A Simpler Life 2018

Mrs_Salad_Dodger

Hi everyone,

Haven’t posted on this thread since the 5th February:eek: However my journey to a Simpler Life is progressing slowly but surely. Have been using a combination of Marie Kondo & The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning So far I have Kondoed mine & my DH’s clothes & all the washing, drying, ironing & putting away is completely up to date :j (after a year of backlog - I can now revert to washing etc on a weekly basis :T) My DH has started the decorating while I am continuing the decluttering (lots to cs & Recycling & binning) & doing quite a bit of baking. We don’t shop every week now & menu planning has been a boon as has posting on Love Food, Hate Waste - great ideas for left overs & gives me the confidence to experiment in my cooking:j Bed linen & towels have also been kondoed as well as my knitting stash.

I only have two boxes of stuff that I haven’t looked at but still have half a dozen crates of sentimental/personal stuff that I need plenty of time to sort properly.

I just have to remember how to ‘eat the elephant’ :rotfl:

Will pop in more regularly but will start trying to read on a daily basis!

To a Simpler Life for everyone.

MrsSD

RicardaRacoon

Hello everyone

Hope you aren't snowed in! Round here the snow is melting away again and I guess my walk this afternoon will be a rather wet, muddy one. But I am still looking forward to it as I really missed my daily walks earlier this week when I decided that it was just too cold to be outside longer than necessary (the worst was -10°C on Wednesday morning...)

Somehow I don't feel like I am doing too well on the simple living front at the moment, but I can't really put my finger to it... I guess it has to do with too many evenings this week where I just iddled time away online without doing anything really... So not much knitting, not much reading, just plain useless things... Well, at least I had two early nights when I decided that the evening wasn't getting any more productive anyways, so I might as well go to bed...

But then there are also some things that are really simple living and enjoying life at the moment and I should really focus on them.
-I went to the cinema with my sister yesterday to see The Full Monty in a small venue in our town. They have a movie or a life act once a month and tickets normally sell out within an hour. I actually thought it was a waste of money going to see a movie I have on DVD but it was such a fun night out
-my neigbour just came over and brought me a slice of still warm cheesecake with berries... Bliss!
-tonight my parents and sister will come over and we will have waffles made from the recipe of my "substitue grandad" Waffles were his speciality and I will think of him when I will wipe up the batter later one.
-I managed to read 11 books so far this year and will start on the 12. tonight
-I am very strict with the stuff that enters my life at the moment. I ordered a book last week which was on my wishlist for ages plus after a lot of research I finally decided on a fountain pen to buy from the birthday money I got from my parents.

So, I will now tidy my kitchen and then go for a nice, long walk without freezing my head off...!

Have a nice weekend everyone!

Lilith1980

It's still sooo cold here, but at least the snow is melting!

I took a load of clothes, books, and costume jewellery to an Age UK cs today. The lady in the shop was so grateful. I'd put all of it on various sites for selling but nobody wanted it, which was good in a way as I got a lot out of giving it to charity weirdly enough.

I've meal-prepped the lunches for next week. It only takes about an hour and saves so much time in the mornings.

I've been watching various minimalism blogs on youtube as I'm really into decluttering at the moment. One I particularly like is the "Minimalist Ninja". She talks about a range of topics and I'm very impressed with what little possessions she has. To be honest, even though we've got rid of so much in the home it still feels cluttered to me. I feel like I want to clear everything out! Maybe I just need to tidy up! Anyone else feel like this even though they've got rid of loads of stuff?

System

Lilith1980 wrote: »

It's still sooo cold here, but at least the snow is melting!

I took a load of clothes, books, and costume jewellery to an Age UK cs today. The lady in the shop was so grateful. I'd put all of it on various sites for selling but nobody wanted it, which was good in a way as I got a lot out of giving it to charity weirdly enough.

I've meal-prepped the lunches for next week. It only takes about an hour and saves so much time in the mornings.

I've been watching various minimalism blogs on youtube as I'm really into decluttering at the moment. One I particularly like is the "Minimalist Ninja". She talks about a range of topics and I'm very impressed with what little possessions she has. To be honest, even though we've got rid of so much in the home it still feels cluttered to me. I feel like I want to clear everything out! Maybe I just need to tidy up! Anyone else feel like this even though they've got rid of loads of stuff?

