My friend Tammy Strobel over at  Rowdy Kittens was featured in a New York Times article over the weekend for simplifying her life and getting rid of most of her stuff.

Tammy simplified her life down to less than 100 possessions, sold her cars and the rest of the unnecessary stuff, and found she was much happier. I shared some of Tammy’s story earlier here on the blog and you can check out her book simply car free on this earlier post. She has been working as a writer and web designer on her own since making all these changes.

The question I’m asked most often by readers is how do people make a living when living in these unconventional ways. They don’t know how to design websites, or don’t think they can write for a living like Tammy. They ask about the ads that I have on this blog, and if I am making a living from them. This is a small blog and I don’t make much money from the affiliate links that I place on the site as I reference on my disclosure page. Most of the ads here just help the blog pay for itself, covering hosting costs and such. But they aren’t just random Google ads. They are affiliate ads for products I chose and like.

Most webpages on the Internet today that you see selling products are sold through affiliate programs. From tiny single page websites selling a single product, to large “compare and find the best travel deals” websites, many of these are set up to refer people to buy products that companies sell. These companies have affiliate programs set up for those people to make a commission on each referral they send. Amazon has had one since the mid 90′s, and it is a very common way for companies to bring in sales.

Many of the sites that you see are affiliate sites, and the people who own the websites are making commissions off of any products that you end up purchasing, when clicking on those links.

Tomorrow on August 10, another friend, Corbett Barr is launching his Affiliate Marketing for Beginners program at a discounted rate for the first 48hrs. In the course, he teaches a complete step-by-step course for beginners how to build your own affiliate sites from the ground up.

Affiliate marketing is probably the simplest and least expensive way to get into earning some extra money on your own using the Internet (that is legal, ethical and not a scam), and this course teaches you step-by-step how to do it. I was surprised how much information he included in the lesson plan. Even though I have done affiliate marketing, I have found a wealth of information and steps in there that I wasn’t quite doing as well as I could be. It has already helped me out quite a bit.

Since so many people ask me about this stuff, and I like Corbett and the program he has created, I’ll have more information up here on it tomorrow when he officially launches at 8am PST, so keep an eye on this space. Of course you can subscribe to our feed by RSS or email to be notified whenever there is new info here on the site.

Making a Living While Living Unconventional Lives is a post from: Live Collar Free

photo credit: Elsie esq.

The first batch of auctions for my book collection ended. The entire library is in stacks on the table in front of me. Books I’ve been carrying around for decades and read only once when new. Even the rare and autographed versions are going.

Books have always been important to me. A lot of effort went into dealing with them, whether moving them or paying to store them. I am not attached to them anymore, though they used to be my most prized possessions. After moving boxes of books over the years, I have come to despise the keeping of any “stuff” I don’t need. With books I havn’t read in 20 years, and have no desire to read again, it just seems silly to have so many here. I know I’ll just have to do something with them again.

The longest period I have ever held the same address is 4 years, and only that long on 2 occasions in 40 years. I have always thought of myself pretty Spartan with my possessions. I have never owned a huge amount of stuff, though each time I move I am amazed at what I have collected in such a short time. Reading blogs for several years from truly minimalist people like Leo Babauta and Tammy Strobel have really opened my eyes up to the realization that I was nowhere near living the spartan life.

Countless times, I have looked at a book, had fond memories of it, and put it back on the shelf. Planning to someday read it again and mine the valuable information out of it that I know is in there. I don’t remember ever reading two books more than once. I realized with some books, I had moved 7 or 8 times since reading them. I had dragged them around from California to Florida. What a waste of energy.

Books should be in a place where they can be used and appreciated, so they will all go. Whether I can sell them or donate them, I’ll be free of them soon. From now on, a book moves along after I read it, so someone else can enjoy it.

I enjoy reading ebooks, both on the laptop and even on my iPod Touch. Laying in bed unable to sleep is an occasional problem. Being able to read with the light out has been fantastic, but not having to store and deal with a pile of books will be even better. There is too much of the world out there to see, and the load needs to be lightened. I still travel out of a home base where I can store things, but I’m working to spend less time here, and book storage is an issue for most Location Independent People.

After starting with tips I found at Organize IT I already digitized my small CD collection. My movie collection is either getting digitized and sold/donated. As soon as I can digitize my old photos, many of those will get recycled or given to interested parties. A few weeks ago, I shredded all old paperwork I had also been dragging around with me for years. I didn’t go as far as Colin Wright with his shred party.

There are a few exceptions for items I’m still attached to or have to keep for records, but most of my stuff is going. I feel lighter already.

What are some of the ways you have dealt with clutter or minimizing your life?

How to Minimize Your Life for Travel: Books is a post from: Live Collar Free

I’ve said before on this site that LiveCollarFree.com is not exclusive to one “system” or style of Lifestyle Design. There are so many ways to live outside of the default life we learn we should fit into, and they all fascinate me.

Much of what I’ve done with my life has been to downsize. Toys are fun, but the stuff we accumulate takes a toll: moving it, storing it, insuring it, cleaning it, maintaining it, ad nauseum. We learn in the U.S. that we need to own a house and that all adults need a car. We are a car culture, and have been since they came about. Cars are one of the biggest purchases and expenses in most families. But do we really need a car to work and live today?

I have followed Tammy Strobel’s Rowdy Kittens blog for a bit over a year, now. She and her partner Logan decided to downsize their life, cut down their needless belongings, and even go so far as to sell their cars. Now they get around on bicycles almost exclusively and it works better for them. They calculated that their cars cost them nearly $8,000 a year to keep! And they had economy cars! How many hours of work does that total each year just to own a car? It makes me sick to think about how much I’ve spent over the years.

Tammy & Logan have improved their health, saved a tremendous amount of money, and lived a simpler, more fulfilling green lifestyle since their decision to scale down.

Simply Car-Free

Today, Tammy released her first book: Simply Car-Free: How to Pedal Toward Financial Freedom and a Healthier Life. I read an advance copy and can tell you it is a fantastic resource for planning and living in today’s world without the need to own a car.

It seems like such a foreign concept in most areas of modern America, but life without a car is not only quite possible but is very liberating. Tammy lays out a solid plan to make the car-free lifestyle simple to achieve. The Book goes through the process they went through, as well as how to make it even easier (they made their transition slowly and now wonder why they took so long).

She does an excellent job of covering all the “what-if…?” scenarios that come up when we talk about life without a car. Across America or even the world, not everyone’s lifestyle and community allows as simple a transition into a Car-Free life, but there are ways around most objections. Alternatives to going completely car-free are also covered, and how to handle situations that come up that all but require cars, such as long trips or moving.

The section on bicycling is also very in-depth. Whether you are a cyclist or just starting out, there are many valuable resources inside to cover what you need to know about bikes, as well as dealing with everyday issues like weather and getting groceries.

If you already live without a car or have never considered such a thing, Simply Car-Free is a good tool that collects resources from a variety of people already living this way all over the country. I am not just writing this review because I am a blogger buddy of Tammy’s. In March 2008, I got rid of my truck, and haven’t had a car or other vehicle since. I’ll do more about my situation in another post and link it here, but I know this topic very well as I have had probably close to 20 cars in my life (and 16 motorcycles that I can remember).

Simply Car-Free is a great resource for anyone considering life without a motor vehicle.

Simply Car-Free: Living Without a Car is a post from: Live Collar Free