The Crash Course

This weekend I have been completely engrossed in watching The Crash Course, which is Chris Martensen’s best attempt to explain exactly how we got into this economic crisis. 

While The Crash Course is divided into small video sections of 3-18 minutes each, the whole thing runs just over 3 hours. We had it on DVD and watched the whole thing from beginning to end. While I already knew many of the themes in this presentation (Economic slump, Peak Oil, Environmental Problems, Baby Boomer Retirement, World Overpopulation), I found The Crash Course  an excellent way of summarizing it all and showing how they all relate.  

I’ve been dedicated to downshifting during the last few months, but somehow becoming aware of all this information has made the task more imperative and urgent for me. As I digest all of this more fully, I’m sure I’ll share my thoughts over the coming weeks and months.

If any of you have already seen this presentation, I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Photo by: azrainman

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February 09 Goals

Finances

• Finish working through Your Money or Your Life 
• Keep track of every cent that Hubby and I spend for the month
• Submit 2008 tax return
• Claim all medical receipts from my health insurer
• Chase up refunds due to me

Work/Business

• Complete assignments for two work courses
• Tackle some more in-depth topics on this blog

Personal/Spiritual Development and Education

• Document my vision for the future and set my 101 in 1001 goals
• Read daily and participate in bookclubs
• Download podcasts and listen to them while walking the dog

Relationships

• Write letters to all my Grandparents (including in-laws)
• Have a good chat to my sister about her finances
• Go on a couple of dates with Hubby

Social/Fun

• Research ‘Must see’ things in New York City and find a bargain on a hotel
• Get in touch with all my friends located in Washington DC prior to my visit in March
• Go to a murder mystery night with friends
• Have a hot tub party with friends

Health

• 23 no alcohol days
• Train three days per week with Hubby
• Go on four 2+ hour hikes
• Continue to take weekly measurements to track progress

Household

• Build a vegetable garden plot in our courtyard and plant seeds
• Partake in Food Waste Reduction Challenge

Photo by: pasma

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Wrap-up of January 09 Goals

Finances

• Work through Your Money or Your Life  I’ve made good progress, but still have about half of the book to go.
• Update my budget for 2009  We’ll have enough to pay all interest on our mortgages and other loans and save about $30,000. Not as much as I would have liked, but better than nothing.
• Submit overdue tax returns I’ve done everything I can and am now waiting for news from my accountant.
• Claim all outstanding money

Work/Business

• Coordinate a function/party for work Done. It was a huge success
• Complete assignments for two work courses.
• Blog five times per week for the month Done.

Personal/Spiritual Development and Education

• Read daily and participate in Bookclub Done.
• Download podcasts and listen to them while walking the dog. I downloaded the podcasts, but didn’t get to listen to them.

Relationships

• Call my good friends in Australia Done
• Write at least one letter to someone not on email Done
• Go on a couple of dates with Hubby Done. We went to the Electric Vehicle presentation and for a hike. How romantic!

Social/Fun

• Finalise plans for my March travels Done. Flights are all booked.
• Catch up with local friends Done. Had a couple of fun catch-ups

Health

• 25 no alcohol days. Fail. I think I had about 20 no-alcohol days, so it’s wasn’t too bad.
• Train three days per week with Hubby I’m going to say I achieved this one, despite one week off for a bad back.
• Go on a 2+ hour hike at least twice Done
• Take weekly measurements to track progress Done

Household

• Implement an improved system for managing household paperwork. Sort of. It’s been operational for a few weeks, so we’ll see if it sticks.

Photo by: macwagen

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I want to buy a house

All this talk of buying houses by Early Retirement Middle Way and Money on My Mind has me yearning for another property of my own. Of course, it’s completely out of the question for the moment because:

• I’m in the USA for another two years so there is no point buying another house back in Australia now;
• My finances are such that I probably couldn’t get a loan for another property now anyway; and
• Apparently house prices have started dropping in Australia, so I can’t really recoup a profit from one of the other houses if I sold it.

Still, it doesn’t stop me dreaming. I love having my own place. I envisage having my own garden, putting in rainwater tanks and a greywater recycling system. I foresee a solar system on the roof. I want to live close to town so that we can do without a second vehicle and so we can walk or ride to shops, cafes and work. If we rent, we won’t be able to do any of these things.

Unfortunately, in order to buy a property close to the town I’m thinking, with enough land to have a garden and fruit trees, it’s going to cost a pretty penny. *Sigh* I guess I’m going to have to relegate this dream to the ‘longer term’ pile and just focus on the baby steps to reach that goal.

Photo by: Aaardvaark

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Dreams – a look at life 5 years from now

Lately it seems I’ve been talking a lot about nitty-gritty personal finance stuff. It’s not what I had intended for this blog, but it seems that it’s what has had me pre-occupied since the beginning of the year. I need to get all that sorted out this month so I can think more about my journey towards voluntary simplicity and sustainability. These topics are very important to me, but I feel like I can’t adequately launch into them until I’ve done some housekeeping in my mind. So I’m sorry to say that there will probably be more personal finance discussions in the comings weeks. Please bear with me.

