A simple Google image search for Black Friday gave me this
I use to love this time of year.
But over the past 5 years or so, the warm, joyous feelings of celebrating this season with family and friends, has slowly been invaded by consumerism, chaos, and comparison.
We need to be reminded that there was a time when Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and now pre-Black Friday (a.k.a. Thanksgiving Sales) didn’t exist. But the Black Friday craziness that exists today didn’t happen overnight, it took time. The weekend after Thanksgiving has traditionally been a long holiday weekend that was supposed to be a break for all (those working, going to school, etc…). Businesses and corporations (let’s call them The Execs) saw this as an excellent time to promote shopping. “Get all your presents now before Christmas.” The Execs knew though, that it would take a little bit of encouragement, some sort of bait to lure people to their stores, to give up time with family and friends.
Though post-Thanksgiving was already a profitable weekend, the Execs wanted more. They knew that all they had to do was to brand it, give it a name, make it an actual event. They called it Black Friday. They offered bigger discounts. They created a limited, too-good-to-be-true feast that people couldn’t resist.
We ate it up.
According to estimates, the Black Friday Weekend sales phenomenon will bring in an estimated $36 billion dollars this year alone. $36. Billion.
And the main message? “Save money.”
I confess. I used to be a supporter of the Black Friday movement. I’ve waited in line for sales and deals. There was a time I actually believed that when I bought something on sale, I was saving money. It all changed when a friend challenged me with the following statement:
“Spending money, no matter how much money you are saving from a sale, is still spending money.”
More often than not, a sale makes us buy something we wouldn’t have bought otherwise. To truly save money, we have to refrain from spending on things we don’t really need.
Ironically, the most shocking and scary thing about Black Friday isn’t the obsessive and obscene amounts of money we are spending on stuff, but the damage and cost this sales event has on relationships.
We are creating and supporting a culture that says consumerism is more important than family and friends.
First, it started with the controversy of a few major stores opening on Thanksgiving day late at night, to ease anyone’s concerns. Each year, however, stores open earlier and earlier on Thanksgiving. This year, it’s big news as to which stores will be open and those that refuse to open on Thanksgiving. With issues like Ferguson, ebola, wars, etc… going on in our world, I’m still amazed how pervasive the Black Friday weekend is in the media.
One thing I would love to ask the Execs and supporters of Black Friday: Does this make our lives and our world better? But maybe the question more important is: What are we doing to make the world better?
Is saving money by spending money on sales really saving money? And more importantly, what is the true cost of excessive consumerism?
Regardless of how you choose to spend your time (or money) this weekend, we hope that you and your loved ones find time together and ways to reflect how much you value and cherish these special relationships.
Happy Thanksgiving.
-J
Ps. This is an awesome video about all of that so-called important, must-have stuff.
Recently the hardest question to answer these days is: “What do you do for work?”
When people ask us this question I think they are trying to understand two fundamental things:
1. How are you supporting yourself financially to do the things you love (ie. travel) and
2. What exactly do you do?
Explaining to people where we currently live seems simpler to answer (in case you are wondering: it’s with family in Oregon when we are not house-sitting or traveling). Still complicated, but simpler.
Train station in France
Living this unconventional,”digital nomad” lifestyle is difficult to explain. It’s based on core values and principles of wanting to live a life that is simple, intentional, relationship-based, and flexible (regarding time). Whenever we are faced with any decisions about what we want to do with our lives, we use these principles to guide us.
Whereas someone with a more conventional life could say, “I live in __” and “I do ___ for a living” and that might not change for awhile, our lives are lived in a much faster, more fluid pace (which has it’s benefits and challenges). I just spoke to a good friend recently (whom we served with in the Peace Corps) and she told me, “Jedd, I couldn’t do what you guys are doing. I need to be in one place for awhile.” I get it.
Currently our unconventional lifestyle is a better fit for us in regards to where we are and what we want in life. Somedays we do think about having a more “settled” life. But for now, the benefits of travel, discovery, and experience outweigh security and predictability. However, we also realize that earning an income is a necessary part of life. Thanks to technology, the sharing economy, the support of family and friends, we are able to do a couple of things that help support us financially. How do we do it?
It can be broken down into two simple concepts: Expenses and Income.
Ideally you want fewer expenses and more income, and not the other way around (a concept I learned late in life, thanks to Michelle and maturity).