Yes....we did the whole " Kondo" thing a couple of years ago and got rid of so much but still got way too much in my opinion.... Although OH disagrees. I keep doing Little's bits here and there but its not enough. I am on a mission this year to clear it out.

Wizzbang

Hello,

I thought I'd join in as I just found this thread yesterday. Been trying to read through the back pages but with almost 60 pages it's going to take me a while!

I discovered I was seeking a simpler life in 2012, when Googling the way I was feeling inside basically. Lots of health problems lead me to question everything and wonder why I had all this stuff, when none of it actually helped me! I've been calling myself a minimalist since then and then in 2015 that lead onto trying to become more zero waste after finding Bea Johnson's book in my local library. If you go to my signature, you can find my blog which details my journey from the start, things I've found out along the way - be they money saving, frugal living, simple living, ethical living, minimalist or zero waste.

It's really tough to find like-minded people and we're always coming up against dilemma's, particularly Christmas and Birthday presents when none of your family really understand why you're trying to live with less! Like we ask for gift vouchers, but they seem to feel that they must still give us something and we get all this clutter we don't really want as well! SIGH. I have no problem in sending it straight to the charity shop mind, although my husband always seems to think we should keep hold of it incase we offend them. Which I find laughable as his family live overseas and visit once a year or less! As if I'm going to keep all this rubbish, just to bring it out for a few days very year or so. They can be offended because we've specifically asked them not to give it to us! (I'm developing a thicker skin as I set more boundaries with others).

Anyway, I would love to hear of a successful gluten-free bread recipe for a bread maker or handmade because all of my attempts have been awful - house bricks basically.

I don't recommend Dr Bronner's personally, particularly the bar soaps as they blocked my plumbing terribly (you can read about that on my blog too!) Both liquid and solid forms are terribly drying and I don't know how people can use them on their hair - it turned mine to tangled straw. I now use Faith in Nature bar soaps from my local health food store (can buy completely package free) and never had a blocked pipe since.

For soap you can use on your face, go to Lush. I have oily skin and so use their coal face soap. But they have plenty of different formulations for different skin types. No nasty chemicals, no packaging, fair trade, organic. Yes, they are expensive but I only need to buy a couple of chunks in a year, even with twice daily use. I'm certain it works out cheaper than the dozens of bottles of facial cleanser I used to use (thinks back with horror at all the packaging that used to generate too). I also use their solid shampoo and conditioner bars on my hair and will never go back to bottles.

Hopefully I've lots more useful pointers to add from my experiences and can pick up some too

System

Wizzbang wrote: »

Hello,

I thought I'd join in as I just found this thread yesterday. Been trying to read through the back pages but with almost 60 pages it's going to take me a while!

I discovered I was seeking a simpler life in 2012, when Googling the way I was feeling inside basically. Lots of health problems lead me to question everything and wonder why I had all this stuff, when none of it actually helped me! I've been calling myself a minimalist since then and then in 2015 that lead onto trying to become more zero waste after finding Bea Johnson's book in my local library. If you go to my signature, you can find my blog which details my journey from the start, things I've found out along the way - be they money saving, frugal living, simple living, ethical living, minimalist or zero waste.

It's really tough to find like-minded people and we're always coming up against dilemma's, particularly Christmas and Birthday presents when none of your family really understand why you're trying to live with less! Like we ask for gift vouchers, but they seem to feel that they must still give us something and we get all this clutter we don't really want as well! SIGH. I have no problem in sending it straight to the charity shop mind, although my husband always seems to think we should keep hold of it incase we offend them. Which I find laughable as his family live overseas and visit once a year or less! As if I'm going to keep all this rubbish, just to bring it out for a few days very year or so. They can be offended because we've specifically asked them not to give it to us! (I'm developing a thicker skin as I set more boundaries with others).

Anyway, I would love to hear of a successful gluten-free bread recipe for a bread maker or handmade because all of my attempts have been awful - house bricks basically.

I don't recommend Dr Bronner's personally, particularly the bar soaps as they blocked my plumbing terribly (you can read about that on my blog too!) Both liquid and solid forms are terribly drying and I don't know how people can use them on their hair - it turned mine to tangled straw. I now use Faith in Nature bar soaps from my local health food store (can buy completely package free) and never had a blocked pipe since.

