[Virtus]

Filling up gas tank in the evening so that when and if I need to rush in the morning I don't need that.

Better lying technique. Learning enough about a problem or a situation so that if I need to buy time I have a general idea as to what should have already happened. This way I don't end up telling someone that I've been at something for half an hour and will deliver something in half an hour if I really haven't yet started and the whole process should have taken me half an hour to do anyhow.

Also once every so often I include a false piece of data in a request to my contacts/coworkers, which I know would preclude them from doing their task unless they come back to me for a correction. Since I know that they should have discovered this 5 minutes into the task and they come back to me in half an hour I know for sure that they have set on their hands for most of that time

[Macklin]

Writing a daily journal entry.

I've been relatively consistent for the past year and I've noticed many positive effects. Writing down my thoughts or emotions from the day had lead to more self-awareness. I've also recently been reading through my entries from 2015 and it's fascinating to see both the similarities and major changes in my thoughts from only a few months ago. Also, I enjoy reading about events from my day to day life that I may have forgotten.

[philosophical_recovery]

The habit that has consistently made my life better is waking up at 5am, focusing on a single goal, and burning through those hours before work. On the weekends, I need to also touch my goal in some way. I think I'll try to also wake up at 5am this weekend to see if it improves my sleep schedule the way it should.

[Rush87]

To perceive my own reality. It wasn't until a few years ago that I began to realise the power of this tool. Essentially you create an unshakable belief that you are who you believe yourself to be [Ladies man, entrepreneur, actor, athlete, business man, whatever your passion may be] and you live your life accordingly… What's more is that due to the laws of attraction opportunities arise organically. The more rock solid your belief, the more you exude said characteristics, the more opportunities you receive.

[Beyond Borders]

I appreciate your contributions, guys, but I feel like some of you are reading the thread title and then skipping the initial post, which outlines the details we're looking for here.

"To perceive my own reality" is not a habit. Nor is "create an unshakable belief that you are who you believe yourself to be."

What actual habit are you implementing to do this? What results have they brought you in life?

Some guys are posting "go to the gym" when the OP specifically stated that as an example of what not to do here.

Other people are listing trivial habits that don't sound life-changing in the slightest, which also ignores the point of this thread. I mean, backing into your driveway so you don't have to turn around in the morning? No offense, G - I used to do that too, but saving a couple minutes of time is not significantly altering anyone's reality.

I understand my posts can be a bit long-winded, but it's generally a bad idea to reflexively respond to a thread starter without at least reading the whole first post. I don't expect all new posters to catch this, but if you do, I'd appreciate a little more acknowledgment of what I was really trying to achieve with this exercise.

As the first string of posts (and some of the other gems) might suggest, there is potential for unusually exceptional value here. Let's try not to dilute it.

[arafat scarf]

Getting this thread back on track...

Major Habit - Established - Daily Progress Monitoring with Don't Break the Chain


Two years ago I resolved to make a career change to become a web developer so that I could become location independent. I started off studying here and there, about once or twice a week, and after watching a tutorial of some guy effortlessly writing code, I noticed that I wasn't really taking to the material. The man in the tutorial was expressive, fluent and capable in a way that I simply wasn't.

At around this time in my life, I had recently become proficient and confident in my Spanish ability, and I was receiving what I perceived to be sincere compliments. While I still don't consider myself anything special, whatever progress I had made was brought about through repetition and practice over time. I was living in Bogota and still truly sucked for about a year, but after reading grammar books, watching soaps with the captions on, writing down words from newspaper articles and looking them up, things finally, more or less, came together.

However, programming is a different beast and I was trying to learn it solo so to keep a record of consistency I discovered a web application to mark a day on a calendar. The application is Don't Break the Chain, and I think that it may even have been originally recommended by Roosh.

The habit is this: If I study, write, or teach code for 1+ hour a day, I mark it on the calendar.

Some days are only 1 hour, other days are 10. Most days I pickup small tidbits of new knowledge, and some days I make major breakthroughs in understanding, but other days my powers of concentration are weak, and I feel like I can only do simple, trivial tasks. Either way, if I did anything for an hour or more I mark it on the calendar.