Expenses
We were hanging out with some friends recently (a couple) where one of them said, “I saved a lot of money from this 50% off sale.” Their significant other looked at them and said, “That’s not saving. That’s spending.”
I laughed at this conversation because I would have been the one thinking that I had saved a lot of money. Michelle has the other perspective where money spent is not money saved.
The truth is that life does have a cost, whether we like it or not. There will always be expenses. But one of the best practices I have learned is how to lower and cut out unnecessary expenses. This is important because the more expenses you have, the more income you need to make. When expenses start piling up, it creates a lot of stress and pressure. More importantly, it takes away flexibility and freedom. You may not be able to leave a job that you don’t like. You might not be able to travel as often as you’d like. And what I found was that I was spending more time at work than I was with Michelle.
Here are some of the ways (and I’m sure there are more things we can do) that have lowered or cut out our expenses:
ACTION
LEARNED
PROS
CONS
Sold Our Car
Use public transportation, borrow, rent
No gas, insurance payments, repairs, etc.
Not having one when you really need it?
Housesitting
Living from a suitcase, simplicity
No lease, housing payments, utility bills. Ability to travel and live in different places (rent free)
Constantly on the road, nothing to call your own, always looking for the next opportunity.
Travel Hacking
Using miles instead of cash to travel.
Affordable travel.
Takes work to keep track of. Must be responsible with credit cards.
Help Exchange
Finding mutually beneficial arrangements.
Work for room and board. Additional benefits of networking, spending time with friends, knowledge and experience in different trades or skills, exploring new places for cheap.
Experience depends on your host and if it’s a good fit for both parties.
Family Phone Plans
Cheaper than individual plans.
Must remember to write a check to the person in charge of the bill.
Living Simply
Life without excess stuff.
No furniture to purchase or upkeep, less to manage when moving from place to place, easy to find things because there’s less to look through, etc.
Affordable Shopping
Shopping at thrift stores
Huge savings on things like clothes.
Takes more effort and time to find the things you want or need.
Dining Out Less
Cook on our own.
Huge savings on food. Much more fun and rewarding.
Takes effort, planning, and time to cook.
Remember, it would be nice to eliminate all expenses, but we also know that it’s difficult. It’s also important to note that lowering or cutting out expenses does not mean cutting out value or quality. Eliminating unnecessary costs and expenses should be liberating and not a hinderance. It’s also important for everyone to find the right balance for their own lives. Owning a home or a car isn’t a bad thing. Please let us know if you have additional suggestions on how we can lower or cut more of our expenses.
Visiting friends in Boston. #jumpingjedd
Income
Before we left the Peace Corps, Michelle and I did some forecasting regarding our first year back. What did we want to do in that first year? Did we want to travel? Where? How long? Then came the big question, how much would it cost? Additionally, when we weren’t traveling, how much would things cost regarding our monthly expenses? Food? Student loan payments? Phone and internet? We came up with some rough estimates and determined what we would need to make in that year between the two of us to live the lives we wanted. If we didn’t earn enough income, we’d have to tap into savings. Anything extra (the dream) would go into savings and retirement. This is how we determine whether or not the life we want to live is sustainable or not. We are trying it out until the system fails. If we feel that we are not earning enough income to meet our expenses with our unconventional living, then we’ll start to consider more conventional means.
It’s important to note that because we are already trying to live simply with minimal expenses, our income goal is a lot lower than most people. It’s what we think is doable and comfortable for us. This is not the same for everyone. As of right now, here is how we earn income:
J&M Consulting Michelle and I started a business as soon as we got back from the Peace Corps. We serve small businesses by providing a wide range of online services that include but are not limited to: social media management, contracting online services, website development, brand and identity development, customer service/client management services, and website management. The key aspect of all of these services is that we can do them from anywhere in the world that has acceptable internet. Currently we have 6 clients from the west coast to the east coast. As a startup, we are still focusing our services and which clients we can serve best, but it’s been going well so far. This is our business website: J&M Consulting
Odd Jobs Every now and then people ask us to help them with some sort of project- farming, yard work, housesitting, computer trouble-shooting, etc.. Most of the time we do these things without any expectation of payment but sometimes people do give us something in exchange.
Just like the expenses section, we of course would be more than happy for any suggestions regarding ways we can increase our income (without compromising our values and principles).
