Simpler Living

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..which I seldom use. Spare no efforton insulation and sealing...buy the best quality doors and windows and sturdy shingles. I'm now ready to hunker down and ride out some hard times, yet I'm a mile or two from all services. Careful work, consideration of your neighbors and an understanding inspector helped immensely. Don't be afraid to ask questions, enlist labor and learn. One other note is I did use a professional local plumber, by the hour, who was more than willing to work with me in stages. The right property will show it's potential right away...I surprised myself and all the naysayers along the way. I love my 90-year-old house like it was new. Back to the topic of this post: After 10 years of retail I had an Epiphany regarding consumerism and watching everyone struggle to have the latest easy thing. I became free of all debt as I finished the house. With my small quarters I scrutinize every purchase now as to usefulness; literally for every item coming in the front door, something goes out the back. If I choose to, I can turn the dead-bolts and be gone weeks at a time and not worry about all my 'stuff'. I also said goodbye to retail--too much stress along with temptation to buy.

After floundering in career and relationships for twenty years I returned to my home town of 90,000 and bought a very small, extremely distressed home in an established neighborhood. I bought the long neglected 'cottage' word of mouth through an estate. As luck would have it my next job involved selling building materials at a home center. Over the next ten years I turned my 428 sq. ft. shack into something commonly referred to now as a doll house. I tackled every project myself, utilizing new-found knowledge at work, and from a wealth of previous experiences. I routinely borrowed pick-up trucks, tools of all kinds and human capital...all of which I paid back in kind over time. The only thing original to the house now is the shell, claw-foot tub and plaster walls. I engaged carpenters on two occasions; once completely restructuring the roof for aesthetics as well as maintenance ease. I found an Electrician willing to coach me on code as I had some schooling there, and he signed off on the final hook-up, saving me thousands of dollars and allowing the place to have great customization. I spent a lot of money on rebuilding the basement(by hand over two years) and extensive landscaping, one weekend at a time. Elevated gardens are the only way to go! I built two decks, one with composites that has held up very well, they other with simple treated wood. Nothing too elaborate as they are taxed as living space. A neighbor agreed to a privacy fence exactly on the line, and split the cost while I built most of it. A hand built 10x12 shed on concrete and a simple 65x13 gravel driveway which took several years of effort to finalize. No power equipment beyond hand electrical tools and an inexpensive table saw. All wheelbarrow, shovel and sledgehammer. Even with original wood siding (expensive to repair, my monthly overhead is about $300 including all utilities, taxes and insurance. Maintenance is minimal and ongoing. I kept my 1947 gravity furnace and window air, which

I agree with everything in this article except the television. I find that I am greatly enriched by the educational television available to me--Discovery, Science, History, and local stations that give me information about the history of my little corner of the world. I am wiling to live frugally and embrace what that entire lifestyle entails--but I do not think giving up such a rich, enlightening medium as good television (not the trashy mindless programs) is truly a good choice. Think about it--where else can I learn about and see in great depth the different cultures, animals, and everything else these programs bring me in my lifetime--I don't have unlimited financial resources. These programs broaden my life and my world, increase my understanding and hopefully teach me that my life is intertwined with an immensely rich tapestry of humankind. I'm just suggesting you think about it before you pull the plug on television.

I enjoyed this article because it confirmed that I am headed in the right direction. I am in the process of shedding my clutter and heading for a more simple life style. My enormous mountain of "stuff" has weighted me down emotionally for way too long and I have gifted, donated and freecycled about 1/3 of it already. We are in the process of planning our 5th year of gardening (it keeps getting bigger every year) and we canned for the first time last year. We have just struck a deal with a neighborhood fruit/veggie stand to sell/trade our surplus produce; variety and/or cash for us and he gets fresh locally grown produce for his customer. The other benefit is that we met a neighbor who is now a new friend. Regarding the comments from Amanda/Canadian woman: Lighten up honey.

Hello all. This article has a few good bits of advice but there are some really fundamental problems with it. I just blogged about it in fact http://cdnwoman.blogspot.com/2009/01/what-were-you-thinking-mother-earth.html so I will save my "breath" and let you read my thoughts there.

It was good to read this. Being that I started about five years ago and only got serious within the last two years, conscious living (as opposed to following society) is something that is still relatively new to me. I want to be Pa Ingalls, !!!YESTERDAY!!!, and still need to be reminded--often-- to take it one area at a time, instead of getting myself mired and frustrated trying to change everything at once.

My kids, being young (7, 1, and 3 months gestation) are right on board. It helps that, having been "college-kids-with-unplanned-baby poor" for most of my daughter's life, there was no need to de-materialize her at 5 years of age. Getting my raised-on-debt, dyed-in-the-wool mainstream suburbanite husband (a fault that was irrelevant when we married and now makes me grit my teeth on a weekly basis) to consider another lifestyle, much less implement it, has been like turning an aircraft carrier...

...but, with the help of articles like this to nurture a sense of possibility in him (not to mention patience and perseverance in me), I believe we'll get there.

On good days, anyway.

This is a great article on a topic dear to my heart. Ten years ago my husband and I moved to a small down in Wyoming to simplify our lives and to live the kind of life that Ms. Urbanska writes about. She writes about supporting local economies by buying locally. I couldn't agree more, and it's something that I really believe in because it strengthens and enhances communities. But, I've also noticed this -- when I shop at a local merchant, I always walk out of the store feeling good to have supported a local storeowner. The relationship not only helps the community, it feels great! I can't ever say that I've felt that way about a Walmart purchase.

I really enjoyed this issue's top story, "Simpler Living" -
helpful, encouraging, inspiring and certainly extremely timely in view of the current financial crisis caused by the opposite of simple living: materialism, greed, conspicuous consumption and rampant, ravenous consumerism.

For those interested in this subject who may want some excellent, easy reading on this subject, I highly recommend "Get Satisfied" by Carol Holst and Peter Whybrow, M.D. It features actual personal stories from twenty people who have simplified their lives under very different circumstances and have found happiness from "the satisfaction of enough".