svwagner

not quite. i don't have retainers, servants, or vassals.

but we do live quite well, i'll give you that.

Blackberry

I have always wanted a vassal. A liege would be good too.

ragmathewombat

Sometimes, A/C is considered an "essential" for living in ridiculously hot climates. I'd say that only in hospitals does it really do much good over cheaper ceiling fans and good insulation. Elderly people don't need air conditioning if they haven't spent 80 years in Chicago or Buffalo followed by 10 in Phoenix...yet Aborigine great grandmothers are barely sweating at 105 years old in 120 degree heat.

attercoppe

Good stuff here, I'll add one thing that works for me that's only been briefly touched on. I don't want to start a rent vs own debate, but part of my simple life is renting an apartment rather than owning a house. When it comes to home and yard maintenance (or even housecleaning, for that matter), I'm the type that jumps right in at first, but loses interest pretty quickly. I'd rather throw away my money, as some say, on rent than to have to do all the upkeep myself. If I owned a house, I'd probably spend a fair amount of money on paying other people to do (or at least finish) many maintenance-type things, because to me it would be worth it to not have to do it myself.

ragmathewombat

The weird part about the rent/own/house/apartment debate is that most families seem to consider their own fenced-off half acre as a right akin to freedom to pursue happiness, hence suburban sprawl. I think the real answer is somewhere in between sprawl and total anthills in the middle of a huge parkland. Fenced-off gardens and lawns on roofs would be perfect, since your kids can play in a protected space or when they grow up, you can take them out to the undeveloped parkland saved from turning into backyard. I wouldn't raise kids in an apartment just to prove a point, but indoor spaces can be just as productive and stimulating as long as there's the occasional trip to the beach or the mountains. On bikes.

attercoppe

Oh, and another tip re: The Simple Life - don't watch it, it's a crap show. (Is it even still on? I saw a few episodes the first season.)

Roody

For me, living simply means trying to answer these three questions about reality:

1. What do I really need?
2. What real price must I pay to get what I need?
3. Will I really be happier when I get it?

I guess these are pretty simple questions, but they do help me figure stuff out.

svwagner

i must admit, so have i.

svwagner

and i also think that part of the problem with the simplicity debate about rent/own is that it pretty quickly starts to head in this direction.

i can only say that after renting for 12 years, that owning a house for us is more to our taste and it better suits are move toward simplicity. this is largely becuase our move toward simplicity, in the end, is geared toward full or partial retirement. once the mortgage is entirely paid off (and this will be very soon), we have only property taxes to worry about -- and they're not much. it's rather shocking to see just how much money you save if you pay off a 30-year mortgage in 5 years.

in return, we have a house of our own, a piece of property that we can develop inside and outside as we wish, and a massive amount of financial equity -- that will keep growing as time goes by. should we decide, when we're 50, that we want to move to another part of the country or just travel, we'll be able to sell the house for several times what we paid for it. or, we might decide just to live in the same place for the next 50 years (this being our general inclination anyway).

the important point is that owning house and property as freehold (and that's the crucial point) provides rather a lot of freedom -- to invest in other things, to spend the money, to work less, to later sell for a significant profit, or whatever.

mike

You need some ideas on how to live the simple life? Let me fast-forward you to the simple life.

I lost my job some time ago (God bless America) and decided to start my own business. For the first year we lived mostly without income, surviving off of quickly evaporating savings. THAT kind of experience will turn you to the so-called "simple life". You don't have to ponder how to accomplish the simple life. Economics gets you there faster than anything else.

Suddenly, you start to actually enjoy the experience of shopping at a grocery store. Suddenly, meat is a treat! You know you have hit simple life Nirvana when the family finally stops biitching about eating beans again because they are glad to have them and start to appreciate your creative ways to modify recipes.

The wife's "Ungodly busy" days get more simple when you drop the piano lessons and swimming lessons and hockey lessons, and all the other money sucking crap that the kids hated doing anyway. We had time to eat dinners together and talk together. We went to the library together to get books rather than going to Barns and Noble for coffee and a $100 pile of bookshelf weights. We went to church together and prayed together for our health, and for the ones we loved, and for people we didn't know and for improved income.

I used the fireplace as the main heat source for the house - "oh how charming" - ya, right. We rode bicycles because it made sense to do so rather than scooting off by car. One measure of how our life was being simplified was that our weekly garbage production went from four garbage cans on trash day to one garbage can.

Ah yes, the "simple life"; you can buy it cheap, my friends. Most of us are just one bad day at work away from the simple life.

becnal

1. If you have a tv, throw it out.
2. If you have a car, throw it out.
3. If you have children, throw them out.

I-Like-To-Bike

A German billboard advised me to smoke Polo cigarettes for the simple life.