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Hope this gives you a better sense of what it is that we are doing for the time being and how we try to live the life that we want. As always, we’d love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave any thoughts, comments, or suggestions below.
What makes it special? The chocolate? The cheese? Both great but it’s Switzerland’s natural beauty.
Switzerland is breathtakingly stunning. Unbelievably beautiful (and we only saw part of it).
I made the comment this past week to Michelle and her parents that the whole country should be preserved and considered as a world treasure. No joke. That beautiful. We only visited a couple of major towns and cities and those were ok. The true magic of Switzerland are the pristine rolling green hills, the massive mountains, and the glacier fed lakes. If you hate natural beauty and don’t like the outdoors then this may not be the country you want to visit when traveling to Europe.
But for everyone else, take a train ride through the mountains. Walk through the countless, endless vineyards. Hang out by one of the lakes. Stare at the many snow-capped peaks. Feel like you could almost touch the stars.
You will understand.
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(click on any of the pics below for a larger view)
Nendaz, Switzerland. The view from the balcony or where we were staying.We were high up, but only half-way up the mountain. You can see the valley below in the background.We took a lift up to a popular hiking area. Tons of trails in the summer for bikers and hikers.A typical Swiss chalet on the side of a mountain looking at the valley below.
The vineyard hike in Martigny. A beautiful 4-mile hike through what seemed like endless vineyards.I wish that was me, zip lining across the Martigny valley. It went over the valley/city.The city of Sion, from a 10 century Church on the top of a hill overlooking the valley.The interesting city of Bern. The river is far below from the city.Spiez, overlooking Thon lake. This whole area is crazy beautiful. Wish we had spent more time here on the lakes and in the surrounding mountains.The world famous Matterhorn mountain from the town of Zermatt.
Last week, Michelle and I got to spend a week in Paris with her family. We visited a lot of great historical sites, museums, and places I think the film “Amelie” was filmed at. There are so many reasons why Paris has become one of my favorite cities in the world. Here are a few:
Amazing metro system: buses, trains, and subway systems that are efficient and everywhere.
Incredible diversity: Though not all areas of Paris are diverse, it seemed as if it was truly, an international community.
Beautiful historical buildings, museums, art: The details in the city are incredible. Everywhere you look you can’t help but wonder how they built/designed everything.
Awesome parks: We judge a city based on it’s public parks. Paris has some great ones.
Great food: A lot of things taste better in Paris. I think it did.
We had an incredible time in France. Though the issue with our bags was stressful, it didn’t stop us from having an overall, great experience (we ended up getting them on Day 9). Here are some of our posts from our time in France:
Finally, here are some of my favorite pics from our second week in Paris.
Arc de Triomphe – probably my favorite monument. The details were incredible.Centre Pomp Idou – this square contrasts a century old Church with items from the Museum of Contemporary art. To me this is the perfect embodiment of Paris. The old and the modern coexisting together.One of a couple HUGE department stores with these incredible and ridiculous decorations. It’s a little too much for me, but you can’t help admire the amount of time and energy spent on the details.This is a restaurant at another department stores. Notice the different levels of detail. Crazy. Awesome.A street market underneath one of the metro stations. This was an amazing international scene.I wish I could have taken pictures inside the Sacré-Cœur. You’ll just have to go to Paris and see it for yourself. It’s beyond impressive.A view from a scene in Amelie where her love interest has to look down from this park.A beautiful park in Montmartre – a famous neighborhood in north Paris, known as a place where many famous artists used to live.MontmartreMother Nature – the original street artist. Just a silhouette of a street light on a home that reminded me of a Banksy work of art.Another great example of contemporary vs historical. Street art in Montmartre.Crepes are better in France and you can only get butter and sugar crepes in France. Michelle is very happy that she got her beloved crepe.Another talented street artist.That national opera house. Again, another building with incredible details.
Every now and then, Michelle and I want to share with you some “Things We Love.”
As minimalists, lovers of unconventional living, and very intentional about most things, we also believe in sharing information that has had a big impact on our lives. There’s often a misconception that minimalistic and simplistic living means cheap, or owning nothing, which is not the case. For us, it means being very intentional about the things we purchase, own, or use. Something that benefits/supports your life that is free is an added benefit. We see these “things” or services as tools to live the life that we want. Often when we buy or use “Things We Love” they follow these principles:
Does it Meet a Need or Fulfill a Want? This is a question we ask before making any purchase or adding anything to our lives. It’s probably best that things meet your needs vs. your wants. However, if it does both, then it’s even better.