The results have been real, and since starting in April 2014, I've gone from zero to freelancer/part-time instructor, built a small reputation locally, and have received some job offers.

Learning programming/webdev is frustrating and challenging generally, but early on, an inordinate amount of self doubt about your intelligence and ability creeps in. It's easy and tempting to get discouraged, roll over, and give up.

But, when you observe 2-3 months of consistent 'marks' on the calendar, the evident fact of your momentum allows your analytic brain to ward off the emotional-hysterical. You feel justified in applauding yourself for consistency, and you become more inclined to dig in and keep going.

So while the programming problems have gotten harder, the rabbit hole deeper, and while I feel pangs of anxiety when communicating with local experts in the field who make me feel like a fraud, there's no giving up because the force of momentum from 'not breaking the chain' has largely taken on a life of its own. The habit is formed, and I still track my progress to this day.

I'm not infallible and I don't show up every day, but this tool has been immensely useful since the demoralizing early days up until now where I'm able to nod my head with gentle satisfaction when looking at the duration of effort and the arc of progress.

I can say with certainty that, in my case, using Don't Break the Chain to monitor myself has been a life-changing and powerful habit.

   

[Beyond Borders]

^ Excellent writeup, Arafat.

[cascadecombo]

(01-26-2016 10:50 PM)Beyond Borders Wrote:  

^ Can you explain the squat challenge in more detail?

Is it just 3 minutes of nonstop bodyweight squats?

I used the phrase exercise because it's not really that much of a challenge. The song is basically saying bring sally up / bring sally down over and over again. When she says up you go up and down you go down and stay down until you hear up again.

So yeah, nonstop bodyweight squats.

It does get a very light sweat going on me, but I am the type who sweats fairly easily. I also rather enjoy the song so it's a bit more motivation to get the blood flowing in the morning.

[Rush87]

(01-27-2016 01:01 AM)Beyond Borders Wrote:  

I appreciate your contributions, guys, but I feel like some of you are reading the thread title and then skipping the initial post, which outlines the details we're looking for here.

"To perceive my own reality" is not a habit. Nor is "create an unshakable belief that you are who you believe yourself to be."

Absolutely 100% false. It is the very definition of a habit. To exude and create your own belief system is in essence a daily ritual more so than simply brushing your teeth or putting away 10% of your wage.

It is something which requires mental reframing on a daily basis to completely overhaul previous habits which have at one point or another held you back…

Whilst a few habitual routines may create some small impact, they are hardly habits which have an overwhelming impact on anyones lives.

[redbeard]

(01-27-2016 02:47 AM)arafat scarf Wrote:  

Getting this thread back on track...

Major Habit - Established - Daily Progress Monitoring with Don't Break the Chain

Great post, brother.

I'd like to add, to people who are starting to use Don't Break the Chain, DON'T try to keep track of multiple chains at the same time. All of us live busy lives already, you don't need to complicate yourself accomplishing ten goals at once.

I used to use chains.cc (a similar program to DBtC). I was trying to track ALL of the habits I wanted to add at the same time. NoFap, spanish, reading, stretching, exercise, meditation, etc. The way I viewed it, I should try to do all of them, and keep track of what is catching on and what isn't. This is wrong! I was taking a passive approach to habits, hoping they would catch onto my life.

Instead, pick ONE habit and actively implement it EVERY DAY until it's naturally a part of your life. Focus on doing whatever is necessary to get that one habit built into your life, so that you don't even doubt yourself doing it. Where I'm at right now, NoFap, gym, healthy eating, reading before bed, etc. are all strongly entrenched into my lifestyle. The #1 I'm working on is adding Spanish practice into my life. Everything else can fuck off.

[Beyond Borders]

(01-27-2016 08:18 AM)Rush87 Wrote:  

(01-27-2016 01:01 AM)Beyond Borders Wrote:  

I appreciate your contributions, guys, but I feel like some of you are reading the thread title and then skipping the initial post, which outlines the details we're looking for here.

"To perceive my own reality" is not a habit. Nor is "create an unshakable belief that you are who you believe yourself to be."

Absolutely 100% false. It is the very definition of a habit. To exude and create your own belief system is in essence a daily ritual more so than simply brushing your teeth or putting away 10% of your wage.

