Is it possible to live simply today?

[MariannNOVA]

:iagree: Very well put.

 

We cut our possessions by 1/3 when we moved from North Dakota to The Desert; we held the biggest garage sale the Base had ever seen (so they say :) ). It was very easy to do this in ND where the drive for excess didn't seem to be as in-your-face as it is here in the Big City; it's going to be EVEN HARDER when we move to the East Coast this summer. Well, yes it will be, but IF I have done it, anyone can do it! ;)When we get the gimmes, we remind ourselves of our North Dakota Mindset (as we dubbed it). Sometimes you just have to be purposeful and mindful.

 

Here in The Desert, we got rid of our cable, our huge cell phone plans (we do pay as you go and use our phones very sparingly), DH bike commutes about 20 miles a day to and from work, etc... we're FAR from simple as some people deem simple to be, but I think we're content and hoping to continue our downsizing.

 

We have gotten rid of the cable, the cell phone plans (I have a pay as you go as well most of the time I don't answer my phone). The H2 (I'm sorry to say) is going back at the beginning of May - the lease is up and GMAC (are they the dumbest people on the planet) say that we have to turn it back in and be without it for 6 weeks till we can buy it......:001_huh:....any wonder they are in such terrible financial shape? So, we will go down to just the H3, the old volvo, and we will continue to clean out closets, sort through toys, and divest.

[Sue G in PA]

We are saving the "good" toys for the younger ones. Thomas, Legos, Lincoln Logs, Little People, some cars/trucks, etc. but giving away the majority of the rest. I am amazed at how "sensitive" I am now to people who are overtly materialistic and don't even realize it. My pastor, for instance...very materialistic but I doubt he would call himself that. I know, b/c I used to be that way. VERY into "things". Now? Nope. Don't want the clutter.

[lakotajm]

Haven't read past page 3, so i hope I am not repeating any thing. Here is a link that I found interesting. http://www.christiancentury.org/article.lasso?id=2826

 

I have read Better Off. It is pretty interesting. We live fairly simply-partly due to living poor and rural, as other posters pointed out.

 

I have gotten frustrated lately with my kids having too many toys! Mostly I hate how they clutter up a house and the fight required at clean-up time. I despise the conflict created by over-zealous desire for more stuff on the part of my kids. I generally say no to toy requests which fall outside the holiday zones, but not everyone else cooperates. Getting them to put one in the give-away box for every one they bring in isn't working too well because they claim every toy is indispensable! More conflict...I actually was happier right after we had a house fire that destroyed everything. I know that sounds crazy, but I had less (no) stuff to clutter my mind with. We are rebuilding and I am not looking forward to moving into this empty space all the stuff we have since accumulated. Any tricks for convincing the family to give up some of the load?

 

Lakota

[lakotajm]

Sue,

cleaned a 13 gallon trash bag of Beanie Babies out of my ds' room.:001_huh:

Did you ask for their permission or do you just do it? Do they throw a fit? My Mom thinks it is cruel to throw away anything they do not voluntarily put in the box, as in "How would you like it if someone decided for you what to throw away of your things?" She's this way about all kid issues.

Like you should never make them apologize, since it would be insincere, etc. Another story.

But this is an interesting topic on its own. My SIL uses the "pack for a yard sale while dad takes them for a day trip" kind of method. I am unsure which is best. But the toy clutter is just too much and I cannot fathom moving into our newly built house (if/when it gets finished) with all that stuff!

Help!

Lakota

[FO4UR]

Did you ask for their permission or do you just do it? Do they throw a fit? My Mom thinks it is cruel to throw away anything they do not voluntarily put in the box, as in "How would you like it if someone decided for you what to throw away of your things?" She's this way about all kid issues.

 

 

Nope, I don't ask permission. I'm the mom! Out of grace, I do inform them of the impending clean-out of clutter and give them time to pick up and find a home for their special things. Anything that didn't find a home, is given one...by me.

 

I do store away most toys and rotate, rather than throwing them away.

[Mama Anna]

Did you ask for their permission or do you just do it? Do they throw a fit?

