Taking Simplifying to the Next Level

Taking Simplifying to the Next Level

Some minimalism bloggers go beyond the superficial, and I so appreciate their writing. Some published authors really satisfy, such as Vicki Robin and Joe Dominguez (Your Money or Your Life) and Duane Elgin (Voluntary Simplicity: Toward a Way of Life That Is Outwardly Simple, Inwardly Rich). I’ve also found myself looking to religious texts for another level of simplifying.

But I’ve been simplifying, really, for most of my adult life. Now I’m wondering, what’s next? How do I level-up, go beyond “things” and dive deeper?

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How I decluttered 1,000 things in 3 years

How I decluttered 1,000 things in 3 years

I moved to Vermont in 2003 with too many things, into a too tiny apartment. I had wall-to-wall stuff and when you constantly have to dust, step over, move or ignore things you don’t even like, it’s time to declutter.

Even when I moved to a huge apartment three years later, I still noticed the sporting goods piled up in the corner and the spare bedroom full of boxes of more stuff.

A bit like Goldilocks, that first apartment was too small, the second was too big, and my current apartment is just right. Nonetheless, I continue to develop an ethos and aesthetic that revolves around simplicity, utility and beauty in all areas of my life.

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Budgeting for the Bucket List Life

Budgeting for the Bucket List Life

This post was previously published on the BucketList.org blog in December 2014.

Living the Bucket List Life inevitably costs money. Not always a lot, but oftentimes something. So how do you decide what to spend to accomplish your bucket list goals?

I asked some friends how they budget for “vacations” and did some research online, it seems like a lot of people just pick the vacation they want and either save up or put it on a credit card. Very few people actually seem to be budgeting for their bucket list life.

But you’ve got a long bucket list, right? Bucketlist.org readers want to drink vodka in Russia, pay for a child’s Cleft lip surgery, complete a Spartan Sprint, and much more!

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Review: Life Expectancy Calculators

Review: Life Expectancy Calculators

I focus intensely on living a good life. I actively work on my bucket list, which has provided some crazy adventures. I focus on experiences over material possessions and have gotten my finances in order to support my larger life goals.

Sometimes, this focus inevitably leads to thoughts on how much life I might have left.

From a young age, I wasn’t spared the experience of death. I attended the funerals of grandparents and great grandparents, lost a friend in high school, and have lost many more since, unfortunately. I say this because not everyone has been this close to mortality. Some folks have never been to a funeral, for example, or are lucky enough to still have grandparents around.

I’m just laying the groundwork for what this blog post is about. To be blunt, it’s about life expectancy. But, in reality, it’s about living and living well.

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Failure as Part of the Bucket List Experience

Failure as Part of the Bucket List Experience

This post was previously published on the BucketList.org blog in November 2014.

Are some of your bucket list goals pretty wild? Way outside your comfort zone, not to mention your budget, skill or ability zones? And are you afraid you may try and fail at some of these goals? Then you and I have some things in common.

My bucket list is the To Do list of an adventurous, athletic, wealthy genius. I love who I see when I look at that list: Michelle on top of mountains, Michelle racing cars, learning languages and living like an expat, owning a radio station and fighting with nunchucks.

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The Bucket List Life

The Bucket List Life

I’ve had a “bucket list” since I was about 13 years old. I didn’t call it a bucket list back then, but it was still a list of all the things I wanted to do with my life.

The list is kind of crazy. It runs the gamut, from learning lots of languages to learning how to use nunchucks, from traveling all over the world to living in a town where people know my name at the coffee shop. It’s clear that sometimes I was just on a roll and listed every musical instrument I might want to learn. Other times, careers were on my mind and I wanted to reach for the pinnacle of success. I wrote the list on index cards and added to it over the years.

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Getting Out of Debt: The Bucket List Goal to Make All Other Goals Possible

Getting Out of Debt: The Bucket List Goal to Make All Other Goals Possible

This post was previously published on the BucketList.org blog in September 2014.

I’ve been racking up debt since college. A few years after graduation, I had over $42,000 of it, from student loans, a new car and the day-to-day reliance on credit. Over 1,500 BucketList.org users have “getting out of debt” as a goal, so we are not a small tribe.

After getting out of debt in 2013, I can definitively say that this is the one goal that will make many other goals possible.

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