I’ve shared why I choose to live a simple life but now I want to share what a simple life looks like in our home.
But what is a simple life?
It’s going to look different for everyone.
For me it is:
- Treading lightly upon the earth. Doing my best to use fewer resources and make greener choices.
- Treating my body like a temple. I feel a little cheesy saying that but it’s sort of true. I try my best to take care of my body because my health is my wealth and without it no amount of money will matter.
- Being frugal. To save money where we can so that we can put that money towards a greater purpose (paying debt, saving for retirement, building a business, donating or otherwise helping others, reaching goals and dreams etc).
- Living with a purpose, reaching out to others and doing good in the world.
Our Home
We rent a home where we have outside space for a garden and a chicken coop. Our home is actually a pretty good size yet still affordable so we are very lucky.
All of our furniture has been given to us, is borrowed or was bought used except for our couch (which ironically really needs to be replaced).
In the Future: I really appreciate people who choose to live in really tiny homes but I don’t think I could do it. Mainly because winters are so long here and we are stuck inside for so much of the year. That said, I could see us building or renovating a small home with really cool storage like this.
Clothing
As you know we don’t spend a lot of money on clothes. We try to buy used first, shop sales next and pay full price only as a last resort. We choose not to have lots of new or expensive clothing because we would prefer to spend our money on other things like vacations, hobbies, etc.
In the Future: I would love to become more skilled in sewing and be able to upcycle thrift store finds or sew my own clothing from vintage material. We’ll see.
Food
We choose to eat mostly homemade real food. I try to grow as much as possible and make homemade breads and granola bars for snacks. We don’t eat out or get take out often (maybe once a month). And we try to avoid processed and prepared foods. Not only is our food healthier but also we save a lot on our grocery bill by avoiding packages and making our own.
In the Future: I would love to say that I raise, grow, bake and preserve all of my own food. I don’t know if that will ever happen (and it really doesn’t have to).
Commitments
I try not to pack too many activities into one week and I also make sure we have at least one weekend a month that we can just stay home and do our own thing. I don’t like being so busy that I’m stressed out and frazzled all the time (although sometimes it can’t be avoided).
We try to prioritize time with each other and with friends and family above everything else.
In the Future: I would love to get to a point where neither Matt nor I have to “go” to work. A girl can dream can’t she?
Possessions
I wouldn’t call us minimalists (like at all) but we do try to have only what we need. One main reason we choose not to have lots of stuff is because it’s expensive to have lots of stuff.
That being said, I sometimes have a hard time saying no to free stuff because I mean, it’s free! Who doesn’t like free stuff!
But then it just turns into clutter and I get rid of it anyway. There is nothing worse than clutter. Hmm, I guess it would be easier not to take it in the first place.
In the Future: I hope we can instill the value of less in our daughter even though she will inevitably be faced with consumerism.
What does a simple life look like for you? How would you like to change or improve?
This post is shared at Waste Not Want Not Wednesdays, Frugal Days Sustainable Ways, Wildcrafting Wednesday, Simple Living Wednesday, Simple Lives Thursday, Homeacre Hop, Fabulously Frugal Thursdays
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Well it’s May. The month when we can finally believe that there is no more snow coming (usually…sorry midwest 
). It’s also my birthday month (I’m turning 28) and that’s sort of exciting, right?
About a year ago I decided to finally stop using commercial deodorant. I just couldn’t ignore all of the negative health implications anymore (for the record- I think it’s totally fine to ignore those things until you are ready for that change. Otherwise we would be overwhelmed with information and fear and would probably just give up).
Let me start by saying: we are definitely not perfect. We try to eat as much of a whole foods diet as possible but we don’t eat whole foods 100% of the time. I do hope to get there though (or close) and these are the reasons why:
It’s April! We still have a little bit of snow but it is definitely getting warmer and we have been able to get outside a bunch.
I’ve been wanting to make reusable food bags to replace plastic for a while now (it was actually one of my February goals that didn’t get finished) but I was having a hard time figuring out what kind of waterproof fabric was food safe.
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I haven’t bought a bottle of salad dressing in a long time. Besides the occasional bottle of Newman’s I think it’s been a few years.
A few weeks ago I started some pepper seeds but they didn’t grow (
It’s finally March! February seems like it is both the shortest and longest month of the year. The weather makes me want to just stay inside but we’ve spent