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Now

1:00

before we start, you might want to check

1:02

out our other podcasts covering topics

1:04

like personal development and minimalism, money,

1:07

health, relationships and more.

1:10

So to optimize your life in other areas,

1:12

just search for optimal living daily in your

1:14

podcast app. Now onto the

1:16

show. Sells, everybody,

1:19

and welcome to another bonus episode

1:21

here on ORD. I'm Greg Audino,

1:24

your host, a narrator. And this

1:26

time around, I'm going to be featuring an episode

1:28

from our finance show, Optimal Finance

1:30

Daily. I think you'll find that this post

1:32

has some great commentary about how

1:34

stuff can hold us down, and

1:37

how our attachments to certain

1:39

objects can really ultimately interfere

1:42

with the relationships that we have with both

1:44

ourselves and others. So I hope

1:46

you enjoy it. And without further ado, let's

1:48

hear Diana's narration as we

1:50

optimize your life.

1:56

Sells motorbike experiences

1:58

bliss. by

1:59

mister frugal Toque with mister

2:02

money mustache dot com.

2:04

It seems almost cliche doesn't it?

2:06

Here comes another lecture

2:08

about how you have too much stuff and

2:11

how it's holding you back from growing

2:13

into the person you could be.

2:15

But I have to speak up because I'm still

2:17

reading stuff like the following. Mister

2:20

Money mustache, it feels good

2:22

to spend a little money on frivolous things.

2:24

I don't know how to spend my income,

2:26

so what if I have a do whatever column

2:29

in there? Stop sucking

2:31

all the fun out of my life. I deserve

2:33

this.

2:34

You know, I kind of get it.

2:36

I see that sixty four gig USB

2:39

thumb drive with a footprint of a penny.

2:41

and I buy it and I feel this endorphin

2:43

rush.

2:44

I own something shiny

2:46

and new. Then

2:48

this voice whispers in my ear.

2:50

Come, let the consumerism flow

2:53

through you. Let it permeate every

2:55

vein in your body, then your journey

2:57

to the clown's side will be complete.

3:00

Sure, it feels good for a little while.

3:03

Sure, you're staying inside your budget.

3:05

I'll even assume that like

3:07

me, you're a relatively decent person

3:09

and that you in some sense deserve

3:11

a sixty

3:12

four gig USB drive, a new

3:14

pair of heels or whatever strikes you're

3:16

fancy. But

3:17

now I ask you to look in your

3:19

garage, your Toque, or your

3:21

basement. Wherever

3:22

it is that you store all the previous

3:24

results of your clown purchasing habits,

3:26

Perhaps

3:27

you have even achieved super

3:29

cloud status, and you've had to rent

3:31

space in a self facility

3:33

of the type that is current crapping

3:35

up all over North America to appease

3:38

the purchasing habits of the middle class.

3:40

Think about that for a moment.

3:43

The population has credit

3:45

card debt, but

3:46

doesn't even have room for all the stuff

3:48

it's buying. What

3:50

is that stuff doing for you?

3:52

It's resting, falling

3:54

apart, cracking, drying out,

3:56

or otherwise deteriorating. It's

3:58

an asset, but it's declining in value

4:01

instead of earning you more money and funding

4:03

your retirement. You need to store

4:05

that stuff, don't you? Is it

4:07

taking up too much space forcing

4:09

you to rent storage? Do you feel

4:11

the clutter closing in on you, shortening

4:14

your breath? If you want to shorten

4:16

your commute or take a better job somewhere

4:18

else, you have to take all that with you,

4:20

don't you? Do

4:21

you feel the harness around your body

4:23

tying you to your purchases of days gone

4:26

by, slowing you down, holding you

4:28

back?

4:28

What if there's a fire or a flood?

4:30

Don't you have to ensure all that stuff?

4:33

Do you sense the leak in your cash

4:35

flow, lengthening your working

4:37

years and setting back your retirement?

4:40

Stuff holds you down.

4:42

You should be able to feel that now.

4:44

Until a few days ago,

4:46

I owned a motorcycle. It

4:48

was an absolutely beautiful perfectly

4:51

tuned piece of modern engineering. When

4:53

I drove down the street, it sounded like an

4:55

intensely powerful gasoline powered

4:58

sewing machine. I've been

5:00

told that it could do two hundred and

5:02

forty kilometers per hour though I've

5:04

never been there Sells. It was

5:06

a gift, believe it or not,

5:08

for

5:08

missus Toque, an

5:09

engagement present in fact, so

5:12

take that tradition of buying jewelry.

5:14

Missus Toque very much

5:16

enjoyed being the official passenger.

5:19

The bike, however, was also expensive.

5:22

Insurance in Canada is unpleasantly

5:24

high. Over a hundred dollars per

5:26

month for the months I could actually ride

5:28

it. Because it sat around all winter,

5:31

there was always something that had to be

5:33

fixed come spring.

5:34

On top of that, once family life

5:36

set in and I began bicycle commuting,

5:39

There were a few chances to ride the

5:41

motorcycle.

