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Archives for October 2015

Stop Sharing REI’s #OptOutside Campaign

By Frugaling 17 Comments

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Ads are forcefully injected into our daily lives, without permission or explicit consent. We didn’t explicitly sign up for them and never agreed to the terms. And yet, we live alongside these glossy pages, commercials, and billboards every day.

They are ubiquitous. Ads are everywhere from our public schools to smartphones. Frankly, it’s easy to get fed up with the onslaught. To crave peace, tranquility, and minimalism is only natural. People are forcibly removing ads from view and saying “enough is enough.”

Marketers have noticed the resistance among consumers. Their old methods don’t seem to work. Print is dying, television is increasingly losing out to on-demand, and people are using ad blockers for the Internet. In response, they’re changing their methods, mediums, and messages. They’ve cleared the drawing board and developed new ways to attract us.

For marketers, the times are a changing. Consumers are living in this strange epoch of technology, social networking, and the “sharing economy.” Growing numbers of people are eschewing ownership, as technology has minimized our book cases and empowered us to pool resources. Selling us products has become a difficult proposition: what will we buy?

Amidst changing demographics, economic interests, and consumer preferences, growing numbers of companies are creating inspirational, aspirational, and ethically driven advertising. They know that if they inspire, touch, and/or move us we’ll share, tweet, fave, and like. The strategy is complex, but if advertisers can appeal to causes you believe in, you’ll be more likely to spread the word. As a bonus, articles and ads that are shared by consumers aren’t tagged with “advertisement” or “sponsored;” instead, they sneak behind the consumer wall and get peers to market to each other.

Even people who believe in anti-consumption, frugality, and simple living are being psychologically duped into sharing advertisements. And we seem to be accepting that our friends’ updates and tweets now include these reminders to buy, buy, buy. We are volitionally advertising to those we love most.

By now you might be looking for some examples. Most recently, REI created a massive social networking ad campaign centered on boycotting Black Friday. USAToday’s Hadley Malcolm wrote, “In an unprecedented move for the modern-day holiday shopping season, REI’s 143 stores will be closed the day after Thanksgiving.” REI even inspired a creative hashtag: #OptOutside. How fun! This outdoor and recreational company’s value driven campaign appeals directly to those who hate the co-opting and consumerism of that day.

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Malcolm’s article has been shared over 200,000 on Facebook alone. That’s one article for the company’s decision. Many in the simple living community have written about the decision – highlighting how it meets their values. It’s been shared all over Twitter.

REI is bucking a trend, but it’s not the first company to say they’re not supportive of post-Thanksgiving mass shopping. Last year, Patagonia published ads that said, “Don’t buy this jacket” in regards to Cyber Monday (the week after Thanksgiving). Again, the anti-consumptive ads were shared massively. It was a viral success — just like this year’s ads.

After Patagonia’s advertising campaign, they received huge press attention and their sales skyrocketed. It worked. REI’s advertisements have already worked, too.

They’ll reduce sales for one day: Black Friday. And then, the sales will greatly increase as those remember REI meets their values. To the company, money is money – doesn’t matter if it comes on Friday or next week.

Ultimately, it’s our power not to share. Companies know how to captivate us with their messages – even if they say “Don’t buy me.” We can’t help but respect these values and click tweet. In this economy, we choose what brands, products, and companies win. The responsibility is ours, but we needn’t do the work for them.

Filed Under: Minimalism, Save Money Tagged With: ad, ads, advertising, Black Friday, Cyber Monday, marketers, Marketing, OptOutside, REI, Thanksgiving, USAToday

How Joshua Becker Plans To Revolutionize Orphan Care In 2 Years

By Frugaling 1 Comment

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I was raised in a middle-class household by smart, educated, and caring parents. It was quintessential suburbia throughout much of my life. And I’ve been incredibly privileged for it.

My parents held me when I was sad. They fed me when I was hungry. They clothed me when I was cold. They read to me – building a strong appreciation for language. They encouraged me to go beyond my assumptions and expectations. Without them, I’m unsure where I’d be in life.

Unfortunately, many aren’t afforded these privileges. In fact, more than 26 million children live without parents. What are first smiles, steps, and words without those who matter? The feedback and social interaction that comes from parents and their children is essential to healthy psychological development.

There’s a gap for those who need help most. Many institutionalized orphans struggle to develop at the same rate as their peers. Various developmental factors can be delayed. Some struggle with feelings of abandonment for their entire lives.

