Muse creations aplenty!

Well Mr Smith and I have been brainstorming muse creations. These are what Tim Ferriss argues is the tool by which you can fund your lifestyle redesign.

I have started work on one muse in the coffee industry. Once the site is up and running, I will reveal what it involves. After briefing my designer via Elance http://www.elance.com/, she has come back with some fantastic logo concepts and we have almost chosen the final version. Her Elance profile is under ohSnap. The next step will be briefing in the website which I will also do via Elance or Guru.

Mr Smith and I have also come up with another idea around house-sitting. We have had frustrations with trying to find suitable places to house sit and have resorted to friends. This has made us realise there is a gap in the market which we can fill. I have again briefed the same designer (she is highly creative, quick and efficient) and looking forward to seeing her concepts.

Mr Smith is also using her for his muse logo which has just been finalised!

The ultimate aim by the end of this year is to have 3 online businesses up and running so that we can have multiple streams of income and apply E Myth principles http://www.emyth.com/ to them to ensure we have an efficient organisation that frees up time for us to focus on fulfilling our lifestyle dreamlines! E Myth by Michael Gerber is a fantastic how to book for small businesses to run your business more efficiently by working on your business rather than in your business!

Not only are we going to have more flexible income streams but also I'm learning how to set up a business from scratch and adopting skills along the way i.e. web design briefing

Lots of fun to be had!

Not bad for our first place!

This is the view from our first place of residence as we begin this interesting journey of ours. We don't feel we've done too badly this time round. We have rented out the bottom floor of my sister's place for a month and are in the process of working through what are essential items and what more can go into storage!

In the meantime we have come up with an idea for an additional muse (Passive Income Generators that require little or no set up costs - 'PIGs'). Mr Smith's brother is involved in the coffee industry and we are going to work on a joint project with him and his wife. Lots of fun that could turn into an effective muse! Watch this space...

Stuck in the office on Sunday

Got the opportunity to test my new route to work today, unfortunately it is Sunday:(

The good news is though we are fully out of our house and now in a new house. Things to do:

Disconnect phone, internet, gas, electricty and cancel contents insurance - that should save a fair bit! We are gearing up now for the next phase: Development of the muse.

The muse is an online business that will generate income for us with little or no work - the ultimate goal being the 4-hour work week. In the short term it means a bit of extra pocket money!

I sat down for a couple of hours this morning with a mate to go through our plans - still much to do but it looks great!

Location Independent Living

Well today I found this wicked site http://locationindependent.com/blog/ that described the ultimate lifestyle - living and travelling anywhere in the world and still earning an income. The principles are based on those found in the 4 hour work week around lifestyle design and I love it! First stop North Narrabeen Caravan Park - next stop - the world!

Here is an eBook that has been written by the author of the blog - definitely worth a read for all those wanting to begin their journey in Lifestyle Design!

Living in a Caravan Park!

Well today me and my in-laws went and checked out North Narrabeen Caravan Park and signed up for 5 weeks! We put the word out to friends, family and acquaintences via Facebook and SMS to see who might have a caravan they could lend or rent out and found a hit. We now have a caravan for 5 weeks at $500 and a site for 5 weeks with ensuite bathroom at $1700. Thus for $2200 we have 5 weeks accommodation - not bad! The caravan has 2 double beds so we can even have guests!




Here is a pic of our future home...

Well we have started!

This is a bit of retrospective post as we started on the weekend prior to the blog going live. One of the things The 4-Hour Work Week tells you is to eliminate. So that's what we plan to do. We are moving out of our rented house. We are currently spending a lot of money on rent ($900) per week - ouch.

We went to Kennards Storage and booked our space. We are moving our whole house into it. We are moving to Newport with Mrs Smith's sister and her bloke. We have our boxes and we start packing. We are continuing the elimination process - we are offloading all our unwanted stuff. Some to friends, some on eBay and some to the Salvos.

Getting excited and nervous at thre same time....

So, what is the 4-hour work week?

Taken from Vive Magazine Issue Oct/Nov 2008

"We're in the middle of a lifestyle revolution. Leading the charge is the New Rich (a modern derivative of nouveau riche) a group of people who have amassed independent wealth within their own generations. Most commonly, this group comprises of entrepreneurs who have found their fortunes on the internet's new frontier. With technology on their side they have effectively put lifestyle and work methodologies under the spotlight - and they are keen to spread the word. Tim Ferriss's thought provoking The 4-Hour Work Week discusses the concept of Lifestyle Design, questioning society's long held expectation that chronologically, work comes first, followed by retirement."

This is our story of bringing the 4 Hour Work Week to reality downunder!