5:42

On days with terrible weather or days

5:44

when family travel was necessary,

5:46

The economical car is now the mode

5:48

of transportation. On

5:50

days, it's the bicycle.

5:52

Doing the math I was riding the motorcycle

5:55

once a week during the summer and it was

5:57

costing me an excess of forty dollars

5:59

per ride. So

6:00

last year, the bike sat in the

6:02

garage. I

6:03

didn't ensure I didn't license it,

6:05

didn't ride it, but

6:06

I didn't sell it either. Did

6:08

I mention it was beautiful and

6:11

more importantly a gift from the woman

6:13

I love. I'm

6:14

sure I did.

6:15

Emotions can slow down rational

6:18

decisions.

6:19

In some sense, that's what this blog is about.

6:21

Lending

6:22

science, logic, statistics,

6:24

and financial rationality take

6:26

precedence over preconceptions and

6:28

emotions. One week ago,

6:30

we made the decision. I got the

6:32

motorcycle running and posted an ad on

6:34

the local Kijiji and Craigslist sites.

6:37

Within twenty four hours, I had about a

6:39

dozen replies.

6:40

As an aside, why do people

6:43

still offer trades when I say

6:45

no trades, please? One

6:46

guy offered a crossbow.

6:49

Of the people who wrote to me, it was

6:51

the second one who showed up, tested

6:53

the bike out and opted to buy it. There

6:55

was a funny feeling as I counted out

6:58

the cash and signed the ownership transfer

7:00

papers. It got funnier

7:02

as I help the guy and his friends push

7:04

the motorbike up the ramp into their

7:06

pickup truck.

7:07

Yes, I

7:08

was sad. So

7:09

is missus Toque? but I

7:11

also felt a weight lifted from my

7:13

shoulders. I didn't have to worry anymore

7:15

about the thing in my garage getting older

7:17

and perhaps breaking a seal or rusting

7:19

away a bolt. gone from my

7:21

mind was the burden of gasoline going

7:23

stale. Out of my circle

7:25

of concern were the maintenance and insurance

7:28

issues. That's

7:29

why I've written this. I wanna convey to

7:31

you the few people who are still

7:33

piercing themselves in the rump on the

7:35

pointy edge of the buying things make me

7:37

happy, picket fence.

7:39

that all the stuff you're buying is not a

7:41

source of happiness. In

7:43

the end, that stuff is a burden you want

7:45

to avoid. It's gonna make you less

7:47

happy, less mobile, and later

7:49

in reaching retirement. It's going

7:51

to impinge on your freedom. I

7:54

invite you to examine your possessions.

7:56

Do they really improve your life

7:58

or do they sit there silently

7:59

mocking your clownish behavior?

8:02

while

8:02

holding you back from becoming the individual

8:05

you could be.

8:06

You

8:10

just listen to the post titled Sells

8:13

Motorbike Experiences Bliss

8:16

by Frugal Took with mister

8:18

money mustache dot com.

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WiFi. And I have it linked in this

9:34

episode's

9:34

description. This

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post reminded me of not

9:38

only the practical benefits of

9:40

not being weighed down with material

9:43

possessions, but the psychological benefits

9:45

as well. There was

9:46

actually a period last year where

9:48

a lot of break ins were happening in my neighborhood.

9:51

It ended

9:51

up being a couple teenagers breaking

9:54

into homes and mainly stealing electronics,

9:56

but my neighbors

9:57

were understandably on edge.

9:59

I remember looking around my house and

10:02

thinking,

10:02

what could anyone steal that

10:05

would really rattle me? I

10:06

don't own a TV, or

10:09

expensive jewelry? I

10:10

always have my phone on me and my

10:12

old computer isn't worth much.

10:14

What are they gonna take my toaster?

10:16

In a more literal sense, I

10:18

felt the weight of my stuff when walking

10:20

the camino a few years ago, which is a

10:22

five hundred

10:22

mile truck across Spain.

10:24

For two

10:24

months, I carried everything I

10:27

needed on my back in a forty liter

10:29

pack. When I was

10:29

preparing for that trip, I spent

10:32

many hours deliberating which

10:34

things were one hundred percent necessary

10:36

because I was trying to keep the overall weight I

10:38

was carrying as low as possible.

10:40

But even in this extreme example, I

10:43

learned I was carrying things I could do

10:45

just fine without. There was

10:47

this thermal shirt that I accidentally

10:49

left behind somewhere. but I

10:51

managed just fine without it. There

10:53

was also this blow up pillow that

10:55

got ruined in the wash, but I

10:57

didn't end up missing it. It just goes to

10:59

show that humans are pretty

11:01

adaptable. And when you're not so

11:03

mentally attached to your stuff, you're

11:05

more free to enjoy the journey ahead

11:07

of you. And that should do it

11:09

for today. Have a happy rest of your

11:11

day, and I'll see you in the Thursday

11:13

show tomorrow,

11:13

where your optimal

11:14

life awaits.