Despite being a tragically difficult problem to solve, I spoke to one man who’s looking to change everything: Joshua Becker. Better known for his successful blog, Becoming Minimalist, Joshua is taking a tremendous risk by starting The Hope Effect. The non-profit foundation is dedicated to bettering orphan care, and his plan might just work.

Recently, I had the pleasure of chatting with Joshua about his new foundation. From learning about what the heck motivated him to how he plans to make this a success for generations to come, I wanted to share some of my conversation with him today.

What motivated you to start The Hope Effect?

I asked Joshua why he wanted to work with orphans. He explained that issues of adoption and orphan care have always been important to his family. Joshua’s wife was orphaned in South Dakota, and ultimately adopted by a Nebraskan couple. That process made an imprint on his wife, and thusly, impacted him.

They were moved to give back to this community. The Becker family investigated how to better adoption processes, as they are full of institutional and governmental flaws. The bureaucracy can significantly hinder people’s ability to successfully adopt. With countless of complications, they found out that their time, money, and potential foundation would be better spent on orphan care.

What are some of the current problems in orphan care?

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I couldn’t help but wonder what orphanages are like and where care can be improved. Joshua noted that one of the biggest problems is the ratio of caregivers to orphans. There just aren’t enough people to be there for their children. In many households across America, two parents take care of two children; effectively, this makes a 1:1 ratio of caregiver to child. But in orphanages, money is tight and care is often what’s minimally needed.

Over time, this ratio can lead to serious psychological concerns. Whereas many people are held, cared for, and talked to, orphans can suffer from neglect. Joshua acknowledged that problem solving and more advanced intellectually decision making are also held back frequently.

How will The Hope Effect address these systemic problems?

Joshua aims to establish a “highly reproducible model” for orphan care – a blueprint to build homes and create avenues for change. The foundation will pay for the building, maintenance, jobs, and everything else needed to support a home for children.

The Hope Effect will start in Honduras, building a home on the site of the existing La Providencia orphan care community. La Providencia has been implementing a family-based solution to orphan care for several years. They are equipped with staff and even medical and educational facilities, making the partnership very attractive. As Joshua said, “They have a lot to teach us about what works and what doesn’t.”

As an added bonus, La Providencia employs a child psychologist. This is important to Joshua and his team as they appreciate the need for psychological wellness. Because of the great burden placed on these children, The Hope Effect intends to hire a child psychologist at all future orphan care communities they develop.

Briefly, Joshua broke away to explain the standard he wanted to achieve. These homes wouldn’t be more of the same. His bar was set high. Joshua wants his foundation to make homes he could imagine sending his own children – if something unimaginably horrible occurred. He wants every child to have an opportunity to succeed.

How can people help?

It’s all well and good to want to help others, but there are also pragmatic issues that prevent ideas like this from succeeding. Money can be a big problem – without it and this idea evaporates. I wondered how he intended to make this work.

Joshua spoke earnestly about making sizable sums of money from new book advances and his website. He said that money wasn’t the greatest concern for his family – they weren’t looking to buy a bigger house or a new flatscreen TV. Their hope was to put this money to work helping others.

Shockingly, the Becker family is funding the foundation with six figures of their own money. This seed money is intended to kick start fundraising and home building. By May, they hope to have the house built and care offered. It’s an ambitious timeline, but one they’ve researched in depth.

Additionally, The Hope Effect would look for donations to sustain development and maintenance of homes. Their initial investments radically change their charity, too. Remarkably, 100% of donations made to The Hope Effect will be given directly to orphan care. No administrative costs. No marketing fees. Nothing but direct giving to those most in need.

How did you go from minimalism and simple life advocate to philanthropist?

Becoming Minimalist was founded out of a need to cut back on excess. Now, Joshua has been writing about simple living for years, and published books to prove it! As I talked with him, I thought about his transition – from minimalist to philanthropist. How’d he go from one to the other?

Joshua rhetorically asked, “What’s next? What comes after saving money and spending less?” His family has everything they need. With the new income from book deals and constant revenue from the site, he explained that they were eager to do something other than spend it on themselves.

For the Becker family, giving generously goes hand-in-hand with living simply. To save is to ultimately be able to serve and give back. Joshua expounded that they are “committed to not buying,” and that empowers them to think of how to help. For them, it seemed like a natural progression to fund this foundation.

Where can people go to help?

TheHopeEffect-Logo

Over the next couple years, Joshua is looking to fundraise hundreds of thousands of dollars and fund multiple projects. He wants to change the paradigm for orphans.

For starters, Joshua recommends checking out The Hope Effect’s website for more information about the charity. Donations will fuel this organization to be able to directly impact the lives of orphaned children.

