money

I live and work in a seventy square-foot (seven square meter), ten-foot (three meter) tall, round cob house with a loft for sleeping.  Bathroom facilities are in a separate green house. When people ask how I can live in something so small, I like to tell them that my house is actually 40 acres (0.16 square kilometers), it just happens that only parts of it are enclosed.

Do you have things you don't use but can't bring yourself to get rid of?  Perhaps you have read Downsizing Your Life and/or Downsizing 2 but find that you still have too much "stuff".  I have found the perfect storage facility!  It's available throughout the USA and in many other countries of the world.  They will store things for you like kitchen appliances, gadgets, plates, silverware, garden tools, clothing that no longer fits you, and many other items that you rarely or never use.  The best part? There are no monthly storage fees, items stored there often come back in better condition than when you left them, and clothing that didn't fit when put into storage always fits when you take it out!

There are lots of books available which will tell you the details of all sorts of schemes for becoming wealthy: real-estate, stock market, precious metals, etc..  Unfortunately, the single most important detail is usually left out.  Except for people who get rich by the windfall method (lottery, marriage, inheritance, etc.), there is one absolute requirement to becoming wealthy; in fact, it is not just difficult - it is IMPOSSIBLE to become wealthy if you do not follow this one simple rule:

If you are reading this, you are already extremely wealthy!  You may not be rich by your definition or even by the definition of the society you live in, but by the standards of a large percentage of the world's population, you are in fact, rich!  You can read, you have access to a computer and the internet - this makes you much better off than many people in the world.

What is the longest you have ever gone without eating?  Has it ever been even 48 hours?  Many people have gone without food for a week or more, or had regular but insufficient food for months or even years.  By these standards you (and in some countries, even the homeless) are in fact very wealthy, so what are you going to do with all your wealth?

In a typical day I use roughly five gallons (20 liters) of water and 1.5 Kilowatt hours of electricity.  The water usage includes drinking, cooking, and a daily shower, everything except for laundry, which is currently done elsewhere and averages one medium-sized load per week.  The power consumption is both for business and personal use, and includes: an internet server, which is always on (most likely, the same computer you connected to in order to read this article), part-time use of other computers, a microwave oven, small refrigerator, television and (until recently) a satellite TV receiver.  I also generate about ten gallons of non-recyclable garbage every three to six months (business and personal combined),