It is something which requires mental reframing on a daily basis to completely overhaul previous habits which have at one point or another held you back…

Whilst a few habitual routines may create some small impact, they are hardly habits which have an overwhelming impact on anyones lives.

I think I see what you mean, and I actually agree with the basic premise, but I still think you're missing the point.

I have no doubt that mental reframing is a very habitual process and radically transforms your life. However, your post offers zero information to the membership here about how you did it or how you use it.

At least attempt to explain how you built the mindset instead of making some vague statement that the habit of believing yourself and perceiving your own reality changed your life. A habit is a process, a pathway. In my eyes, you're describing an end result. And even if you really mean it as a "tool," there are some huge how to gaps here.

I get what you mean if you're talking about constantly guiding your mind back on track, so perhaps we just need more explanation.

Anyhow, whether you like it or not, this is a thread about specific, practical habits to implement. And I'm afraid I disagree with you that habitual routines aren't life changing. I specifically asked people to avoid the trivial ones, and regarding your claim, there are a dearth of scientific studies and books that say you're wrong - "The Power of Habit" is a good one too start with.

And the mindset you're talking about is generally built through persistent ritual. Those changes are what we want to hear about - the steps. If you can't see the difference, I'm not sure what else to say. Your contribution is appreciated, as I said, but let's try to make this stuff actionable.

I think what you're talking about can be if you just put a bit more effort into your posts and elaborate. If you'd rather not, that's fine, but let's keep this positive and drop the discussion of semantics then so we can get back to the task at hand.

[Beyond Borders]

(01-23-2016 09:18 AM)wi30 Wrote:  

The second habit is physically writing out my to-do list the night before for the following day. I write everything down. It might look something like this on a typical weekday:

Monday:
-Wake up by 6 am
-Read
-Duolingo
-Go to gym at 7:30 am
-Pack lunch
-Work 9 am-5 pm
-Dishes
-Laundry
-Coach 7 pm
-Clip fingernails
-Walk dog

I include everything whether it's a personal chore, meeting, returning a call, already a daily habit, or anything else. It takes thirty seconds the night before and allows me to have an idea of what I have going on the next day. Physically crossing each item off the list makes me address each item. I'm not going to end my day if something is left on the list.

I also keep a weekly/monthly list in my phone of things that need to get done eventually. Those get added to my daily list when the time comes.

wi30, I've been writing out my list every night, but I find I keep moving stuff to the next day when it doesn't get done (and I don't feel like I'm overbooking my days or anything). That's clearly not ideal.

I noticed in your post, you said you won't end your day if something is left on the list. However, I finally got my sleep schedule back on track after being way out of whack. I've struggled with insomnia in the past (the partying didn't help), and if I don't manage my bedtime carefully, I will honestly be up until six or seven in the morning - basically, if I stay up past a certain hour, I hit my second wind and I'm screwed, sleep-wise.

I really don't want to get that off track again - straightening out my sleep patterns is one of my most crucial focuses at the moment. So just staying up until shit is done if I miss the mark is not an option for me right now.

Can you offer any suggestions? I've had the same issue with this habit in the past. Were incomplete lists a problem for you in the beginning when you were developing this habit?

[wi30]

If you find a task that gets shifted two or three days in a row, it either isn't a daily task or you're having a major procrastination issue. Looking back in my notebook (a small 5x3 college-ruled notebook), there have been tasks I continually moved to the next day and never got done. 9 times out of 10 they were tasks that should have been on weekly or monthly list, and not doing them had no impact on my day to day life.

For example, working out might be on your list most days. Doing your taxes wouldn't. If you put taxes on your list but know you have until April, it probably won't get done tomorrow. But if you have a Saturday where you have nothing planned, you might decide to use that empty day to bust out all your taxes and get it over with.

I find uncompleted tasks are more an issue of overly-ambitious scheduling rather than a motivation issue. If you have every minute scheduled or fifty things you want to get done in the morning, you will unconsciously prioritize items and let the less important ones fall behind. It will also cause you to get in a habit of leaving half your list unfinished (I did that all too often starting out).