I was so moved by our conversation that I set up my own fundraising page to support The Hope Effect. Instead of gifts this Christmas, I’ll be asking for your help fundraising $500 by December 31st.

Will you help me?

Donate here to support this incredible cause: https://my.hopeeffect.com/frugaling

Filed Under: Minimalism, Save Money Tagged With: Charity, Children, donate, Donations, Foundation, give, Giving, Minimalism, money, Orphan, Orphans, Simple Living, The Hope Effect

How Psychological Pressures Change Your Spending

By Frugaling 14 Comments

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Over the last month, I’ve been working on my dissertation. While writing this tome, I’m continuing clinical work at a local VA, instructing two courses, and creating scholarly papers. This might be the busiest moment of my life. And in about a month, I’ll need to hand over a draft to my adviser. And he’ll decide “go” or “no go.” My future depends on it.

The symptoms of this pressure are powerful. I’ve struggled to write, become a nervous wreck, and have unending indigestion. My stomach burbles and gurgles with unease. Simultaneously, Frugaling has been unusually quiet, and I’ve been shocked by the emails from regular readers wondering how I’m doing (you’re so sweet!). I’ve been unable to write as much as I like.

Eventually the dissertation writing will end. But I can’t help but think, I need to succeed. I’m in control of this moment, and I’ve never been more motivated.

Unfortunately, as I’ve focused on this one area, a handful of others things have faltered. Control in one category, has led to failures in others. It’s like my brain can only concentrate on a few things at once; then, it descends into reactive, non-conscious action. My reptilian brain takes over, and I let autopilot handle the controls.

My ideals of frugality and simple living have taken a back seat to this burden. Even after two years of Frugaling, I’m embarrassed to say I still struggle to maintain a budget when the stress hits the fan. With nearly every moment hunched over my keyboard, hammering away at keys incessantly, old habits are returning.

The inner voice says, “I’m too hungry to wait for home. I want to treat myself for writing so much. I need a break – give me that large popcorn.” Me, me, me, me, me. I crave candy, quick meals, and snacks at strange times. Yes, I want that fatty burger and fries. Yum! All I want is to swipe a worry away and not feel guilty for doing so. Suddenly, I can spend $60-70 in a day’s worth of food. Poof!

These moments highlight the complexity of changing a budget and spending less. We can make great alterations to our lives, and still relapse and regress. It happens. And I think I know why.

See, the first 24 years of my life, I didn’t watch spending, create a budget, cook at home, avoid student/car loans, bike to school/work, or look for ways to save. My brain developed a pathway and logic to deal with nearly everything over those years, including when to eat out, buy a car, etc. Frugality wasn’t in the mix, and it got me into 5 figures of debt.

It’s hard to change anything; especially if that’s all you’ve known. The neuronal structure has developed a keen appreciation for certain types of rewards and feedback. Simply put, my brain expects me to spend when I’m stressed. To change this pattern of behavior requires repeated corrective action, recognition of when I’m slipping, accountability from friends/family, and other reward mechanisms.

One of my psychology textbooks curiously likes to say that after about 6 months of change, a habit can stick. Well, I’m here to tell you that’s not always the case. Despite a couple years of successful behavioral change, I occasionally fight to regain control and relapse to old spending.

Various factors work against me. Twenty-four years of bad habits and a society full of encouraging messages about immediate gratification stack the deck. It’s an uphill battle, but I’m better at waging it than ever before.

I might not have perfected my budget but change has occurred. Today, I can realize when everything is falling apart – spending has gone haywire – and stop. Today, I can write this letter of accountability to you all. Today, I can admit faults while acknowledging strengths.

Frugality isn’t about dogma or perfection. We’re on a journey – together – to find ways to save, spend less, and recapture control when we lose it. There’s power in these lessons and the brain – while stubborn to change – does slowly cooperate.

Filed Under: Save Money Tagged With: brain, Budget, busy, change, college, dissertation, Habits, Life, Psychology, school, spending, Stress, Work, Writing

Will Ad Blockers Kill The Internet?

By Frugaling 14 Comments

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It’s been nearly a month since I deleted all the ads from my site. Instead of pasting targeted distractions to my readers, I opted for simplicity. If readers wanted to support me, they could buy my book, donate, or share my work. Since then, an explosive dialogue surrounding the ethics and use of ad blockers has ensued. I decided to share my two cents on advertisers, marketing, and the “death of the web.”

Advertisers want us to believe that their commercials and banner ads inform us. They need us to consider their arguments, and think we’re making rational decisions in response. And they implant a picture of perfection – of what life could look like – with their products.

