New year. New me. But actually, same old me, just trying to do better.
I’m gonna stop you right there, I know what you’re thinking… “Karissa it’s March… You kind of missed the boat on NYR posts”… But I counter that thought, in that January can be such a tumultuous time of year. You fight and struggle to get back into your regular routine and the swing of everything post-holiday time… and I fear that throwing a bunch of new things in the mix at this time… well maybe it won’t really stick.
I’ll admit I could be projecting my own experience of 2018 thus far. For me January/most of February was spent in chaos amidst packing and getting ready to move from Sydney to Byron. My life largely revolved around selling everything we possibly could on gumtree, spending time with friends we were about to leave behind (for now at least) and tying up all those loose ends. And then on the other end, unpacking and repacking to try and leave out only the things I assume we will need in the few months we are here before leaving to go travelling.
So now that thats over.. and I’m more settled and can feel like yes, the new year has actually arrived. And isn’t it all shiny and full of hope and potential? I’m ready to sit down and make some goals for the year.
In the process of doing so, I decided to share some ideas on setting really tangilble, action-based resolutions that would actually make a difference. Not only to your life, but do good for the rest of the world too. I’m sure I’m not alone in that when it comes to setting New Years resolutions, they can feel little vague (apologies if your a boss at setting realistic, time-oriented, action-based goals already).
“Challenge myself more”… “Meditate more”… I really struggle to make things seem achievable, like I have some means of measuring my progress in this area versus 2019 rolling around and me setting a similar set of vague and broad ideas around how I want to improve myself.
So for simplicity sake, I’m going to give you 3 things you can do, with actually VERY LITTLE effort, but can have a fairly profound positive impact.
1. BUY A KEEP CUP.
Seriously, take away coffee cups are such unnecessary waste.
And much to most of our surprise, no they CANNOT be recycled (for more info watch War on Waste… mind blown).
For such a small investment, you can purchase a keep cup and reduce your waste significantly. For me personally, I either always have my keep cup OR I do this really novel thing… I drink my coffee in the cafe (ground-breaking).
Of course there will be some outstanding situations, but making this conscious choice (with very little effort and energy) you are on your way to reducing waste and helping the environment.
Here are some of my favourites that do the job, and are also damn pretty to look at
Keep Cup ‘Brew’ series | Pottery For The Planet | These delights from Nikau
| These less pretty, but incredible practical babies from Frank Green
2. DONATE MONEY EFFECTIVELY.
Most of us have a charitable side. We all want to help others and do good. But it may or may not come as a surprise that not all charities are created equal. And in fact a lot of charities do more damage than good when it comes to helping communities. Enter a concept called Effective Altruism. It’s all about doing the most good we can do, with the resources we have. Combining reason and evidence (oh yes, I’m really showing my nerdy side now).
For the last couple of years my husband and I have both donated 10% of everything we earn to effective charities. I can tell you from personal experience, 10% is nothing in the larger scheme of things. My husband started doing this as a uni student whilst living off Centrelink. Whatever difference that 10% might make to my own life is unnoticeable in comparison to the powerful impact it will make to others lives.
It feels SO incredible to know that each day when we are working and earning money that contributes to our own future and goals, we are also helping to better the lives of those who have far less opportunities than we do. Every few months we have enough money set aside to either:
1. Save a child’s life in the developing world
2. Cure 80 people of blindness
3. Build 2 schools for girls in developing countries
Now I don’t know your personal financial situation, and maybe 10% isn’t an option right now. But is 5%? 1% even? Whatever it looks like for you, I challenge you to try it.
If you dare to ask the question “How Rich Am I?” you can use this calculator here. But to give you one example if your annual income is $30,000 after tax, even after donating 10% of everything you earn, you would still be in the richest 10% of the world’s population.
You can also use this Charity Impact Calculator to see just exactly how much good your donation can do for others.
Doing good for others for very little effort on your part?
Simples.
3. GET A LITTLE FINANCIALLY SAVVY.
Read The Barefoot Investor.
This is by no means sponsored in anyway, have just found this book has personally changed my life. My husband and I always found ourselves with a constant low lying anxiety around money.
What’s coming in, where is it going? Are we wasting money and if so… how much?
I am now so grateful to be more clued in and have a set, easy plan to follow as we move forward and things inevitably get more complicated.
It’s Australian based – so all the information is directly relatable and above anything it’s not boring! Scott, the author and financial wizard, gives such a simple guide and principles to follow that has really changed the way we view, save and spend our money. Tom had even done a personal finance course as an elective in his university studies, but found this book far more helpful. We have since bought a copy for every single member of our family.
Just seriously read it. It’s a game changer.
Cause let’s face it… we’ve all been this girl when it comes to thinking about/managing/looking at finances/money.
NB as an additional incentive, every chapter is centred on a date night (by yourself or with your loved one) where you are encouraged to guilt-free treat yo’ self in exchange for what you’ve accomplished in saving money overall and giving yourself financial freedom.
Would love to hear your thoughts on all these, hope you find it helpful… Let’s work together to change the world!
K x
(ps again, collages are credited by me with imagery found on the inter-web aka Pinterest. I do not take credit for the imagery, art or graphics, only the compositions created… If you know the owners of any imagery/art, please tell me so I can credit them)