Today however, I wanted to think more broadly. I want to talk about my dreams… the vision which drives me towards a future which is outwardly simple but inwardly rich (I’m sure I’ve taken that from somewhere, so apologies if I stole your phrase).

Here’s how I want my life to look in five years:

• I will be living in an Australian City which is big enough to have access to all the modern conveniences, but small enough to be close to nature and have a community minded spirit.
• I will have a smallish home (3 bedrooms) which is free of clutter and stylishly furnished with reclaimed furniture and artifacts picked up during my travels. It will have polished timber floors and large windows which allow plenty of light and warmth into the home. The walls are white and covered in photographs I’ve taken around the world. There are outdoor living areas which flow seamlessly from the house. I imagine a deck surrounded by Australian natives which attracts plenty of local bird life.
• I will have a large block to allow us to have fruit trees and a vegetable garden in addition to workspaces for hubby and I (a decent sized shed and perhaps a photography studio). I’d love to be able to keep chickens as well (but definately no rooster!)
• I will be able to walk to the local park or nature reserve and cycle to a local grocery store and coffee shop.
• I will be working part-time for my current employer and part-time on a number of business ideas I have.
• I will have time to volunteer or be involved in community activities. I may even be studying a topic of interest.
• I will be living as green/sustainably as possible.
• I will have at least one child who will be cared for by hubby and I the majority of the time. I want my child to be raised with our values.
• I will have a few close friends in the area and will ensure I visit family or have them visit us regularly.
• I will go hiking regularly and live a fit and active life.
• I will have the opportunity to travel overseas once per year and to take mini-breaks with the family a couple of times per year.

That’s about all I can think of. Are there any others areas of life which I’ve failed to address?

What about you? Do you have a dream that you constantly refer to to make sure you are heading in the right direction?

Photo by: {Erik}

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January Goals

Finances

• Work through Your Money or Your Life 
• Update my budget for 2009
• Submit overdue tax returns
• Claim all outstanding money

Work/Business

• Coordinate a function/party for work
• Complete assignments for two work courses
• Blog five times per week for the month 

Personal/Spiritual Development and Education

• Read daily and participate in Bookclub
• Download podcasts and listen to them while walking the dog
• Document my vision for the future and set my 101 in 1001 goals

Relationships

• Call my good friends in Australia
• Write at least one letter to someone not on email
• Go on a couple of dates with Hubby

Social/Fun

• Finalise plans for my March travels
• Catch up with local friends

Health

• Keep a food diary for the month
• 25 no alcohol days
• Train three days per week with Hubby
• Go on a 2+ hour hike at least twice
• Take weekly measurements to track progress

Household

• Implement an improved system for managing household paperwork

Photo by: Claudio.Ar 

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Broad thoughts on my Financial situation

I’m currently reading Your Money or Your Life. It’s one of those books which seems to have been raved about on many of the blogs I frequent. Based on the title, I figured it was just another book about how to make or save more money. I just finished the preface last night and I’m pleased to see that it’s so much more. It looks to be about balancing our thoughts on money with how we live our lives. It’s just what I need right now. 

I’ll admit that I have some financial hangups. I grew up in a family which only just made ends meet, so as a child I always felt stressed about money. I started working at the age of 12 and by 15 I was working three jobs in addition to going to school. I was a diligent saver and started investing in the share market at 16. At 23 I decided I was going to be a millionaire by 40, and for the last 8 years that was the financial goal I was focused on. I bought a lot of property before the boom in 2000, my net worth was growing steadily and I was on track to reach my goal quite easily.

The financial crisis of 2008 brought this dream crashing to the ground. I lost a lot in the stock market crash. It’s almost too painful to think about how much, but on paper it’s a loss of somewhere between $150,000 – $250,000 (Yes I’ve been sticking my head in the sand). That wouldn’t be so bad, but I was highly leveraged into those shares and I still have a huge loan costing me a lot of interest for assets which are devaluing daily.

So, being the type of person who is willing to learn a lesson and move on, I’m choosing to see this whole mess as an opportunity to re-evaluate my goals and thoughts on money. Some points I’ve read in this book really resonate with me, in particular the definitions outlined below.

• Financial Intelligence: Being able to step back from your assumptions and your emotions about money and observe them objectively.
• Financial Integrity: Learning the true impact of your earning and spending, both on your immediate family and on the planet. It is knowing what is enough money and material goods to keep you at the peak of fulfillment – and what is just excess and clutter.
• Financial Independence: Having enough income sufficient for your basic needs and comforts from a source other than paid employment.

All this time I think I’ve been focused on being Financially Independent without really giving it any deeper thought about what it meant for the rest of my life. I was driving myself into the ground, making myself stressed, working in a job that at times made me want to slit my wrists. Why? I guess that’s what I need to work out.

I’m excited to think that over the next year I’m going to re-evaluate my relationship with money and re-design my life to incorporate more elements which align with my values.

Photo by: Cati Kaoe

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