I more or less started writing lists intuitively, I never read about them beforehand. It took a bit of trial and error to figure out and decide what actually counted as a daily task.

I'll post my list for today to give you another idea of the types of things I include.

Wednesday:
-Wake up 6 am
-Make coffee
-Fast until dinner
-Walk dog
-Work 10-5
-Look up deadline for city dog license renewal
-Duolingo
-Men's league 8:20 pm
-Deposit check and cash at bank
-Write rent and utility check
-Update weekly budget
-Take vitamins

My list isn't necessarily in chronological order, but I try to keep the things that are scheduled in chronological order.

I know I don't have to renew the dog license until March or April, but I'll mark the deadline on my calendar so I can add it to my list on a day that I might be driving past city hall. In the past I would've written "renew dog license", then push it back day after day. By just acknowledging the deadline, I can actually cross it off today and make note of when it needs to be done by.

I've also been slacking on taking my daily vitamins so I will continue to write in on my list until it becomes ingrained. The rest of the items are pretty self explanatory and will not take any effort or willpower to complete. It's a pretty average day for me as far as scheduling goes.

[robreke]

(01-27-2016 02:47 AM)arafat scarf Wrote:  

Getting this thread back on track...

Major Habit - Established - Daily Progress Monitoring with Don't Break the Chain


Two years ago I resolved to make a career change to become a web developer so that I could become location independent. I started off studying here and there, about once or twice a week, and after watching a tutorial of some guy effortlessly writing code, I noticed that I wasn't really taking to the material. The man in the tutorial was expressive, fluent and capable in a way that I simply wasn't.

At around this time in my life, I had recently become proficient and confident in my Spanish ability, and I was receiving what I perceived to be sincere compliments. While I still don't consider myself anything special, whatever progress I had made was brought about through repetition and practice over time. I was living in Bogota and still truly sucked for about a year, but after reading grammar books, watching soaps with the captions on, writing down words from newspaper articles and looking them up, things finally, more or less, came together.

However, programming is a different beast and I was trying to learn it solo so to keep a record of consistency I discovered a web application to mark a day on a calendar. The application is Don't Break the Chain, and I think that it may even have been originally recommended by Roosh.

The habit is this: If I study, write, or teach code for 1+ hour a day, I mark it on the calendar.

Some days are only 1 hour, other days are 10. Most days I pickup small tidbits of new knowledge, and some days I make major breakthroughs in understanding, but other days my powers of concentration are weak, and I feel like I can only do simple, trivial tasks. Either way, if I did anything for an hour or more I mark it on the calendar.

The results have been real, and since starting in April 2014, I've gone from zero to freelancer/part-time instructor, built a small reputation locally, and have received some job offers.

Learning programming/webdev is frustrating and challenging generally, but early on, an inordinate amount of self doubt about your intelligence and ability creeps in. It's easy and tempting to get discouraged, roll over, and give up.

But, when you observe 2-3 months of consistent 'marks' on the calendar, the evident fact of your momentum allows your analytic brain to ward off the emotional-hysterical. You feel justified in applauding yourself for consistency, and you become more inclined to dig in and keep going.

So while the programming problems have gotten harder, the rabbit hole deeper, and while I feel pangs of anxiety when communicating with local experts in the field who make me feel like a fraud, there's no giving up because the force of momentum from 'not breaking the chain' has largely taken on a life of its own. The habit is formed, and I still track my progress to this day.

I'm not infallible and I don't show up every day, but this tool has been immensely useful since the demoralizing early days up until now where I'm able to nod my head with gentle satisfaction when looking at the duration of effort and the arc of progress.

I can say with certainty that, in my case, using Don't Break the Chain to monitor myself has been a life-changing and powerful habit.

The concept of Don't break the Chain reminds me of the book, The Compound Effect by Darren Hardy which states small incremental but consistent action each day in a given area, will in time, create huge results and benefits.

Habits that have produced results:

Oil pulling - swish coconut oil in your mouth for a few minutes or more each morning. Eliminates morning breath after a few days and is good for dental health.

