Thriving on Less: Simplifying in a Tough Economy

by Leo Babauta

The recent economic recession has a lot of people worried, about their jobs, their businesses, their homes and their bills. When your income is dropping or in jeopardy and you still have a mountain of bills to pay, things can get pretty scary.

However, tough economic times do not have to be a time of struggles! If you look for the opportunity in the middle of difficulty, as Mr. Einstein suggested, then tough economic times become an opportunity to transform your life.

Genres: Nonfiction, Ebooks, Productivity

27 pages, ebook

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

Leo Babauta is a simplicity blogger and author. He created Zen Habits, a Top 25 blog (according to TIME magazine) with 260,000 subscribers, mnmlist.com, and the best-selling books focus, The Power of Less, and Zen To Done.

Babauta is a former journalist of 18 years, a husband, father of six children, and in 2010 moved from Guam to San Francisco, where he leads a simple life.

He started Zen Habits to chronicle and share what he's learned while changing a number of habits.

Reviews

[Frank · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you've read one of these before, you've read this but better. Honestly, I'd suggest Tammy Strobel's new print book or anything written by Joshua Fields Millburn, or Joshua Becker. All three have more personality and less of a "stuff is pure evil" vibe.

[Rick · Rating 1 out of 5]

Very little new content. Obvious advice.

[Lauren · Rating 1 out of 5]

Didn't teach me anything new. Badly edited, probably not even proofread. Repetitive.

[Guy · Rating 2 out of 5]

The tools and ideas in this small booklet are minimalist, at most. I was hoping to get some ideas on creating less clutter but this made me feel like it was about getting rid of everything, live in your car, and wash your clothes when they can no longer pass the sniff test. OK, that WOULD work, but really?

[Eddie · Rating 3 out of 5]

전반적으로 좋은 내용인 것 같다.!!!
좀더 폭 넓은 내용인 줄 알았는데,돈을 아끼는 부분이 많이 나온다.

마지막 챕터 간단히 요약한다.

# Chapter 9- 절약생활을 위한 도구들.

## The short List:

1. essential 을 정하고 rest는 버려라.
2. What you love 에 집중하라( what you don’t have는 신경쓰지마라)
3. Already have enough 임을 인식하고 더이상 원하지 마라
4. 작거나 크거나 지출 감소계획을 시작하라
5. Debt-elimination 전략을 시작하라.

## 내용:

안쓰는 물건이 지인중에 있으면 얻어써라.(그사람들은 필요없다) 또는 freecycle.org. craigslist.rog를 이용해라.

쇼핑몰근처에 가지도 말아라. 어설픈 생각(vague idea)으로 쇼핑을 하게됨. 결국 많은 돈 지출하게 됨.

여가비로 보통 1년에 1800불(200만원)을 쓴다. 외식비는 미 포함한 수치임. 저렴한 여가생활을 즐겨라. 예로 해변가서 팝콘먹으면서 영화를 보거나..

돈 안드는 운동을 해라. Pushup, squat, burped

건강해라. 진료비 아끼는 길이다.

차가 있더라도 자전거로 통근해라 기름 아끼는 길이다.

걸어라…

Sell your clutter 필요없는 물건 ebay에다가 팔아라. 필요한 사람들 많다.

물건을 사서 선물하지 말아라 (예.쿠키만들어서 선물)

소다대신에 많은 물을 마셔라.

신용카드는 악마다. 없애라

코스코카드 없애라. 아마존구독 취소하라 ( 진정으로 필요한가?)

DIY 해서 만들어라.

패스트푸드, 일회용식품 중단하라.

여행은 미리 예약해서 비용을 크게 아껴라.

머리는 직접 잘라라.

옷은 50% 할인하는 조건이면 사라

재택근무를 즐겨라.(Telecommute saves money on gas, on eating out)

Cook Ahead- 한꺼번에 요리를 해두어라. 많은 양은 비용을 줄이고, 한번의 요리는 시간을 줄인다.

빨래회수를 가능한 줄여라.

빨래건조기를 쓰지 말고 hanger 를 써라.(전기세 아낌 – 의견: 근데 시간 낭비?)

고기가 없는 음식을 시도해봐라.(파스타, Vegetarian Indian, Thai dishes, falafels with hummus , pitas tomatoes lettuce…)

[Ana · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a good book, but it lost part of its appeal to me because I already knew part of the content by reading the author's blogs ZenHabits e mnmlist (I reccommend both). I also didn't like the repeated references to another book by the same author that appear throughout the text, because I think there are too many of them. In any case, it's a good read, with a great deal of good advice, even if part of it is just common sense.

[Fátima Teixeira · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a brief and an introduction to his other book The Power of Less. This justifies the fact of being free and so short.
Despite not bringing anything new to me, the book is very well summarized. The topics are objective and he keeps the focus and organization of reading!
What I didn't like was the constant reference (not 3 or 4 times, but much more than that) to his book The Power of Less that I mentioned above. It was unnecessary to repeat it so many times in so few pages!

[Danielius Goriunovas · Rating 1 out of 5]

Trumpai tariant: Nemokama pilnos knygos reklama. Gerai, kad dabar Leo tokių š neberašo :))