AmazonSmile is a simple way to support charitable organizations through your Amazon purchases at no cost to you. The AmazonSmile foundation will donate 0.5% of purchases to the charity of your choice. You simply head to smile.amazon.com/ and use that as your portal for shopping on Amazon. The caveat with this is that you must use the Amazon Smile portal in order for all of your purchases to be counted and there is no support on the app so you have to actually navigate on a desktop or mobile browser. Not the end of the world, but there’s a convenience to the app.
Read moreI had the wonderful opportunity to sit down and chat with Jamila Souffrant of Journey to Launch to talk about financial independence and sustainable living. It’s been nice to be able to spread the message about my two passions: pursuing financial independence and living a more sustainable life. We talked about zero waste, investing and why we also need to think about the future state of our planet for our children’s future.
Read moreIf you are still unsure about how minimalism can help you, here are 17 ways minimalism can help you save money and save the planet as well.
Read moreWe are all environmentalists because our future prosperity depends on the Earth.
In this post, we run through the many alternatives when it comes to sustainable investing. Investing is not a scary word. Investing means putting in capital (time, money or resource) to help something grow. As eco-warriors, we have to start looking holistically at what our money is doing while we sleep.
Read moreI’ve been doing a series over on Instagram #100WaysSaveMoneySaveThePlanet and in my research, it’s rare that I came across personal finance books and blogs that talk about the relationship of our consumption on our wallet and the planet. So for this post, I wanted to do a roundup of posts that highlight this message that if we want to save money, we have to start caring about the Earth. If you note some of these blogs, they are more in the personal finance / financial independence world and are pretty influential.
Read moreEvery summer has a story.
Part of the hallmarks of living a sustainable life is to live frugally. This doesn't mean being cheap, but learning to be self-sufficient, learning to share with the community, and appreciating what nature has to offer. There's a large correlation with caring for your wallet and the planet. This summer, I encourage you to do the things that make you happy, that bring you joy. Remember that living doesn’t have to cost too much. It's your memories, your life! Create a summer story and a summer memory that is sustainable for your money and for the planet.
As with other seasons, here's a list of 100 things to save money, make memories and have a more sustainable and eco-friendly summer.
Read moreEthical wealth creation is possible.
Initially, I didn’t want to monetize my site because it was just my personal projects, but over time, I started putting in a lot of work into it. I wrote a few articles a week. Those articles improved in quality and content. I started getting traction. People left comments. I was wrestling with the idea of how to be true to the spirit of sustainability and zero waste, but get paid for my time and my passion. I value what I do and I hope if you are reading this, value the content I create as well. I decided then to run ads on my site and this is how I make money as a sustainability blogger.
Read more"Men are forced to labour now because they are a slave to their own wants."
It took me some time to finish this book, but after several renewals from the library, I finally finished Empire of Things: How We Became a World of Consumers by Frank Trentmann. It's a fascinating read! It reads a little bit like a history textbook. It runs through a range of histories of multiple countries to see show how goods traveled from one place to another. It should be noted that consumption isn't a new idea, but it has rapidly grown thanks to the Industrial Age and post Second World War.
Read moreI just finished the book "Your Money or Your Life" by Vicki Robin and Joe Dominquez. I love personal finance and am an avid personal finance book reader. Of all of the books I've read, this is one of the few books that talk about the relationship and impact of our spending on both our wallets and on our one planet. “Financial Integrity is achieved by learning the true impact of your earning and spending both on your family and on the planet.”
Read moreNot that you should own nothing, but that nothing should own you.
What is Minimalism? What is Financial Freedom? To me, Minimalism has always been focusing on the things that I value. This means focusing less on the accumulation of stuff, but more on personal growth, on relationships and on helping the world. Today, Financial Freedom means more to me more than ever and I will share a story that I have never shared here before.
Read moreWe all need to start thinking of money in terms of freedom. Money = Freedom. Today, most of us exchange our time for money. Yes, the money eventually pays for housing, for food, for clothing, for vacations etc., but at the heart of it, we are exchanging our time to buy other things. It would be very idealistic of us to state that money is not important. We don't live in a world where money is not necessary, but we can figure out a way to use it for good.
Read moreI've been struggling with the tenets of minimalism, zero waste and conscious capitalism for some time now. Not the practicalities of it, though I have my moments, but the idealism of it. We don't live in a perfect world. We don't live in a circular economy. The term "conscious capitalism" feels like an oxymoron. We live in a very capitalistic society that uses the GDP as the factor for measuring our economic growth. GDP means the creation and consumption of things. How can we be conscious about that and is that something that we can change?
Read moreHere it is folks, proof is in the numbers.
I've learned that it doesn't cost a lot to switch to a more eco-friendly lifestyle. The key is to recognize what you use the most and find alternatives that are better for the environment. I thought I would do a quick exercise on things I've invested in starting a zero waste or low waste transition and my ROI or in this case, my savings. Now, we may not need to spend any money at all if we are handy and are resourceful. I took 3 of the top items that you can replace today.
Read moreIt's the one advice that helped me feel secure about my future. The concept is simple. First, create multiple savings accounts. This can come in the form of retirement, investment and general bank savings accounts. From there, split out the bank savings accounts into specific short-term and long-term goals. This may mean having a saving accounts for Iceland 2017, Weddings 2018, and Vacations All Year Round. It's about planning ahead. The key to funding these successfully is to automate it all. Before even any of your paycheck touches your bank account, money is streamed into separate accounts and what your left with is money for your basic needs and some for luxury.
Read moreIntroduction to the energy of money and how your personal money history, beliefs and ideas affect you you earn money, save money and spend money.
Read moreMy husband and I have not had cable in over 5 years and don't miss it at all. We share a Netflix account that is barely used. We also have Amazon, but have not gotten into the swing of the shows there. I thought I would do a quick infographic of how much TV costs in terms of money and time.
Despite all of the news you hear about people cutting the cord and streaming from Netflix. Research still shows that 83% of American households pay for TV as a service. Many are just so used to the monthly cost. They don't think they can live without E! or HGTV, but I can attest that there is life after this. For me, not having cable for 5 years meant a significant amount of money and time saved. Some of this money I've invested and I've seen it grow significantly. Some of this money has been used to travel instead. I'm definitely not a cheapskate, but there's certain things that are worth paying money for, cable is NOT one of them.
Read moreIn "Go Green, Live Rich," David Bach introduces us to the "Litter Factor." It is a concept that further elaborates on how small things add up to big things. For example, buying coffee in a disposable single-use cup not only drains you a few dollars each day, it also contributes trash to the environment. Think about all of the coffee you consume, where do those cups go. Some days, you will see them pile up in the corner trash can, other days, you'll see one being swept by the rain and end up in the sewage system and eventually in the rivers. When you start thinking about what you consume, how much it costs you and how much it costs the environment, you start thinking differently.
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