Compound Exercises - have been discussed ad nauseam but they work ; dead lifts, bench presses, Pull ups and if you're back is healthy enough, squats done consistently over time create a much stronger body and confident self. These are the only exercises you really need to develop real strength and have a good physique. Things like curls, crunches, leg extensions, triceps pushdowns, etc are good and all, but compound exercises are orders of magnitude greater in terms of changing your body.

Approach 2 - 3 or more girls a day: Direct, indirect, just whatever you're most comfortable with. Your skills will get better over time. You'll find out what works for you and what doesn't and what your style is. Better yet, you'll eventually start getting dating and getting laid.

[greekgod]

Sleeping in a room that is sub 65 degrees with fresh air. I sleep with my window slightly open in the dead of winter. It helps that the window is right next to me bed so I don't have to fully open it to feel the affects.

This is pure speculation but the cold temp must promote test release or something because I'm waking up way hornier and more energetic. I've only been doing this for two weeks but have noticed better energy levels.

[Brodiaga]

I've been using Google tasks for a couple of years very successfully. For example, if you get a new credit card with first year free and a bonus, put a reminder to cancel a year from now. If you have an important meeting, put a reminder to prepare the evening before. Whenever I think about something important that needs to be done when I'm free, I'll put a reminder for the next weekend or a few weeks out if it's not urgent. It keeps me a lot more organized.

[CleanSlate]

(01-27-2016 08:11 PM)Brodiaga Wrote:  

I've been using Google tasks for a couple of years very successfully. For example, if you get a new credit card with first year free and a bonus, put a reminder to cancel a year from now. If you have an important meeting, put a reminder to prepare the evening before. Whenever I think about something important that needs to be done when I'm free, I'll put a reminder for the next weekend or a few weeks out if it's not urgent. It keeps me a lot more organized.

Does it push notifications onto your phone when it wants to remind you of a task?

[Elster]

I run every day,no resting days,every day.

Before I hit the road as a crusty drifter I had trained and excelled at endurance exercises (sucked at the fighting part of boxing and got my ass handed to me more than a few times but I developed good outbreathing your opponent strategies).
Because I run quite slow I dont think Im overdoing or damaging it by not taking a rest day.

Everytime I ve hit a spot where I knew id stay more than a few days and therefore did not need to garner up extra energy for carrying my backpack, I try my best to procure shoes apt for running (or if terrain and weather are forgiving enough barefooT),let my dog chump his leash and we run

I always start easy on the first runs,then progress to usually about a 45 min road,even if I smell delicous foodz I force myself to stretch before going on with the rest of the day.
It makes me feel as if I ve already achieved something that day,and I have,because I (and dog) am(are) the only one(s) to benefit from it.

[Ringo]

(01-28-2016 01:44 PM)CleanSlate Wrote:  

(01-27-2016 08:11 PM)Brodiaga Wrote:  

I've been using Google tasks for a couple of years very successfully. For example, if you get a new credit card with first year free and a bonus, put a reminder to cancel a year from now. If you have an important meeting, put a reminder to prepare the evening before. Whenever I think about something important that needs to be done when I'm free, I'll put a reminder for the next weekend or a few weeks out if it's not urgent. It keeps me a lot more organized.

Does it push notifications onto your phone when it wants to remind you of a task?

It does notify you over the phone and it's a very easy to use interface, so it's great if you need a list-type of organization. For me it would be 10/10 if you could setup an email notification as well, but I don't know if it's possible. Anyone?

Because of that, I use Google Calendar. It integrates your Android phone with the Gmail account, notifies over the phone and can be set to notify via email - the email inbox becomes the "list" and I only delete the email after the task is done. It's also very easy to set recurrent reminders/events - I'm using mine to make sure I review my monthly and yearly goals every 2 weeks.

[Brodiaga]

(01-28-2016 01:44 PM)CleanSlate Wrote:  

Does it push notifications onto your phone when it wants to remind you of a task?

I use it on my phone (Android). Yes, you receive a popup notification. Tasks are also backed up online, so even if you change the phone you won't lose any of your reminders as long as you use the same google account.

[Employee22]

Haven't seen this mentioned yet, but learning to cultivate an "early retirement" mindset has been one of the biggest positive shifts that has occurred in my life.

