvice.com

Simple Advice

You feel like a box of well used crayolas. You can't quite figure out why your bank account never has enough to start that well intentioned savings plan you have been contemplating for so long. Well, you've come to the right page! This is my anti-consumer page. The page that makes retiring early a lot sooner than imagined!

Look around you for a moment. How many advertisements do you see that implore you to buy a product because you really cannot live without it. You know...like disposable dust mops and cleaning wipes. How did the world stay clean before these things? I haven't looked to see how expensive the refills are but I can imagine that over 30 years you could end up spending hundreds of dollars on what is to me a fancy wet cloth. Good for the manufacturer, of course, but bad for the consumer who will have to work a few extra weeks to support this habit.

It amazes me how many things I really don't need. I don't miss them either. A more simple lifestyle really is better. The simple life also comes with an added bonus - its good for our environment. So let me think about this for a moment. By cutting out things I never needed in the first place I was able to semi retire before 40, have more fun with my growing kids and save the environment? Not a bad combination.

Really expensive things I don't need...

1. A gas guzzling SUV. Do yourself a big favour and pull out a financial calculator and find out the effect this purchase will have on your retirement date. It will scare you.
2. Gourmet kitchens for "non chefs". Just because they look good, is not a good enough reason for me to invest in a $75,000+ kitchen.
3. A backyard pool. Appraisers tell me that the value of your home will actually decrease when you invest in a pool. Novel idea. I have better ways to invest my money like new windows which according to the experts will add value to your biggest investment.

Expensive things I don't need...

1. A large 'wedding quality' set of dishes. I have had my English dishes for 15 years and can count on one hand how many times I have used them. Sure they look nice, but not nice enough to wash by hand and too nice to use with kids. So I protect them by not using them. Why did I want them in the first place? A much better use of funds would have been to use the dish money to buy a better quality everyday set and use the savings to increase my down payment on my first house.
2. Gold plated faucets.
3. Designer fashion. I simply cannot spend $100 for a sweater that costs $10.

Cheap stuff I don't need (and over time become really expensive)...

1. Fancy coffees. Taste great but do the math. Better yet, let ING do the math for you. Check out Banktips.ca for more info.
2. Smokes.
3. Fast food establishments.

More to come...