Functionality The more multifunctional/versatile, the better. For example, a backpack that can hold my laptop and comes with it’s own rain-fly for unpredictable wet weather is extremely multifunctional and versatile.
Value Regardless of cost, does the item or service give you what you wanted and more? I often use this reasoning with Michelle who sometimes focuses mainly on cost. For example, I’m willing to invest in a nice computer (Apple) that may cost more up front, but will last longer than computers from other brands (that also have that other operating system).
Affordability It’s always a good practice to buy something you can actually afford. Avoid using credit or loans as much as possible.
Ease of Use/Excellent Design
We love simple, straightforward, intuitive design. Things should just work the way you think they should. For example, if you buy a can opener that doesn’t open cans – we should be able to agree that it’s poorly designed.
So every now and then, we will feature a product or a service that has helped us to live simply and intentionally. We hope that this information will help your lives and we ask that you help us:
If you end up using something we shared, let us know how you like or don’t like it.
Share these posts with others if you like it (on FB, Email, Twitter, etc…)
Share with us “Things You Love.”
Thanks,
J&M
Our First “Thing We Love”: WUNDERLIST
What Is It?
Wunderlist is an amazing application that helps you make “To Do Lists.” It’s a task manager and a great one at that. You make lists and add “to do” items to those lists. You check these items off as you go. It’s that simple.
Main Features
First of all, we love it for all the principles we mentioned above but here are some of the main features:
Works on a computer desktop and with a smartphone. It syncs any changes you make.
Works with a wide range of operating systems/across platforms. For example, if you have a Mac computer but and Android phone, it will still sync between both.
Extremely easy to use and setup
Lists can be organized by priorities. You can move one list higher than another.
You can set deadlines and reminders for items within a list.
You can view all items from any lists based on when you set a due date for them.
Anytime an item is added, modified, or completed, you receive a notification (with an option to turn off notifications)
You can use the “inbox” feature to create tasks that aren’t connected to a list. Just simple reminders.
It Gets Better
Here’s what makes Wunderlist even more AMAZING to us:
You can share lists with someone else as long as they have a Wunderlist account.
(ie. Michelle and I share a grocery list. She adds brussel sprouts to the list, it shows up on my phone, computer, etc…)
You can share one (or more) list(s) with multiple people.
(ie. We can add anyone else to the grocery list if we wanted.)
You can assign a person to each item within a list.
(ie. If brussel spouts is in our grocery list, I can assign Michelle to pick them up, or she can assign me to pick them up.)
You can create notes and sub-lists for each item as well, in case you need to add more details to the task.
You can view all tasks assigned to you as one list.
Best of All
It’s FREE!!! There is a pro version for large businesses and organizations (which is worth the affordable pricing), but most of the best and most important features are free. Especially for individuals, families, and small businesses.
How to Make the Most of It?
Check Wunderlist first thing in the morning and a couple of times throughout the day.
Set reminders and due dates for tasks with time constraints.
Create daily tasks or notes using the inbox when on-the-go. Sort as needed later when you have time.
Use different lists for different aspects of your life, ie. grocery, financial reminders, work related, birthdays, etc…
Share certain lists with others for collaboration and project management.
Land of wine, cheese plates, cafès, beautiful parks, the iconic Eiffel tower, museums, history, art, lovers, magic…and now, lost luggage.
It started off as a typical travel hiccup. We wait at the baggage claim for an hour. No bags. Bummed but not too concerned, we make a claim, give our address to Air France’s bag service and start our adventure.
