You Can Buy Happiness (and It's Cheap)

As Will Rogers said, “Too many people spend money they haven’t earned, to buy things they don’t want, to impress people they don’t like.”

The Irresistible Revolution

I’ve set up a bank account for the baby, and when I send out announcements after the birth, I’m going to encourage friends and family to give money to the baby

What do I want most out of life, and what lifestyle supports that best?” What do you value, and how do you build a life that supports those values? For myself, I valued relationships, community, and experiences. By living in a tiny house and having fewer material goods, I created a lifestyle free from debt that gives me the freedom to pursue these things

family, community, good health, good work, experience of art and nature, service to others, a sense of purpose, and spiritual insight.”

I have come to see time as a nonrenewable resource and an extremely valuable commodity. It’s something we never get back

Our goal is to live simply and not work more than four hours a day. That way my kids have time to spend with their children and to pursue other interests. In some ways the business is like an intentional community, but it’s all family. For example, we do everything by consensus decision making. Before I make any decision about the business, I consult with them.”
Chris’s story illustrates the brilliance of living simply — it allows you to create your own lifestyle, one with the freedom, money, and time to do what you love for a living. Reclaiming work is about doing smart work, having the freedom to set your own schedule, learning to think of work as play, and looking for opportunities in transitions.
Tina’s Story: Opportunities in Transition

My sister-in-law Tina, her husband, Tyler, and their two young children, Isaac and Ella, live in an 1,100-square-foot house in Chico, California. Since Tina’s house is about eight times the size of our house, she wasn’t sure if her story was right for this book, but it is. Ultimately, the size of our dwelling isn’t what matters. What matters is rethinking our choices to increase our happiness and sense of community, and in this way, Tina is a great example of an increasingly common modern dilemma.
Tina explained, “It’s funny. Everyone asks me, ‘How can you live in such a tiny house?’ I laugh because I always think about your tiny house. We used to have a vision of a two-story dream house. We wanted a den and a library and all of these other little rooms. I’m a

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry said, “You know you have reached perfection of design, not when you have nothing more to add, but when you have nothing more to take away.”

In other words, people hold on to stuff, not out of laziness, but because it gives them a sense of protection and comfort. I’ve found this to be true. Buying stuff comforted me and compensated for any feelings of inadequacy

Mark Twain once said, “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”