Simplify, Simplify

"Our life is frittered away by detail. Simplify, simplify."
-- Henry David Thoreau

I haven't left on my adventure yet. I'm busy lightening my load before lifting my anchor. Simplifying life will certainly make leaving easier, but it's a good thing to do anyway. For instance ...

Stop The Junk Mail

Examine each piece of mail you get and see if there's a way to stop getting it. There usually is. Visit DMAChoice to opt out of those annoying credit card offers, get off catalog mailing lists and stop other spammers from spamming you with their spammy spam. Why? Because if you pay for a mail forwarding solution while you're gone, every piece of mail you receive will cost you. Besides, it's better for the environment. It takes 20 trees to make one IKEA catalog. It's true! OK, maybe not, but IKEA catalogs are freakin' huge.

If any catalogs make it past my first line of defense, I call the 800 number immediately and ask them nicely to take my address off their list. And they do it! You can also sign up to get things like bills, statements, and prospectuses delivered electronically. I hardly get any mail, these days. It's wonderful.

Automate Everything

Sign up for online bill pay with your bank. Or do even better with electronic fund transfer. That is, some companies will automatically pay themselves from your checking account if you give them permission. I know, it makes me very uncomfortable, but it's one less thing to forget, and I really don't want to forget to pay my health insurance premium, for instance, while I'm traipsing about overseas.

I also don't want to do the paperwork associated with my business, so I hired a CPA. He'll file the papers, cook my books, do my taxes and run interference with the IRS on my behalf. It'd be cheaper if I did it myself, but I'm fine with throwing money at this problem to make it go away. I found my CPA through the Washington Society of CPAs, a local CPA referral service. They were very helpful.

Getting Rid Of Stuff

Are you really going to reread those college text books? And what are you still doing with that ratty old sweatshirt? Value Village wants it. I'm ripping all my CDs onto a portable external hard drive. Then I'll get rid of my CDs. Gone! <sniff> OK, I'm over it. Old computer hardware will end up on Craigslist, along with unused bric-a-brac of all sorts. And think about this: If you empty your closets of old stuff, you can fill them with new stuff! But don't.

In my next post, I'll talk about some gadgets and services that will make it easy to work and travel while still staying connected. Stay tuned.