For soap you can use on your face, go to Lush. I have oily skin and so use their coal face soap. But they have plenty of different formulations for different skin types. No nasty chemicals, no packaging, fair trade, organic. Yes, they are expensive but I only need to buy a couple of chunks in a year, even with twice daily use. I'm certain it works out cheaper than the dozens of bottles of facial cleanser I used to use (thinks back with horror at all the packaging that used to generate too). I also use their solid shampoo and conditioner bars on my hair and will never go back to bottles.

Hopefully I've lots more useful pointers to add from my experiences and can pick up some too

Hello....it sounds as though you are on the right thread here. I have learnt all sorts in my short time here. I will try and find Bea Johnson's book, sounds interesting. What is the title?
Is Lush's solid shampoo good? I actually have coloured hair....blonde....I know its chemical and I hate using it but can't bear the thought of being dark again and now going grey. Always look for shampoo with as little nasties as possible, but still a lot of unwanted ingredients and packaging.

Siebrie

For me, a simpler life means that the household basically runs itself. I love routine and struggle when people interrupt the routine, for instance by eating to a different schedule (dh), or coming back down after I have put them to bed at 8pm (dds).
Major frustration at the moment: dds, dh and I agreed on an after-school routine. He picks them up every day, then it is: shoes in rack and coats on hangers, lunch and snack boxes in the kitchen, a drink and a snack, homework, play, 1 youtoob vid each, help lay the table, Mummy comes home, dinner.
Current routine: [STRIKE]shoes in rack and coats on hangers, lunch and snack boxes in the kitchen, a drink and a snack, homework, play, 1[/STRIKE] youtoob vid [STRIKE]each, help lay the table[/STRIKE], Mummy comes home and lays the table, unpacks the dishwasher, dinner, Mummy upset about shoes, coats, lunch boxes, Mummy helps with homework, no time for a game, dds to bed..
Husband is leaving for his home country for a whole month soon and the routine needs to be in place before he leaves!

Wizzbang

ploppy57 wrote: »

Hello....it sounds as though you are on the right thread here. I have learnt all sorts in my short time here. I will try and find Bea Johnson's book, sounds interesting. What is the title?
Is Lush's solid shampoo good? I actually have coloured hair....blonde....I know its chemical and I hate using it but can't bear the thought of being dark again and now going grey. Always look for shampoo with as little nasties as possible, but still a lot of unwanted ingredients and packaging.

Bea Johnson's book is called Zero Waste Home. I have actually bought the copy the library had as they were selling it off a few months ago, a bit of a Bible - useful to have on the shelf. However, to me a lot of it is unattainable due to the fact that we don't have bulk stores really at all in the UK and just some things are too expensive. Like, we're on a budget and I can't justify paying 3x the price to have milk in glass bottles delivered. It's not that expensive in all areas, but where I live it is.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Zero-Waste-Home-Ultimate-Simplifying/dp/0141981768/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1520104724&sr=1-1&keywords=bea+johnson+zero+waste+home&dpID=41ASWiuKJQL&preST=_SY291_BO1,204,203,200_QL40_&dpSrc=srch

Lush shampoo bars are great for us, but not everyone likes them as they do still use some chemicals like sodium laurel sulphate and parabens in some of their products. But for me, I'm more concerned about packaging/ plastic free and they do a super job on my hair. Go into store and ask them what's best for your hair type- the assistants are highly trained and have never given me bad advice. One thing you will notice is how many assistants they have - they believe in giving good advice to sell their products.

Mrs_Salad_Dodger

:hello: Wizzbang,

Re the bread, a.n.other poster went on a bread making course & apparently a good tip is to put a tray of water in the bottom of the oven to create a bit of steam - stops the bread turning out like a house brick. I tried it a couple of days ago (not gf) & it worked:j:T

To a Simpler Life for all of us whatever form that simplicity may take:)

MrsSD

Lilith1980

I found a website for Bea Johnson if that helps https://zerowastehome.com/. I've not heard of her before so will be having a good read.

I'm also trying to find a good gf bread recipe. I found an easy non-gf one but wasn't sure whether I could substitute the "strong flour" for gf flour. I suspect not.

Wizzbang - I'd be really interested to read your blog but I can't seem to click on your signature to get to it