Simplifying Life - Mark II

apardion

Yes. I too have suffered from anxiety and depression and still do. Simplifying my life and moving close to family has helped me a great deal. I thought a rural life was my ideal, but 2 years in Orkney changed my mind on that. I am back living in a city but my life is much simpler. I can walk anywhere, free parks and playgrounds are easily accessible for my daughter. My husband works and I don't and his commute is much quicker here than it was when we were rural. Sometimes simplifying is not exactly what you think it is going to be. My main goal this year is to be a little bit more sociable and make a friend or 2.

TimeforTea_4

Simply Life..... I wish.

I`d love to slow down and stake stock but everytime i try to do that then some other thing happens and back i am sorting and running around like a headless chicken.

I want a simple life....pleaseeeee

Chickenopolis

Lavender Rose - lovely post ! Yes, I agree and I yearn for it .I have cut my hours at work due to health reasons and have not looked back tbh. Things like pottering around in the garden with the hens, picking our home grown produce and giving it to people I care about and know appreciate it is priceless . Having the time to spend with my family is a luxury . My brother and his wife have new cars, the latest gadgets and work all the hours under the sun to pay for the cars and the gadgets that they never have time to use because they are at work !

Tryingagainandagain

This really struck a chord with me as it is exactly what I am progressing toward.

I too have suffered ill-health and redundancy. I am about to move into a small flat on the outskirts of a city, close to family.

I will be able to declutter and concentrate on the things that are important.

When I have moved I will be working part-time, not the crazy hours I worked before.

There are good free and cheap facilities close by and I will make sure I have the time to take full advantage.

Blackbeard_of_Perranporth

Simplicity starts with booting out the bull organ.

Tv gone now for 45 days. Sadly, not missed. BBC radio switched off.

Now, on entering emporiums I sneak the headline in the black tops and think. How miserable it is to read this chit.

Me, entertainment is. A decent pint and a book to read. Leisure that is a pleasure. Current is a Max Wasting on Churchill. Very imploring read.

flowertotmum

Hi..what a lovely post..the simple life is very appealing..apparently i have a good life..well according to the rest of my family..who still somehow manage to make that comment sarcastic sounding.
I teach my 2 little girls from home..very rewarding and illuminating.We bake our own bread and make just about everything from scratch,grow our own and make do and mend as much as possible..we have a tv but its hardly ever on..prefering to read and do other things..
I only learn whats going on in the world when someone tells me..ignorance or bliss am not sure..i love my easy going life and wouldn't swap it for anything.
And good luck to anyone simplifying..its so rewarding.
ftm

Goldiegirl

I'm very much in agreement with the sentiments in this post.

Over the last few years I have been moving towards a simpler life.

I work part time now, and have been de-cluttering my life of excess stuff, and not being such a part of the consumer society.

I only buy things when I need them, not as a form of entertainment. I like cooking, and reading and doing jigsaws, and pottering in the garden. We've started growing some of own vegetables. It's very satisfying eating produce that you have grown yourself.

I realised yesterday how far along the simplicity road I had come.

My husbands cousin was 60 yesterday and a group of us met up, and climbed the roof of the O2 Arena in London.

It was great fun, and not very scary at all.

Anyway afterwards we went for a meal with them at Westfield Shopping Centre, then afterwards had cocktails at the Casino ...... Then shopping.

To DH and myself, all this is a novelty these days. I really raised my eyebrows at the conspicuous consumption .... The rest of my husbands family eat and drink out a lot, and shop until they drop, at expensive shops.

It was fun for a day ...... But I wouldn't want to do it all the time, and I'm quite happy to be home today in peace and quiet

moments_of_sanity

How lovely to read these posts, I am due to return to work next week after having 4 weeks off sick due to depression. This was caused by DH being made redundant last year, having to spend months 'economising' and feeling like we take one step forward and three steps back and the final straw was when our good friends living next door had their house repossessed, we had no idea they were doing so badly.

Like you all, I am going to simplify my life, I have taken up my X stitching after years of never having enough time to do it, starting teaching myself to quilt and getting my greenhouse sorted as I love spending time outside. I do feel like I am some what 'dull' and have said to my DH that I feel like I live like an old woman with all my 'boring' activities, he said he loves the things I do and wouldn't want me to go back to the headless chicken I was before!

A simpler life........there is nothing quite like the satisfaction you get from it

[Deleted User]

I think i now live a simpler, less consumerised life. Ive been there and done that with debt (not mine, an ex who wanted everything and everything NOW!!) I got out and now own my smaller home with a small mortgage and work 3/4time.Im 47 and my children have flown the nest and now its time for me (hence my name). I pay my own bills and know where every penny goes. Ive got more time to look around for bargains but i dont hanker over the latest phones, gadgets or clothes (i could buy them with savings, but i wont). I cook from scratch and buy food thats in season, i sew if buttons fall off clothes and dont throw things away. I look at people spending needlessly. My present boyfriend works long hours and is money orientated, wanting the lastest gadgets. He cant understand why i wouldnt want to work longer hours or change my job for better money.But when it comes down to it, i have more assets than him even though he earns four to five times more than me. Hell spend £50 on a basket of food which will last a couple of days because like he said, he hasnt the time to shop properly and ile spend £15 on a weeks shop. I spend more time with my family and friends and i dont feel i have to spend £60+ to have a good night out in the pub. Like Goldie girl said, its a novelty to shop and i enjoy it more because it happens less frequently. I have a simpler lifestyle, i enjoy baths with a glass of wine, or a walk, cleaning my beloved car instead of paying someone else to do it. Ive now come to a stage in my life where i dont feel im missing out, rather that im blessed because i dont have to work, work work.

Cheapskate

This is what I've begun to do, too. I had a Eureka moment just before Christmas, when the weight of everything hit really hard. Won't bore you, but the upshot is that I'm resigning from both my PT jobs and will spend more time doing things that I've realised are important to ME, DH and our children.

I'm glad other people think the same as me - for such a long time I've felt out of sync with society, thinking I "ought" to go to work once my littlies were no longer babies, I didn't when our older ones were little. Culture has shifted in the last 20 years or so, and simply "being", feeding yourself and your family properly, bringing up well rounded children, looking after older family, doing things you like rather than what you think you should, all these seem so devalued to me. I have a couple of good friends who think the same, one is a SAHM, the other seriously thinking about her life like me, so we support each other against the tide!

I'm going to watch this thread with interest - even just these posts are giving me hope that I'm doing the right thing. :j

A xo