Category Archives: Simple Living

Simple living is right there in the name of this site, and you’ll find simple living ideas scattered throughout all the topics. Here in this section, you’ll find a mishmash (I admit it) of articles. You’ll find a book review of The Encyclopedia of Country Living which is hundreds and hundreds of pages of simple living information, with at least half just as useful to city dwellers despite the title.

You’ll see articles about what simple living is and how I sometimes decide NOT to live simply. I claim that simple living isn’t simple and then in another post I say it’s fun. Like I said, a mishmash!

Simple Living in 15 Minutes a Day

Simple Green Living

Simple living is a great goal but it’s all too easy to let yourself get caught up in the complexities of life. What if you decided to spend 15 minutes a day simplifying your life? Here are some ideas for what you could do in that time. Actually, I find that when I get going on a project, often I easily make the time to finish it up, even if I thought I had no more than 15 minutes to spare. But if you wanted to hold yourself to 15 minutes, you could set a timer or your phone. What … Continue reading →

Doug’s Little Turtle

Simple Green Living

My long-time friend Doug Greener went to Sierra Leone with me and some other American college students back in 1963, as part of a workcamp project, Operation Crossroads Africa. He lives in Israel now, and I thought this blog post he did there was a great example of the pleasure you can get from simple living. By the way, he also has a beer blog. He writes: A few months ago, I found a baby turtle walking on a stone path behind our apartment building. He was very small, about as round as a silver dollar, and I have no … Continue reading →

Minimalism: A Documentary About the Important Things

Simple Green Living

The 2016 Indie film of the year, Minimalism: A Documentary About the Important Things, asks the important question, How might your life be better with less?  That link goes to the film’s website, which is quite minimal itself, but it does have links to Netflix (where I added the film to my list), itunes, Amazon (where it’s not available at this time in Amazon Prime but you can rent it or buy the DVD),google store, and Vimeo. I’m too much of a minimalist to spend money watching this film that I already agree with, but since I can watch it … Continue reading →

Organize Your Stuff: A Little Every Day

Simple Green Living

If you organize your stuff a little every day, it won’t be long before your home begins to look nicer. You may be surprised at how much better you feel as well. The reason that many people advocate a minimalist lifestyle is that it simplifies their lives and gives them more freedom to do what they want. Now I’m not quite a minimalist but I do love the results when I clean something out. Even just one drawer or box. There may be things that you want to keep “just in case.” Some of those things may be worth keeping … Continue reading →

Why We Keep Track of What We Spend

Simple Green Living

My husband and I write down what we spend whenever we get home, right on a clipboard we keep in the kitchen by the phone. Why? It really keeps us on track. If we’ve been eating out more than usual, there the numbers are, staring us in the face. Well, the numbers sitting on the clipboard are not that useful just by themselves. But we enter them in our computers, using one of the many apps that are available. Once we’ve done that, using various categories we’ve set up, then the facts do jump out at us. Sometimes it isn’t … Continue reading →

Getting Started with Getting Things Done

Simple Green Living

Too much to do, too little time. Things get away from us. We forget errands, or even more important things. As for doing the things we really care about, well, when? Ever? In five years or maybe ten? Actually I’m feeling much better about my own time management lately, as I have been starting to use a system called GTD. It’s based on a book by David Allen called . I bought the book when it came out in 2002 but didn’t really start applying till a few weeks ago.Yup, 9 years later. I’d even read the book back then, … Continue reading →

If You Go Green, Will It Really Matter?

Simple Green Living

Many people just can’t get into making changes in their lives to help the planet. They often say that it seems futile to them. With billions of people alive — and world population still rising — how much can it matter what one person or one family does? I can understand this point of view, as I have certainly had this thought myself many times. How much can it really make a difference if I write articles on simple living, for example? I think the point is that all we can change is ourselves. That’s where all of us have … Continue reading →

Mortgage Free

Simple Green Living

Doesn’t “mortgage free” have a nice sound to it? It’s a worthwhile goal and even if it seems like a pipe dream to you now, consider it for the long term. It may not be possible immediately, but things could change. My husband I were lucky enough reach this state five years ago, and it has changed our lives for the better, more than we even expected. Here’s how it happened: we sold a house and traveled for a while, then bought a smaller and much less expensive place. We both feel much less stressed as a result of becoming … Continue reading →

Four Ways to Go Greener and Save

Simple Green Living

One nice thing about going green is that there are many ways you can save money at the same time. We want to do the right thing for the planet, but with all the demands on our own time and money, there is only so much that most of us realistically can do. So when we can both save some money and do something that benefits the world, it’s a good combination. Some of these things may save you some time, while others may take a little more time, especially when you are setting them up.The four things I will … Continue reading →

What can you do to be part of the solution?