 

Last Christmas, after a couple of weeks of giving notice, I chased the oldest two dd out of their room, and went through the toy bins. I selected everything I thought it would be wise to get rid of and then organized them into groups - "play house" toys, building toys, loud toys, etc. I allowed the two girls to choose one of each group to keep. They had to agree on the one or else everything in the group would go. (I didn't try to get rid of good toys that only one of them would play with or toys that I knew they really enjoyed.) I allowed them to choose several of their stuffed animals to keep. After the purging, I kept all the purged stuff out of sight until a couple of weeks ago just in case I changed my mind about something. We are now able to fit all the toys (including the Christmas presents from last Christmas) into approximately the same space as the toys took before Christmas. Is that success . . .? (You know, I think I got the idea from someone on this board . . .)

 

FWIW, I recommend the "toy switch" scenario for helping to control clutter. I've found that when the girls have too many toys available they don't play with many of them. Limit the toys available and all are much more likely to be played with. So, we theoretically have a toy switch every two weeks. (Theoretically because it doesn't always happen on the day it should.) I ask what they want to put away, if they want anything special out, and then switch the toys for them. I don't permit them to see the boxes full of toys (although I will make suggestions if there's something nice that they've forgotten about) because dd3 would have to have it all out and Mama doesn't play that game.

 

So. Would that work?

 

Mama Anna

[LibraryLover]

My kids' stuffies have names, families, and stories, so I couldn't/wouldn't purge without doing it together. One little Monkey, fi, used to be a genius, but he fell into a telephone pole. Now he is silly and ill-mannered and eats with his hands and uses his arm fur as a hankerchief. ;)

[LibraryLover]

People might enjoy watching No Impact Man, which you can see on -demand via NetFlix. It's the story of one upper middle class family's efforts to live lightly in NYC for one year. (The wife has a designer clothes interest which she discusses in the beginning and you see her eyeing a fancy handbag at a second-hand store later in the documentary lol) and they have a small coop on 5th Avenue , although they don't seem to live at all extravagantly at the begininng of the experiement , but the various items/things/energy they give up is eye-opening. I loved watching him cloth diaper the toddler and put her in a wool cover...she liked it!

 

While we were in FL on vacation, my 10 yr old was very upset by the lack of recycling bins in the condos we stayed in. She was bothered that we had to throw out carrots ends and the greens from our strawberries etc. (We compost all that or feed them to our chickens). At one point she wanted me to put some of the peels and ends outside for the birds. But I told her that might attract rodents, and then people would want to spray even more posion around the place. DD is also working on having only 7 outfits, plus a 'wedding one, and a funeral one", and doing laundry only when clothing is dirty, and only once a week, if that. She's the child who can't think of much to want, and went on vacation for nearly 3 weeks with the $75 she had saved and came back with $64. She has a lot to say on this topic, and I am encouraging her to blog about it.

 

One thing that interests me is why some people do want certain things and others do not. My 16 yr old is in public high school, but he no more cares about new clothing any more than his hs'd sibs. Sure, he showers daily and wants to not stand out in junky clothing, but a plain tshirt works fine for him. Whenever I have found Holister or whatnot at Saver's/Value Village, he's not more excited. He doesn't care. Me, OTOH, would love to find a pair of say, Kate Spade sunglasses at Saver's. ;) I think they are cute.

Edited April 5, 2010 by LibraryLover

[bookfiend]

I haven't read all the replies, but I wanted to chime in.

 

I live in middle-sized town (pop. 20,000-ish) in a rural county (pop. 250,000-ish) in the central coast of California. We moved here after living in LA, the SF Bay Area and Sacramento. We wanted to live simply.

 

We bought a house on a 2/3 acre plot of land. Not huge to some, but absolutely enormous to us city transplants. It's in a sweet historic neighborhood "in the country." It is not simple.

 

We started a garden to grow most of our own veggies. Not simple.

 

We began to line-dry our clothes, make our own cleaning products, eschew plastic. Totally not simple! (Plastic is bloody well everywhere. I reiterate - not simple).

 

We eat organic, whole foods. We shop at farmers' markets or a natural foods store that is 20 minutes away. We cook most meals from scratch (right down to the bread). Still not simple.

 

We are also the proud owners of 5 little chicks, who will shortly be laying hens. We still need to find a bigger brooding box for them, build a coop, build chicken tractor, and erect some fencing. These gals are definitely not simple.

