To my son

To my son, "Lorand Daniel", on his first day of birthday.


"It is never too late to be what you might have been." You can start today to create the life you were meant to live, one small step at a time.
George Eliot (writer)



Or perhaps, "one big step from time to time."
Daniel O

The Story of Stuff

"From its extraction through sale, use and disposal, all the stuff in our lives affects communities at home and abroad, yet most of this is hidden from view. The Story of Stuff is a 20-minute, fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns."


The Story of Stuff is an interesting short film, particularly in its last half. Writer and narrator Annie Leonard explains that the “golden arrow of consumption” is the heart of the modern economic system, a system that’s really only existed since the 1950s.

After World War II, planned obsolescence was incorporated into the production of consumer goods. Whereas quality and long life had once been a selling point, now things were intentionally designed with shorter lifespans. Obviously, this increased the rate of consumption.

Even more powerful, however, is the notion of perceived obsolescence. Perceived obsolescence is most obvious with regards to fashion. I suspect most readers try to divorce their purchase decisions from the clutch of fashion because they understand just how insidious it can be. Who wants to be seen wearing clothing from 1993?

But perceived obsolescence goes beyond just fashion. How many of you geeks still have your first iPod? Why did you move to a new one? Was anything wrong with the old one? Or were you, on some unconscious level, unwilling to be seen carrying around that brick anymore? (I’m guilty of having upgraded my iPod because my old one seemed out-of-date, so don’t think I’m condemning anyone.)

What is the cost of all this? Leonard says that 99% of the stuff we harvest, mine, process, transport, and consume is trash within six months. Only 1% of the materials used to produce consumer goods (including the goods themselves) are still used six months after the date of sale.

Here’s the best part of The Story of Stuff chapter five, “Consumption”:




Taken from "Get Rich Slowly" blog.

The Importance of Action!

People have goals in mind, but their present circumstances seem to be far from their intended destination. These two points are so far apart, in fact, that people are afraid to begin moving. Because the distance seemed overwhelming, they are paralyzed.

The importance of action

I used to feel this way, too. I would look at the enormity of my debt — $20,000! $30,000! — and I would stop before I could even begin. This was, of course, completely self-defeating. The most important thing you can do to achieve your financial goals (or any goal, for that matter) is to take action. It matters little which action you take so long as you begin moving in the right direction. You might, for example:

* Start a RRSP account.
* Open a high-yield savings account.
* Cancel your cable television.
* Read a book about the stock market or go back to school.
* Learn to bake bread.

Don’t be paralyzed because you don’t know the best path to take. Pick one good path and follow it. Whatever your financial goal, that first small step is the most important. It leads from inaction to action. It leads to the future.

Closing the gap

While I was thinking about this yesterday, I stumbled upon a video from This American Life’s Ira Glass. On the surface, it seems completely unrelated to personal finance. And maybe it is. But I think that in these five minutes, Glass gets to the heart of success with any goal:

Ostensibly, Glass is speaking about story-telling. (Which is why I was actually watching this.) But what he’s really talking about is the process of mastery, of building skills and achieving goals.

Glass says that when you begin any endeavor, you’re a novice. You have a clear vision of what a successful person would do or be (debt-free, for example, or have a million dollars), but your own efforts aren’t anywhere near what you define as success. Maybe you still spend money on videogames or on handbags. Maybe you eat out too much. Whatever the case, there’s a gap between your view of success and your present abilities.

“A lot of people never get past that phase,” Glass says. “A lot of people at that point, they quit.”

But to succeed, you can’t quit. To achieve your dreams, you need to keep stumbling along. Nearly anyone who is successful, says Glass, goes through a period of months or years where they can tell that what they’re doing isn’t as good as they want it to be:

You gotta know that’s totally normal. The most important possible thing you can do is do a lot of work. Do a huge volume of work…It’s only by actually going through a volume of work that you’re actually going to catch up and close that gap, and the work you’re making will be as good as your ambitions.

Or, translated into the language of personal finance, keep practicing frugality. Keep saving money. Keep reading about the stock market. It’s only by continuing to do these things that they become habits, and it’s only by developing these habits that you’ll be able to meet your financial goals. Don’t be discouraged if you stumble. You will make mistakes. You need to fight your way through these. “You will be fierce,” Glass says. “You will be a warrior.”

But to begin, you need to take action. You need to take that first step. You need to begin walking in the direction of your dreams.

Article taken from "Get Rich Slowly"