In April I wrote a post about uncluttering keys. As I am a big enthusiast of removing unnecessary stuff from different places and areas of life, today I decided to unclutter my wallet. As probably most of us have oversized wallets, don’t waste a time and join me in this process.

What is inside?

I started with putting everything out of my wallet. You may be surprised with different things you didn’t remember you keep then inside. What did I find in my wallet?

• Money – this is quite obvious. Both bills and coins. I usually don’t have too much in cash. Just for fruits and lunch. This way it is easier to avoid unnecessary shopping.
• ATM card – this also has to remain in my wallet. I very rarely use it, but I prefer to have in case of some unpredicted events.
• Other cards – There is a gym card, which I need almost everyday; few other cards for discounts and bonus points at drug store, gas station etc. What I definitely don’t need to keep in my pocket is my swimming card. It’s almost in pieces and I would better keep it in safer place.
• Driving license, car registration certificate and car insurance – I have to keep them as I use car everyday.
• Few business cards – I didn’t know they even exist in my wallet. Not necessary. Removed.
• Various leaflets and stickers – trashed.
• My student’s card – why I still keep it in my wallet? I won’t throw it away but my wallet is definitely not a place for it. Especially that my student’s card is no longer valid.
• Bus tickets – In past I found myself in situation when I needed them. So I prefer to have few bus tickets in my wallet. But thanks to this uncluttering process I removed few already used and few more which were overdued.
• “Four Wishes” sheet – This one is my personal list of for goals I want to achieve in my life. I keep them in my wallet; read and think about them to motivate myself. It stays where it is.

That’s all from my wallet. It is time to put back everything what I decided to keep. Now, I know everything what is inside and I’m sure I don’t have unnecessary stuff. Additionally, it is neat inside and my wallet is in better overall shape.

The general idea for uncluttering process is simple:

1. Put everything out of your wallet.
2. Separate necessary things from unnecessary.
3. Put back necessary things.

Some of you may have difficulties with removing things that have a special meaning for you. It is okay to keep it, like I keep my “Four Wishes” list, as long as it is really important for you and you are aware that you keep it in your wallet. It’s quite pity to hear that you are emotionally connected to something you have just discovered in your wallet and you didn’t even know it was there for ages.

I wish you happy uncluttering. If you enjoyed it, share your experiences in comments. I would really appreciate it.

photo credit: Saad.Akhtar

Saving on gas and improving the fuel economy are definitely worth to consider, especially when gas prices are on the rise.

As there are already a lot of articles and posts around about this topic and I don’t want to repeat same ideas another time, I decided to prepare a list of useful links. These will definitely help you to improve your mileage and become a hypermiling master. Of course, many basic tips and ideas appear in multiple articles, but I’m sure that in every single one, you will find something unique and useful. In the end of my list, there are also links to my two posts concerning ‘car’ topic. Enjoy reading.

• U.S. Department of Energy gives tips about driving and car maintenance.
• J.D. presents 23 top tips for better fuel economy.
• Trent presents a gas station trick that puts money into pocket.
• David shows gas saving myths and real tips that work.
• There are 9 ways to save money on gas presented on SmartMoney.
• 10 more tips on saving on gas + free ebook on WiseBread.
• CNN Money exposed 4 gas saving myths.
• FiveCentNickel presents how to improve your gas mileage.
• Basic tips as well as some advanced tactics are presented at MyMoneyBlog.
• Read at Gather Little by Little how to become a hypermiler.
• Broke Grad Student refers to 9 simple ways to save on gas.
• Finally, I present how to utilize your time when stuck in traffic and I encourage you to optimize your routes.

If you have your own tips related to saving on gas, which are not mentioned in above articles, please share them in comments.

photo credit: Andy King

Achieving goals is a matter of motivation. Unfortunately, lack of motivation can happen to all of us, but we cannot afford that this will stop us on our way to success.

My recent way to kick motivation is especially interesting for people who spend a lot of time online. I find it easy, nice and effective. What it is and how it works?

Read about it, watch about it, discuss about it….

…about your task, about what you have to do and about your goal.

Let’s say that I should go today to the gym, but my motivation to do so is about zero. What I do? I read some articles about strength training on my favorite blog concerning this topic.

Need to kick myself for a martial arts training? I watch a kung-fu movie or I visit Youtube for a good fighting, action-packed clip.

Feeling lack of motivation to work on my blog? I read Problogger.

Do you see the pattern? Get interested in your task by reading about it on blogs or other sites. Watch movies or clips; get involved into discussion on forum or chats. This way you gain knowledge which would be helpful in achieving your goal, you set mind in your goal’s direction and you increase your motivation.

Of course, you must do some trials and errors. Some channels will very easily trigger your motivation, some not. Sometimes tasks related to your goal are so unattractive, that you will find it hard to motivate yourself in anyway. But in many cases I found this idea working pretty well.

Good idea for start is to look into our childhood and find this pattern there. Do you remember how much you wanted to play football after watching a good play at TV or how much you wanted to be a kung-fu master after seeing Enter the Dragon? Do you remember how much you wanted to travel across the world after reading a great adventure story? Find out how this idea worked on you in the past. Feel it again. Then it would be way much easier to use it today. Since now, consciously.

photo credit: scottfeldstein

Stary Browar is an award-winning shopping, art and business centre in Poznan. It is located exactly on my 10 minutes way I everyday cover on foot, from my car to the office and back.

I love Stary Browar and I love shopping there. Most often I do quite unnecessary shopping. It is good for my pleasure, but not so good for my savings, and if you read my last post about saving money, you know that this idea is very important for me.

Almost everyday I pass near Stary Browar and it is very tempting to come in. And when I decide to come in, it is very likely that I will spend some money on not so necessary stuff. As I don’t want to buy unnecessary stuff five times per week (each time I cover my way to/from office), I had to coupe with this temptation.

Below is my short guide on how to restrain from unnecessary shopping. Try following steps:

Don’t take debit/credit cards and cash when you don’t need it.

This way you will not be able to buy anything. When I go to work, I need only some money for lunch and fruit. I don’t take more cash, so I know I will not spend it or lose it.

Visit shopping mall when you don’t carry any debit/credit cards or cash.

Sounds a little stupid. Connected with the previous one. The idea is to teach yourself that you can walk through the shopping centre/mall or market, watch exhibitions, products and in the end you don’t buy anything.

Visit shopping mall only to buy one necessary item.

You have some money with you and you go to the shopping mall. But you also know what you want to buy and this is something you really need. Buy only what you planned and then keep in mind the feeling connected with not buying anything at all, like I described in previous paragraph.

Allow yourself to buy something unnecessary.

When I started learning to control my shopping urge, I allowed myself to buy not so necessary item once per seven days. I scheduled one day of week for this. With time and practice, I’ve got better and better at controlling my buying temptations and I found myself not buying anything even when I had my inner permission to do so.

Avoid visiting and passing nearby shopping malls.

Simple and effective. But this one doesn’t work for me as Stary Browar is on my optimal route to work.

photo credit: ralphbijker