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Our eldest daughter just recently moved out to begin her adventures as a young adult. My wife and I are suddenly discovering how quiet a house can be, and how much free time seems comes with “empty nesting”.
Given my fidgety nature, I’ve started looking for all the little jobs that have escaped my attention for a while, but can now be attended to. One of the most mundane was replacing the screen protector on my cheap Android phone. The old protector had a crack through it for several weeks, quietly irritating me without actually being notable enough to act on.
So for the princely sum of $6, I replaced the hard thin strip of plastic. Suddenly my phone is pleasant to look at, and far less irritating to use. All for $6 and five minutes of my time.
I think I’m getting better at identifying the very small items that are almost zero cost, but make my life a little more pleasant.
Hygenic wipes in the car. A few cents per sheet, a minute to wipe over the steering wheel and gear shift, suddenly I enjoy driving more.
A pen nearing “end of life”. How much time have I wasted trying squeeze the last drops of ink, all the while making my life a little bit worse? Proud to say that at the first sign of fatigue, pens are now retired to the trash.
I figure that if I can find a few more of these, our bank balance will be negligibly changed but my life will be measurably better. My search continues….
new socks, I love the feel of a new sock…not changing new socks every week….but maybe more often than my current default of, no hole, keep going…love the article
Thats interesting Roy. My son has always said that if money were no object for him he would wear a new pair of socks every day.
Roy, thanks for the feedback, I really appreciate it.
I agree – fresh soft socks feel like a real luxury.
This also reminded me of an Australian personal finance guy recommending buying the best pillow you can buy, and the most comfortable underwear you can find. Both these strike me as excellent examples of small, valuable spending.
Greg, an interesting article and it made me think about what little luxuries I encounter whether big or small. I like your thinking on that side of the world where you are. Maybe life is greener in Australia?
Unfortunately, as with many of the articles I read on HD along with the comments, it brings out snide jabs and the main topic gets hijacked. Who would have thought Jeff Bezos name would become a part of this topic?
We live in a little rural town of about 1500 people, and I work in an agricultural supply business. I’m certainly living a quieter, simpler life than most Australians, thus my fascination with small mundane t