The New Good Life

Don’t Pay for Premium Gas Some people believe that premium gas gives you more miles per gallon than regular gas, but it’s not true. To increase the octane rating of gas, companies include additives that slightly increase your mileage. They also add ethanol, however, which has the opposite effect. Premium gas does contain extra detergents, but the g

It’s a game, really. The object of the game is to see how much you can lower your spending while raising your quality of life. I will

According to Barbara Kingsolver, “A survey of National Merit scholars1—exceptionally successful eighteen-year-olds crossing all lines of ethnicity, gender, geography, and class—turned up a common thread in their lives: the habit of sitting down to a family dinner table.”

More than forty years ago, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., described one of the foremost problems with the old good life. “We are prone,” he said, “to judge success by the index of our salaries or the size of our automobile rather than by the quality of our service and relationship to mankind.”

I have friends who, when they became pregnant, created a room for their baby-to-be. Wanting only the best for the new arrival, they installed new vinyl flooring and bought new furniture for the room. Unfortunately, they made an all-too-common mistake. They didn’t know that new furniture made with particleboard and MDF is high in formaldehyde,

Hence the wisdom of not carrying a mortgage beyond two years’ income, even if banks or other lenders will provide it to you. Mortgages have become such an accepted part of our economic lives that most of us consider ourselves fortunate if we are able to qualify for one. If we do qualify, and if we are able to make the necessary down payment, we the

When we say someone is a “success,” what do we mean? Do we mean that she or he is an emotionally balanced, loving human being? Do we mean that this person is creative and artistic and adds beauty to the world?

It’s about the joy of living with a purpose larger than consumption. It’s about living less from image and more from the creative spark of your own spirit. It’s about expanding the love and laughter in your home rather than increasing the square footage of your home.

However much money you have or don’t have, your relationship to the money in your life can be transformational. It can be a doorway into greater consciousness, into greater integrity, and into greater freedom.