By developing habits that enable you to save a huge chunk of your paycheck (at least 50% if you can manage it, but some guys are putting away upwards of 75-80% of their monthly take-home pay), you can accumulate a decent-to-large sum of money very quickly that you can then put towards investments, building a business, or loans.

As a long-time collector of books, I now save a nice chunk of money by checking out piles of books from the library (and only buying those books that I can re-read again & again) instead. I eat out only about once a month now, don't drink or do drugs, and, until very recently, went without a smartphone.

Ideally, when I get my work schedule completely sorted out, I'd like my part-time cooking job (approx. $800-1000 a month) to cover my living expenses in a third-tier American city. I want to save all of my income from my primary job, while I use the rest of my time to hopefully, finally, build my copywriting business, which has been derailed time and time again by procrastination and general listlessness.

When I've got enough dough in the bank, I'm heading back to Asia to teach ESL, write, and pursue my various anthropological interests.

I know that extreme frugality habits are probably frowned upon on a men's improvement forum, but another huge benefit of adopting such habits is that you don't need millions in assets or in the bank to fund your retirement. In reading the other thread up the page, sure, it'd be nice to live on $80,000/year passive income, but you'd need millions properly invested to achieve that. If you're anywhere outside of the big coastal cities, reaching that number is damn near impossible until you are decidedly middle-aged.

Learn to live (and enjoy living) on $15-$20,000/year invested, though, and finding ways to reach that $150,000-$300,000 nest egg is actually doable somewhat quickly, even if you aren't in a top-earning profession.

[262]

(01-31-2016 02:05 AM)lukewarmchillin Wrote:  

I know that extreme frugality habits are probably frowned upon on a men's improvement forum...

I never understood this disdain either.

There's a difference between maximizing value and being cheap.

Some people tend to forget that profit, whether it be monetary or intangible, is what we're after. Cost is as much of a part of that as revenue is.

No point busting your ass to make a bunch of revenue if you can't at least earn a competitive return on investment.

Sales guys are especially prone to that. "I sold millions!" "How much did you keep?" "Uhh ..."

[Bill]

(01-31-2016 04:14 AM)262 Wrote:  

(01-31-2016 02:05 AM)lukewarmchillin Wrote:  

I know that extreme frugality habits are probably frowned upon on a men's improvement forum...

I never understood this disdain either.

There's a difference between maximizing value and being cheap.

Some people tend to forget that profit, whether it be monetary or intangible, is what we're after. Cost is as much of a part of that as revenue is.

No point busting your ass to make a bunch of revenue if you can't at least earn a competitive return on investment.

Sales guys are especially prone to that. "I sold millions!" "How much did you keep?" "Uhh ..."

Yes I could also mention this frugality habit as one of my major habits. It was not that difficult as my parents were frugal. Specially my mother tried to teach it.

I also cultivated it with Epicurean philosophy which teaches being happy or content with frugality.

Now I am 42 years old and didn´t work for 3 years at all.I am out of Germany now for 3 years. I have the zero hour work week and am very happy that it worked out so well.

I see the "abundance" mindset and the "make it till you fake it" critically. People waste so much money.

[philosophical_recovery]

Update:

I have been waking up at 5am every day including the weekends for some time now. It is an absolutely fantastic habit. I do not stay up late anymore, because I get sleepy now past my regular schedule, but that doesn't affect my quality of life.

I feel a lot more refreshed during the day. I don't have the urge to nap anywhere near as much. I haven't followed it to the point that my body wakes up before the alarm, but this has been the longest stretch of consistent wakeup times that I can remember.

Give it a shot, if you can handle giving up some nightlife.

[Hannibal]

(01-31-2016 02:05 AM)lukewarmchillin Wrote:  

Haven't seen this mentioned yet, but learning to cultivate an "early retirement" mindset has been one of the biggest positive shifts that has occurred in my life.

By developing habits that enable you to save a huge chunk of your paycheck (at least 50% if you can manage it, but some guys are putting away upwards of 75-80% of their monthly take-home pay), you can accumulate a decent-to-large sum of money very quickly that you can then put towards investments, building a business, or loans.

. . . .