We’re supposed accept this bombardment of stimuli as the cost of accessing and reading websites. Go to The New York Times, and a slurry of ads feast over your metadata to predict what you might purchase next and serve up a healthy dose of consumerism. Behind the scenes, trackers surreptitiously soak up your browsing history, location, and personal data.

This is the cost of being a content consumer in the 21st century, and for years, we’ve accepted it. Until recently, when the entire Internet exploded in euphoria and vitriol over Apple’s new mobile operating system (iOS). It’s most recent update empowered users to install “content blockers,” which would effectively eliminate advertisements in the mobile browser.

These ad blockers allow users to surf the web cleanly. The busy and distracting pages disappear – suddenly the content comes into focus. Trackers suffer and people’s profiles can’t be built as easily. Now, companies struggle to personalize ads via privacy infractions.

As the browsing experience improves, profit revenue decreases. It’s a perfect inverse correlation. The web feels calmer without ads. I don’t have to be defensive and avert my eyes.

Over the last few weeks, publishers worldwide have clambered to their keyboards, predicting apocalypses. The Verge conducted a poll of its users, which found that 78% said “Yes” they will use an ad blocker. Without ad revenue, how will they survive?! If everyone turns off the ads, how will companies make money?

Publishers are already predicting that companies will cease to exist. One quote from PC Mag highlights the hyperbolic language: “With this move, users will eventually wonder why their favorite website died before finding another set of content to plunder.” Supposedly, a content pirate will kill sites left and right because of their ad blocker use.

Wired highlighted the plight of Google’s profits in an almost sympathetic tone: “Google depends almost entirely on ads for revenue. By one estimate, the giant may be losing billions of dollars from these kind of browser blocking extensions.” What will the massive, multinational corporation do without its record-breaking ad revenue?

Adding to the publisher outcries is The Verge’s Nilay Patel, who said ad blockers could mean the “Death of the web.” Then he added that “taking money and attention away from the web means that web innovation will slow to a crawl.” Wow! Death, as in ceasing to exist. That’s pretty extreme, right? Without ads, your computer literally would cease to surf – browsers would be pointless.

The problem with all this fear mongering is that it’s flawed. The web was not invented by corporate interests; rather, it was a governmental invention that became a public good. Advertising wasn’t part of the equation. Profit wasn’t the sole motivator to those who innovated in the early days of the Internet.

Even today, much of the web exists because of volunteers, governments, and public grants. Open source projects like Wikipedia, Ubuntu, and Firefox are perfect examples of how third-party ads needn’t be the sole source of innovation or income.

Interestingly, in this ad-infested web, major publishers have grown to bloated proportions. Many recycle other news outlets’ content and repackage it as their own. Companies like The Verge, Wired, and PC Mag occasionally publish top-notch journalistic pieces, but they’re most often caught up in quasi-advertisement “product reviews” and republishing. It’s lazy work to draw eyeballs, not critical thinking. To lose these companies would be awful, as I must admit I enjoy them, but we’d move on.

We’ve come to a crossroads as publishers and consumers. Should we put up with ads or use ad blockers? Should we accept distraction or simplicity? Should we keep the status quo or demand an alternative?

Some suggest paywalls, which force readers to subscribe for content. I can guarantee that circulation will drop immensely and many won’t pay (here’s looking at one of them). If it’s news, it’ll be printed somewhere else in a non-subscription form. And if it’s not reprinted, then it can’t be that important, can it? So, that idea’s gone.

Others promote the concept of paid articles. Many publishers have already experimented with advertiser-paid articles such as The New York Times and The Verge. Instead of reading a non-biased, semi-objective piece of journalism, readers have the distinct privilege of reading a lengthy advertisement. Again, everyone loses if the web destroys objectivity in journalism.

We live at a time of immense progress; ironically, technology is contending with these advances. Ad blockers censor and clean the web of the dirty bits. You no longer need to continually feel compelled to buy, buy, buy. Nor do pages deliver 20, 30, or 40+ trackers to your computer.

The rationale is clear: the web is better when it’s simpler. But questions remain about the sustainability of any company once their ad revenue dries up.

Here’s where I must be slightly callous. Frankly, capitalism is said to be flexible and adaptive. The invisible hand is supposed to morph and move with demand. There are companies constantly winning and losing in this roulette wheel of life – not everyone wins all the time. The companies that can successfully adapt to changing market forces… They’re the winners in this game.

Either way, the web is here to stay.

Filed Under: Minimalism, Social Justice Tagged With: ads, advertisements, advertising, Apple, internet, Marketing, News, Technology, web

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