 

We decided not to do public school or organized team sports. Instead, we homeschool, do aikido, and take swimming lessons. Um... well, you know.

 

About the only thing that we did in pursuit of a simple life that has truly been simple was to cut the cable. We still have a small tv/dvd player combo, but since we don't have 600 channels coming into our living room, we are happier and saner for it. This is the ONLY way I could be even attempting the other stuff that we do (which despite not being simple, is very fun).

 

I agree the "simple life" as many express it - is A LOT OF WORK!

 

There is a big difference between living a simple life and living a peaceful life. The OP talked about frustration with the chaos of life. Doing everything from scratch like an imitation Amish woman, may seem simple - but I believe you could easily trade one set of stresses for another.

 

The true pursuit is to bring peace to your current circumstances.

[LibraryLover]

 

The true pursuit is to bring peace to your current circumstances.

 

 

Mindfulness. :iagree:

[Karis]

My kids' stuffies have names, families, and stories, so I couldn't/wouldn't purge without doing it together. One little Monkey, fi, used to be a genius, but he fell into a telephone pole. Now he is silly and ill-mannered and eats with his hands and uses his arm fur as a hankerchief. ;)

 

 

Love it!!

[Dandelion]

I just wonder if you think it is possible to live a fairly simply, uncluttered, contented life in this highly materialistic world where the almighty dollar is the only sign of success (to most people...please don't read into this!). I look forward to a discussion on this and ideas on how to live like this and how to get my family to get on board! Thanks!

 

I think it is possible, but difficult because our society (generally speaking) doesn't value simplicity. As another poster put it, you have to stop caring about what others think and be willing to make choices that might make you look weird - and that can be difficult (at least for me!).

 

My main roadblocks to simplicity are our clutter (it's EVERYWHERE!!) and the feeling that we should be involved in more outside activities (we're actually not over-involved - but I can't seem to shake the feeling that we should be). We actually have cut WAY back on buying unnecessary things (I'm now much better at stopping myself and questioning whether we really need something before we buy - it does make a difference). And as I've made changes to make our diet healthier, we've simplified our meals (once you try to cut out HFCS and artificial colors, flavors and preservatives, your menus become much more basic!).

 

I'll add another vote for www.zenhabits.net - I've been reading this blog for about 2 years now and have really gotten a lot out of it...

 

Great thread - I've enjoyed reading everyone's responses!

[Tutor]

I am reading a book right now that you may be interested in: Radical Homemakers: Reclaiming Domesticity from a Consumer Culture. Ironically, I am reading it after a friend sent me an article about it and said, "Hey, this is you!" :001_smile: So, technically, I could have written it, but I am finding it very encouraging to be exposed to such like-minded people (many of whom homeschool, btw). And when we get our commune established, I'll let you know... we'll leave the light on for ya'! :D

 

I have been doing a lot of souls searching, thinking, praying, re-evaluating, etc. lately. I live in a constant state of chaos...in my home, my mind, my relationships, etc. It isn't as bad as I am making it sound, but 90% of the time I feel extremely overwhelmed which leads to total shut-down and depression for me. We live in a community with a high percentage of Amish folk and I've been doing some reading and research on their way of life. Now, I'm not saying I am turning Amish...I love my computer WAY too much :tongue_smilie: and can't see myself raising horses and driving in a little buggy everywhere. BUT, what does appeal to me is the simple way of life. They live off the land, do not accumulate "earthly treasures", have their kids involved in every activity known to man, involve themselves with every ministry known to man, etc. Does anyone follow me? I just wonder if you think it is possible to live a fairly simply, uncluttered, contented life in this highly materialistic world where the almighty dollar is the only sign of success (to most people...please don't read into this!). I look forward to a discussion on this and ideas on how to live like this and how to get my family to get on board! Thanks!

[Jane in NC]

I am reading a book right now that you may be interested in: Radical Homemakers: Reclaiming Domesticity from a Consumer Culture. Ironically, I am reading it after a friend sent me an article about it and said, "Hey, this is you!" :001_smile: So, technically, I could have written it, but I am finding it very encouraging to be exposed to such like-minded people (many of whom homeschool, btw). And when we get our commune established, I'll let you know... we'll leave the light on for ya'! :D

 

Wow--this looks quite interesting. Thanks!

 

Jane