Learn to live (and enjoy living) on $15-$20,000/year invested, though, and finding ways to reach that $150,000-$300,000 nest egg is actually doable somewhat quickly, even if you aren't in a top-earning profession.

This image sums it up nicely.

Mr.Money Moustache blog Wrote:

Assumptions:

You can earn 5% investment returns after inflation during your saving years
You’ll live off of the “4% safe withdrawal rate” after retirement, with some flexibility in your spending during recessions.
You want your ‘Stash to last forever, you’ll only be touching the gains, since this income may be sustaining you for seventy years or so. Just think of this assumption as a nice generous Safety Margin.

If you get 300k in the bank, you should be making $12,000 a year on passive income assuming a 4% withdrawal rate. This isn't 4 hour work week, this is true sit on your ass, no babysititng required income. You can even automate it all to deposit straight into your bank account.

Even if you only get 150k in the bank, you could do some part time shit for a couple hours a week and easily get by.

I'm preaching to the choir here, but the difference between having a high cost of living and a low cost of living boils down to having a DIY mentality. My dad always tried to teach me this and I didn't understand why it was important until I started paying my own bills.

Generally speaking, the conventional method of doing things (paying a mechanic, going out to eat at a restaurant) is the price people are willing to pay so they don't have to learn anything. If a mechanic makes $20 an hour and it takes him three hours to fix your car and you do it in six hours over a couple beers and a youtube video, you just paid yourself $60 to learn how to not need a mechanic.

One habit I've had consistently for the past couple years is that, about once every couple weeks I'll look at an item I use consistently and see if I can somehow make it cheaper in the easiest way possible, or make it more durable in such a way that I'll never have to replace it.

• Replacing my shitty teflon frypan with a cast iron skillet is one example. I hardly have to clean it, now that it's well seasoned. It will outlast Western civilization at this point.
• Buying a nice pair of boots with soles you can get replaced is another example. Why spend $100 every year or two on footwear when you can spend $600 on something nice that will last you fifteen years?
• Spending a bit more on a safety razor and then learning how to shave with it versus buying shitty Gillette blades every week or two saves you tons of money and gives you a better shave. 100 razors for the safety razor cost $12 and I only ever replace them every two weeks, so the pack of razors I started with will last me 4 years altogether.
• Getting groceries in bulk is another easy way. You don't have to go to the store as often so you impulse buy less. If shit hits the fan you should have enough food to last you a couple weeks. My staples currently are rice, olive oil, lentils, potatoes, oatmeal, onions, protein powder, and whatever meat and vegetables are on sale. A 5 lb bag of rice costs $3 and a 20 lb bag costs $8. A lot of simple folks out there buy the 5 lb bag.
  

Last month it was laundry detergent. Instead of spending $10 on a gallon of Tide, I decided to make my own out of a bar of Ivory soap, a cup of borax and a cup of washing soda. The bar of Ivory cost me 60 cents, the borax about 50 cents, and the washing soda was also about 60 cents because I made it out of baking soda (throw it in the oven at 400 degrees until it turns into washing soda).

I threw the bar of soap in the microwave until it turned into a cloud of fluff because I don't own a cheese grater.

I've calculated about 50 loads from $1.70 worth of ingredients and 20 minutes of my time. Since I know how to do it now, it will only take me 5 minutes next time. 3.4 cents doesn't get you a damn thing these days, but it buys me a load of laundry.

You might look at that and ask yourself, why would I waste my time with this? The fact is, I just reduced my lifetime laundry bill by 80+% after a bored hour or two of googling shit.

This month I'm switching my plan to Ting. I could go with VoIP, but I don't want the last thing I see after flipping my car into a ravine to be "Network Unavailable". So I'm going with the phone plan.

I don't own a smart phone, so my phone bill should go from $31.56 (thanks Obama) to $15 a month or less. Ting only charges you based on what you use, instead of charging a flat rate to subsidize the smartphone addiction of everyone else. So that right there is $180-$220 a year I didn't spend.

The five examples I listed easily saves me $1000 a year and my quality of life is no different. In fact, I would say it has improved because I only have to go to the store every couple weeks and many of the things I do own are not only higher quality, but lower maintenance as well.