Five Ways to Live a Simpler Life

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I must say I am intrigued.

What would life be like with limited possessions (wouldn’t you just have wads of cash!) and with no desire to buy?

Sarah Wilson’s new project My Simple Home has had me mulling over this subject since I read the article.

Don’t get me wrong I couldn’t do what she is doing…I am not a beanbag on the floor kinda gal but I yearn for simplicity.

Apart from the occasional, much anticipated clothing spree, I don’t do shops. It’s not somewhere I go for fun, I go when I need something. My version of de-cluttering is not Sarah approved but I think she was slightly harsh in her criticism.

I think de-cluttering is a trend because people are LEARNING. I went through a stage where I bought, accumulated and stocked what I thought was needed to make myself a happy life.

I now know don’t need it all. I have stuff coming out of every cupboard and storage location.

So what to do? We can’t all be Sarah, who has never felt the need to collect things or buy. I am not de-cluttering to re-clutter. I am simply removing the superfluous from my life.

Why?

I hate cleaning. The less stuff you have, the less places you need to find to stash it all.

I also think by removing surplus from your life you are allowing other, more soul-squeezing things into your life.

 

Five Ways To Live a Simpler Life

1. When giving gifts give experiences – Swimming with dolphins, a trip to the movies, a night in a hotel, a holiday – the gift of anticipation, the gift of memories. God now that I think of it even children would love things like this – a voucher for an amusement park, movie tickets or a show.

2. Stop shopping and see how long you last – what else can you do with your time, money?

3. See if you can learn the pleasure of growing your own fruit and vegetables. I am a terrible gardener but I am enthusiastic. Even though NONE of my projects are yet to bear fruit (pun intended) I am happy to keep trying. The only thing? I hate spiders and creepy crawlies and I forgot about these creatures in my enthusiasm to become a fully-fledged organic gardener…..

4. If you’ve already cluttered up your place (like me) then start pruning. Give generously to those who think your junk is a treasure.

5. When you do have to buy things (like school supplies etc) look for things that are going to last, be kind to the environment and are re-usable or have multi-purpose.

Sarah has predicted this kind of thinking is going to be  HUGE trend this year. What do you think?

Have you thought about it?

Have any tips for me? I would love to hear your thoughts x x 

 

 

6 Comments

  2. I am certainly not a hoarder and get uncomfortable with too much stuff around. We try to live a simple life, partly out of necessity (a family of five isn’t cheap to keep these days!) and also because it just feels better. I declutter on a monthly basis but never throw much in the rubbish – it gets sold or passed on the charity. I like to think I could pack up to move to Italy in a heartbeat if ever the chance arose!

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    1. I can just see you, pen poised on your notebook as you sit, possession-less except for your lippy, writing at a cafe about the glorious food whilst looking over the Italian coastline x

      Sent from my iPhone

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  3. Yep, I feel the same and never felt so free as when we owned nothing but what could fit in our campervan of course that was pre-kids! During this latest house move, I can’t believe what we have re- accumulated in the 5 years that we have lived in ‘houses’ again. We gave heaps of furniture, toys, clothes and shoes to the flood victims of bundaberg (they were only an hours drive from us). So felt great to have somewhere really worthy of it to go although there is always somewhere worthy. But I think moving house a lot is the best way to remind us to keep things ‘simple’. I really would like it to be less exhausting though 😉 great post x

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