Modern Life

Traveling Lighter

Tuesday, October 19, 2021

Macy Miller is an architect who found herself with the wrong guy, in the wrong job at the wrong time with a big house payment. Then the 2008 recession hit. She ended up divorced, downsized at work and foreclosed on at home. It was a scary time. That was when she re-thought what a good life meant.
 
“A big motto of mine is there are two ways to be rich. You can accrue more stuff, or you can want less stuff.”
 
That’s how she explained it to Jamila Souffrant, an award-winning podcaster, blogger, money educator and the host of Modern Life: Real stories about life, money and redefining what matters. To that end, Macy took a year’s worth of rent money to build herself a tiny house. Thinking ahead, she included a little extra storage space should someone come into her life down the road. She did not imagine working a couple of children in, as well, but that’s what she has been able to do with her minimalist approach in the minimal footprint she is expensing. It’s a bit of magic; the glimpses you get of her house over her shoulder in the podcast make you think, really? That’s a tiny house? It doesn’t scream miniature. It just looks very, very tidy.
 
This Modern Life podcast series is put out by Fidelity, our Northern Light investment partner. It’s really good, like something I would listen to even if I didn’t have a personal interest in this company and a hunk of my money in their hands. The accompanying articles and tips on the Modern Life website are the same way…really interesting independent of any connection we have with them. I’m kind of shocked for some reason.
 
The podcasts are between 15 – 20 minutes. The articles are 5-minute reads. You can take in a fun fact without needing to blink. All very do-able. I can’t recommend enough minimally investing a few minutes to click your way around this link:
 
Modern Life | Get inspired with podcasts, newsletters, and insights | Fidelity
 
Circling back to Macy’s motto…I admire it. It has so much appeal, especially since mine appears to be, “Never travel light.”
 
To lighter living,