That could mean that I’m free enough, that I am at liberty to do as I am called but not to do any old thing I want.  But in this case it means this free recording of my introduction to the Freedom of Enough class starting this Tuesday.

This Enough course teaches the underpinnings of the program in Your Money or Your Life. It reflects the philosophical ground of being for  how Joe and I lived, the soil that grew the 9-step program. The program without the inner dimension is just strategies for saving a whack of money but cutting out unnecessary spending and keeping your eye on the goal of financial independence. It’s effective, but without a sense of what it’s all for, it is pretty mechanical. I like going for the soul. That’s definitely part of my “enough point” – or perhaps I should say my “well of enoughness”.

Trent Hamm is my special guest for a free 1-1/2 hour class Wednesday evening, March 3, starting at 5.00 PM PST. Click here to join the class – yes, really free!  Just so you know what an opportunity this is, I’m going to give you a link to his DAILY blog about intelligent money decisions. He reviews books on money, leadership, leading a good life. He is personal, talking about his own experiences. He is generous, giving away great material for free. And he says just what I would say if I blogged daily about money, frugality and simplicity. Try him, you’ll like him – in print and on the teleclass - here’s a link to his archives. Click anywhere and you’ll find something useful. And join the free class.

For what I’m doing with my time, you can listen a free classe here, and sign up for my next The Freedom of Enough Class here. It starts Wednesday, March 9 and runs for 5 weeks with teleclasses, a groupsite for sharing insights and 12 amazing practices that let you see the freedom of ‘enough.’

”More and more I heard the words: ‘Stop what you are doing now – all this luxury and consumerism – and start your real life’. I had the feeling I was working as a slave for things that I did not wish for or need.”

These are the words of Austrian tycoon Karl Rabeder, 47, who is giving away every penny of his $5.3 million) fortune, having realized that his riches made him unhappy.

I’ve just opened up another free introductory class for my “Freedom of Enough” class on February 23, 5.15-6.15 PM PST and I hope you’ll join me to muse on Karl’s question (which is all of our question) “How much is enough? Of anything? And what happens once you recognize you have it?”

Karl’s plan is to live on (more…)

John deGraaf has made another great film that’s both funny and searing in its critique of the toxic by-products of the  consumer culture. It’s called What’s the Economy for Anyway? and you can watch a trailer on YouTube. It stars Dave Batker, an ecological economist, head of Earth Economics and also surprise guest of the Conscious Money Speakers’ Series teleclass tonight.

If you meant to sign up for the series and missed it, you can still do so by clicking here and joining in for the rest of it. It’s discounted 15% – and you still get to hear all the recordings.

About Ecological Economics (more…)

The New York Times article “After Escaping Jobless Rolls, Trauma May Linger” profiles several people who’ve found work after 6 months to 2 years of unemployment, likening their anxieties and broken relationships to PTSD. They say, “It is not clear whether those who have gone back to work will embrace a new frugality. The Newbys are doing their best to rein in their spending, both out of necessity and to make sure they are better protected for the future. Like many other Americans, they had always simply spent what they earned.”

A new frugality? Is that spending less than you earn and saving for a rainy day – or year? Is it being so traumatized that you can’t spend? Is it like yo-yo dieting, binging and starving because you no longer can assess how much is enough? The savings rate is back up to 5% – is that from fear or prudence or waking up to what’s important in life? What do you think the new frugality is? How long will it last? Will we “go back to our old ways”?

And for those of you who are Your Money or Your Life readers, what role does the YMOYL approach have in helping people through a hard time?

What’s in a name? After all, it’s the ‘thing’ not the ‘name’ that matters. But I discovered about the Discover your Enough Point teleclass (new one starting in March - Free Intro Class on Tuesday, February 23rd) that the title wasn’t getting to the point. It’s not just about having “enough”. It’s about the sense of liberation you get when you realize that you finally do have enough. You are then free (more…)

Well, pretty far. I don’t know if this will attract you to my Discover Your Enough Point course or send you running in the other direction, but out of curiosity I went looking on the web for a song i wrote and recorded ten years ago on the theme of “enough.” Okay, so I can’t really carry a tune without someone on the other end keeping it from tipping off key, but it’s at least C for courage and I hope you agree it’s A for awesome lyrics… and still true now.

Click here to listen (you need realplayer) and below are the words.

And the Discover Your Enough Point class has room for 5 more participants. It’s great information, revealing practices and comes right from my heart and soul and 64 years of living.  Click here to register.

I Have Enough, Do You?

By Vicki Robin

Excuse me sir, I know it’s impolite
But since kids are starving I thought I might
Just ask some folks to figure out rough
If they could possibly have enough
Sure more might be better but maybe it’s worse
Stuff taxes your serenity as well as your purse, so
Could you say as though it were true:

I have enough
I do,
I have enough,
do you?

Hello Mr. Buffet and Mr. Gates
I’m wondering if you could congregate
Billionaires like you who might have a few
More things than you’re needing and be needing nothing new
Since our forests are denuded and our waters are polluted
Could your fortunes be diluted and maybe contributed?
So would you say and have it be true:

I have Enough
I do
I have enough
Do you?

Excuse me Mrs. Bangaladeshi
I just have one very simple question
If you haven’t enough can we work together
If what I have will help you weather
Poverty and storms I’ll surely give
For you and your neighbors to love and live
So we all can say and know it is true:

You have enough
You do
You have enough
Yes you do

Hey everyone can you just guess
How we might live without the mess
Of some having lots, some having less
Let’s all have plenty but none excess
Forget lamb and lions lying down together
Can rich and poor learn to love each other
So we all can say and know it is true:

We have enough
We do
We have enough
We all do.

By chance or by luck or by some mysterious design, I was invited at the last minute to do a teleclass on Saturday as part of the Women on the Edge of Evolution series. The topic was Having Enough for Life and it was truly wonderful and here’s a link to listen to it.

To my great pleasure and amazement, registrations poured in after the class for both my free class tonight and for the Conscious Money Speakers Series.  Because of that, I’ve put in an addition free introduction to the series. Click here to join the free teleclass on January 12 at 5:15-6:15 PM PST.

Last night 40 people and I “gathered” in a virtual workshop room to consider the rich questions of “How much is enough of anything? How do we know? What happens next – after you recognize that you have enough?”

Would you like to hear what happened? Click here for a recording.

There is still room in the class. Since attending the Gross National Happiness conference I’ve thought much about what makes us happy, what makes life worth living and how we can align our relationship with time and money and busyness and food and more so that how we actually spend our days adds up to a life we love. It really is my joy to explore that with a “room full” of equally curious and creative people, so I hope you’ll “come” to my class starting in January. Click here to sign up.