Early Retirement Extreme

Financial independence, frugality, self-sufficiency, ecology, capitalism, and voluntary simplicity

Ecological capitalism and consumer capitalism

Published in February 3rd, 2008

Posted by Jacob in culture, ecological footprint, economy, financial security

If you’re new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!The Master said: “Ci, do you regard me as someone who learns much and commits it all to memory?”
Zi-gong replied: “Yes, are you not?”
The Master said: “No, I use one string to tie it all together.”
— from the [...]

How to downsize your kitchen

Published in January 31st, 2008

Posted by Jacob in cooking, ecological footprint, household, standard of living

3 Comments

Step one: Figure out what you need
When I was single, I eventually figured out exactly what I needed (see my minimalist kitchen post for details) to cook my food). Since getting married it is clear that those needs have changed. Without an inventory analysis (*) it is impossible to know what needed and what is [...]

Is your stuff holding you back?

Published in January 28th, 2008

Posted by Jacob in anticonsumerism, culture, ecological footprint

8 Comments

“Are your sofa and TV your best friends? You could change that. … . You can break free from the clutches of society and live well on a very modest amount of money if you simply give up most of the junk most of us cart around.”
A quote from How to [...]

Am I cheap?!?

Published in January 20th, 2008

Posted by Jacob in anticonsumerism, consumerism, ecological footprint, financial independence, standard of living

17 Comments

Sometimes I’m accused of being cheap or living in squalor because I prefer to ride a bike, eat at home, and because I generally don’t buy very many things. This does not sit well with the prevailing consumerist attitude in this ownership society. I suspect ownership society means that people are owned (pwned!) by their [...]

Walking in the rain

Published in January 5th, 2008

Posted by Jacob in clothing, ecological footprint, fitness

5 Comments

Currently a little windy drizzlemajor storm is moving a few leaveswrecking havoc on the bay area. Alright, I haven’t checked out the entire bay area, but in my opinion around here it’s just rainy and windy. Weather is to a large extend all about perception and the right clothes and I grew up in a [...]

Bicycle commuting

Published in January 4th, 2008

Posted by Jacob in ecological footprint, fitness, transport

3 Comments

The past year I have been commuting by bike on most work days. The distance is about 6.2 miles and my odomoter shows 1736 miles for the year. Granted, I have done some recreational riding as well including a half-century, that is 50 miles, on some particularly crazy Saturday, but I doubt that totals more [...]

Envelope recycling

Published in December 29th, 2007

Posted by Jacob in ecological footprint, recycling

5 Comments

Here is a chance to take advantage of some economic inefficiency: Recycle your envelopes. DW and I used to run an amazon store selling used books and recycling the padded envelopes which I got from buying other used books is really a no-brainer when padded envelopes easily cost north of $0.75. Some used book sellers [...]

Passion

Published in December 16th, 2007

Posted by Jacob in ecological footprint, fitness, personal finance, voluntary simplicity

2 Comments

“Do not seek illumination unless you seek it as a man whose hair is on fire seeks a pond.” — Sri Ramakrishna
I really like this quote. It provides a visual image of a very important point. The point is that you must be passionate to succeed. Being passionate centers every action and every choice around [...]

Newer Entries »