Simple Green Living

Here’s an article that I liked so much that when I saw it was available to reprint, I decided to! Here is Paul Chefurka, writing on what you can do and what he has done — the link takes you to the article on his website, which has a lot of good reading on it. — Zana What Can You Do? Many of us are looking for concrete actions we can take to move from being part of the problem to being part of the solution.  Below is my action (or inaction) list.  Doing these things will improve the situation … Continue reading →

Why I Am Going to Live Less Sustainably

Simple Green Living

It’s true, I am going to live less sustainably, starting this spring. I’m really excited about it. So is my husband. He is admittedly a bit less excited about it but we are in agreement about our plans. Updated: Thursday, January 28, 2010

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50 Frugal Living Tips

Simple Green Living

I said recently that I might sometime use something from the excellent website Zen Habits, as the content there is all copyright-free and available for use. So here is the article full of tips on frugal living. — Zana Post written by Leo Babauta. Follow him on Twitter. Confession time: I’m a cheapskate. Some would say frugal, which sounds much more positive, but in reality I can be a real cheapskate. I am fairly frugal (though not always), but sometimes I take it too far: I have T-shirts with holes in them, I never buy new clothes, we’re shopping for a … Continue reading →

Get Out of Debt

Simple Green Living

Four years ago, my husband Kelly and I got completely out of debt. It was heavenly, and we have stayed completely out of debt since. No mortgage, credit cards paid off monthly. We chose to sell our earthbag home in Colorado to become debt-free, and that was not an easy decision to make. I don’t know if we would have sold it if the Byers hadn’t come along. No, that is not a misspelling. While we were dithering about to sell or not to sell, I mentioned to some people we knew, the Byers, that we were considering selling. When … Continue reading →

Buying Green Isn’t Enough

Simple Green Living

Living a simple green life isn’t just about buying greener stuff. We need a major change of consciousness. Now that many businesses have jumped on the green bandwagon, it is possible to get more ecological versions of food, clothing, vehicles, building materials, and other things. This is to the good. It’s also the case that a lot of the things being touted as green aren’t very. But leaving that point aside for now, the fact is that just buying green is nowhere near enough to keep our environment from being horribly polluted. I’ve seen television shows where an existing house … Continue reading →

Reducing Your Trash Output

Simple Green Living

The No Impact Man project blog by Colin Beavan is a great example of how much we can change our lives to live more simply without a lot of deprivation. He lives in Manhattan with his wife, young daughter, and dog. I came across his blog because of a link someone else had to his article on 42 ways they are avoiding making trash. I was intrigued by using baking soda and cider vinegar instead of shampoo and may try it – he links to full details. I like his last one:: Updated: Saturday, April 18, 2009

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Simple Living Isn’t Simple

Simple Green Living

Back when the  movement got started — that link takes you to the book of that name — I noticed that simple living was often complex. Here are some examples: It’s way more work to make your own bread by hand than to buy a good whole grain loaf from a bakery or grocery store. (Now, with bread machines, this is less true!) It’s more time consuming to recycle… happily, this is less true now, but it certainly was then, when we had to drive our stuff to a recycling center that was only open on Saturdays. Shopping for all-cotton … Continue reading →

The Encyclopedia of Country Living, by Carla Emery: A Review

Simple Green Living

I first bought the massive  by Carla Emery over ten years ago. I kept it by my bedside for late-night reading because there was no pesky plot to keep me awake. I found it written in an enjoyable style, with lots of sections I wanted to read. I’ve cooked many recipes from it and several have become favorites. The title  is a bit misleading: this is not just a book for people living in the country, as anyone interested in simple living will find a lot of interest in the book. It would also be useful to people trying to get … Continue reading →

Simple Living is Fun!

Simple Green Living

I don’t think this aspect occurs to people until they have been involved in simple living for a while. Admittedly, going around changing all your light bulbs may not be the most fun you’ve had this week. It has its own rewards, of course, but fun isn’t the main one. Personally, I like simple living because with fewer possessions and a smaller home to take care of, with a less hectic lifestyle, I have more time. More time to write — and for me, a day when I don’t get around to writing is a day with less life in … Continue reading →

Simple Living, Green Living

Simple Green Living

Simple living, green living… would you like to do more? Want to live more ecologically, more in harmony with nature? There are so many things that you can do to change your lifestyle, a little bit… or a lot… Anything you do helps us all. As modern physics shows us, we are all far more deeply interconnected than we have realized. You may be — as I have been — overwhelmed or angry or not sure what matters the most. The purpose of this site is to help you choose what you can do to live more simply, what actions … Continue reading →