Day 1 – 3: Paris
What can I say about Paris? Aside from the crazy traffic and impossible intersections, I love it. Old, beautiful history everywhere you look- full of details. In the center of the city, building after building could easily be the most iconic building in a city in America. Here, it’s just another building. Michelle’s Uncle gave me the condensed history of France in our ride from the airport to their flat in Paris. Will need many years of studying to fully grasp everything he shared. Her Uncle (Michelle’s father’s brother), is originally from the States and has been living in France for over 40+ years after moving here after college. He met a wonderful Parisian woman and raised their family in Paris. They’ve been incredible hosts and introduced me to the ever-important cheese plate course. I asked, “Are baguettes and cheese each day a typical thing in France?” Answer: “Yes!” Me: “Awesome!” Continue reading “Our First 7 Days in France: A Tale of Two Bags”→
Today Michelle and I head out on a month and a half long adventure across the Atlantic to a place I’m told is called Europe. It’s the first time for me, and the first time we are traveling to that continent together. Our destination(s): France and Switzerland where we will be tourists, Help X volunteers (more to come about this), and visiting the Alps with family. The best part? We are doing this through miles that we’ve earned through Alaska Airlines (more to come about this as well).
We’ll be blogging about the whole experience (naturally) here and at Intentional Travelers, sharing pics, and hopefully capturing footage of Michelle’s ability to speak French, and my sad attempt to try.
When we first arrive to Jamaica for Peace Corps and a recent photo from a friend’s wedding.
“You look good.”
“Wow. You’ve lost a lot of weight.”
“You look stronger.”
“You lost some weight around here.” (a friend says as she points to the sides of my stomach)
These are the comments I’ve been getting from people who haven’t seen me for two years while we were in the Peace Corps. Apparently, I look different now since we’ve returned, which begs the question:
What did I look like before?
In all seriousness, the comments have been nice and flattering. I am probably in the best shape of my life, at least since my high school days. I actually probably weigh around the same as I did in high school as well. But the most important thing is how I feel today.
Though we’ve actually been in business for several months now (some of you may or may not have known that) and have several clients, we wanted to officially introduce our new company:
special thank you to Becca at RSJ Creative for our awesome identity
A Conventional Solution for Unconventional Living
A lot of people have asked us how we afford to live unconventionally. “You have to make some sort of income, right?” Yes. One of the things we discussed prior to returning from Peace Corps was the idea of starting our own company, one where our services could be done from a computer connected to the internet, to allow us the most flexibility and mobility.
What Kind of Company?
Consulting was the best word we could think of that could hold all the ideas we had of services we could provide. It allows us to do a wide variety of things, which is what we wanted. We don’t want to be known for one specific thing. We want people to hire us because of who we are, our skills and experiences, our values and passions. We are branding and marketing ourselves. We both believe that this is not a long-term career company, but a conventional way (having a job, so to speak) for the time being to live unconventionally. Since we also know that being very vague is not the best way to market ourselves, we narrowed it down to:
Project Management
Brand & Identity Development
Website Development
Marketing Strategy
Event Coordination
Michelle and I love being in charge of projects. We love to coordinate and implement programs. Projects can range from helping a small business owner get their business online to helping coordinate events and conventions. If there’s something we can’t do ourselves, we have a big network of talented folks who we can contract.
Social Media & Website Management Because of our experience in blogging and managing websites, we were contacted by a few people to help them with their social media accounts and manage their online presence (websites). We do everything from creating original content, uploading blog posts, engaging with an organization’s audience on facebook, etc.. We also have a lot of experience teaching people the basics of how to use online tools for themselves.
This is mutually beneficial for us and clients as we can do this kind of work anywhere we have internet.
There are tons of things we can also do that we didn’t list which is the beauty of why we started our own consulting company. The most important thing we want to get across, though, is that we want people to see that, as individuals and as a team, we can provide a lot. We have a range of professional and personal skills, and now, the time and flexibility to work on a wide range of projects.
We’d love if you would help us and connect us to people who might need our help. You might have a conversation with a family member, friend, or co-worker and be like, “I know a couple that could help you out.”
We still have available housesitting dates for late October to Thanksgiving for 2014 and beginning of 2015 from January to May. If you or someone you know needs housesitters, let us know. Here’s the link: https://jeddandmichelle.com/house-sitting/
Our Epic Road Trip of 2014 is over. For one month we traveled from Portland to Seattle; to Canada’s Vancouver B.C.; Kelowna B.C., Banff (in Alberta); back to the states to Glacier, Montana; Salt Lake City; Fort Collins; Boulder; Denver; Boise; and back to Portland. About 5,500 miles in all.
I confess. I used to be a supporter of the Black Friday movement. I’ve waited in line for sales and deals. There was a time I actually believed that when I bought something on sale, I was saving money. It all changed when a friend challenged me with the following statement:
Simply Intentional 