The attached photo has been edited for posting here just in case there are any simple minds out there. The original billboard was not so edited.

xxamr_corpxx

1. Second-hand goods.
2. No TV,radio,stereo, or newspaper subscription. Use internet instead. (I hear there's free internet available in the states.)
3. Cycle whenever I can. This year I cancelled my gym membership.

ellenDSD

Wow! That looks like a very nice simple life to me. I will pass on the ciggie but the fella is REAL cute and just think about the money that woman saved by not having to wear a top. Where do I sign up?

Juha

Yep, the overall amount of trash goes down with simple life. You will probably also switch from microwaved meals to cooking fresh, "real" food, which in turn increases the amount of biodegradeable trash you produce (and reduces the non-biodegradeable kind).

BTW, how many of you sort the household waste? It doesn't really simplify life, but I think it fits well in the general context of simple life. The small housing company I currently live in has separate containers for recyclable paper, biodegradeable waste and "general" mixed waste. We will probably get a container for cardboard in the near future.

--J

mike

Oh ho ho. Are you kidding? The microwave and fast foods were the first to go. It is hard for the 59 cent frozen burrito for one to compete with a 39 cent box of instant macaroni & cheese that feeds two.

Yes, we do separate our garbage here, but for some insane reason, it all still goes to the landfill. The county says that they are trying to set up a system for when we really want to start to reclaim. Until then, we separate, and they landfill.

Anyway, I took separating garbage to the next level. I used all the burnable stuff as fuel in the fireplace. I am not sure which was worse for the environment; burning or landfill. I tell you, though, an empty plastic milk jug or a gallon vegetable oil container really throws out the BTU! You can also get a lot of mileage out of left-over cooking oil poured over wood logs. Newspapers, junk mail, empty boxes - all turned into heat for the house. Once you reduce spending and burn all the flamable garbage, there isn't much left besides a couple of cans and potato peels.

Roody

One rule of thumb is that when you don't have a lot of things, take good care of the things you do have. For example, keep your bike well maintained. Lube it and adjust it frequently.

You don't want to worship stuff in a materialistic way, but respect the belongings you have been blessed with.

attercoppe

Yikes! I don't think those fumes are good for you...

Waste reduction:
I sort my trash - recyclables (most of which I cycle 4 miles RT to drop off) are newspaper, all other paper, cardboard, aluminum, glass, and plastics. Food waste goes in the freezer until I get a bag (from the deli, had lunchmeat or cheese in it) full, then gets tossed. Keeping the food waste out of my regular trash means I can wait longer to pitch the regular trash. It takes me 2-3 months to fill a standard-sized paper grocery bag with landfill-bound trash. I need to find someone nearby who composts and wants my food waste...

Meals:
After years of moving around a lot, changing jobs, living in the city, etc, I'm finally back to cooking at home instead of eating out all the time. And real cooking, not microwave meals - in fact I don't have a microwave. I heat up leftovers on the range, the same way I cooked them in the first place. As mentioned, this also tends to reduce your waste.

Clutter/posessions:
I also shop at the thrift store...of course, I go even when I don't need anything, and still buy stuff, which just adds to the clutter. As long as I give enough stuff back to the thrift store to pretty much "break even", it doesn't pile up.

Entertainment:
No TV, I do watch DVDs on the PC - I check them out from the library, much cheaper than renting. Hanging out with friends can also be very enjoyable. Get together to cook, or go hiking or window shopping or bicycling together. My neighbor loves to gold pan - I don't get near as excited by it as he does, but I go with him sometimes. I get a good hike, spend some time outside, learn something new, and strenghten our friendship.

One other thing that makes my life fulfilling, as well as filling time that I might otherwise spend watching TV or whatever, is community involvement. I just moved here eight months ago, and already I'm president of a local theatre group, serve on the Town Trails committee, volunteer for the Heritage Society, participate in historical reenactments, attend community dances, city council meetings, and other community events, am being recruited to serve on the Chamber of Commerce Board come fall, etc etc. I moved here knowing no one (not to mention not having a job or a place to live) and now am an active and recognized member of the community. I found out last night at a CofC function that people I've never met know who I am! Find something you can attend or volunteer for that you enjoy, meet some new people, and learn some new things.

brunop

throw your ipod at your tv.

I-Like-To-Bike

Yep. Like this. This is in the States somewhere, edited. Still, German tobacco ads are hard to top for simple life and kinky cycling images.

chephy

Wow! My hat goes off to you. Living without a computer is as incomprehensible for me as car-free living is to a typical suburbanite. However, I greatly enjoy the fact that my life has neither a car nor TV in it, and I hope that doesn't change.

literocola

I dont have a computer, TV, car, or any of that sh-t.
I do have a computer at work (not mine, but my bosses), and a TV, but the TV remanes on the OLN network.

Blackberry

Ever start a thread and then wish you hadn't? This is not one of those times.

thelung

Haha, best thing I read in a while. I agree.

Lamplight

I can't determine whether you meant getting fired or getting fed up and walking out in a huff. For me it would definitely be the latter.