Thread: Simple Living : Less is More

Living (kinda - I'm on the edge of a very small town) in the country sure helps as it cuts down on the external distractions. Like Glenn, I've had the chance to learn a bunch of things that many people pay others to do for them. My Dad's like that so I come by it naturally, but having tight finances after buying the house definitely helps focus the mind even more in terms of what's important and what can be left by the wayside.

But the biggest thing is probably just paying more attention to what I buy, consume, use, bring into the house. Quality over quantity is something I try to live by, and I have really started to appreciate well deigned things that do one particular thing very well. Both of these outlooks really help reduce the amount of crap that comes into my life, and as a result the amount of crap I end up wasting/throwing out.

Originally Posted by gssixgun

We moved to RURAL North Idaho
My closest neighbor is about a 1/2 mile away
I have learned so many things that I now do myself that I used to just call "A Guy" to have done
I never in a million years saw myself driving a tractor, plowing a field, planting a garden, fixing a well, falling trees and bucking and cutting them myself, Putting in wood stoves and chimneys, and worst of all learning about a Septic System.

After almost 17 years I would never go back to the city...

Yeah, if I had to do all of that the neighbor tha lives a half mile away would pass by at some point and see what looks like the Donner party at my place.

Not speaking from experience here (except in my college days) however when it really comes down to it you can survive and more and be very happy with a real minimum of things. It doesn't take much. Our ancestors did it and so can we.

It's society and it's pressures and advertising that causes most to spend, spend, spend whether they have the means or not.

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

Not speaking from experience here (except in my college days) however when it really comes down to it you can survive and more and be very happy with a real minimum of things. It doesn't take much. Our ancestors did it and so can we.

It's society and it's pressures and advertising that causes most to spend, spend, spend whether they have the means or not.

Something that comes to mind is a quote from a Guy Savoy, a famous French chef. He nails it and describes all of French philosophy about food and life in a few words.

“We are wrong to think that the daily routine is ordinary. Always conditioned to look for the exceptional, we let go of the small miracles within our reach. – Guy Savoy”

I don't romanticize a simple life. When my wife's grandparents were first married they lived in a sod house on the plains of Nebraska, no electricity, plumbing, bathroom, etc., and grew their own food and walked or used their horse for transportation. Life was simple, but hard. I grew up in rural Idaho, and remember getting up at 4 AM to go out to the barn in sub zero weather to take care of the animals, which needed constant care seven days a week no matter how you felt or whatever the weather. I remember stacking a pile of hundreds of dead lambs that froze one spring when a severe, unexpected freezing storm hit us. After working all morning, I would wait for the bus in freezing weather, go to school all day, then work the farm until dark or time for dinner. Life may have been simple, but it was hard. It was also good. Life for me has been far simpler in the city. I require fewer things to get by than if I had stayed on the farm. I drive only a few miles to work in my 23 y/o Saab, can still grow our vegetables in my raised bed gardens, can get fresh eggs from a neighbor with a chicken coop, pick blueberries from a blueberry patch 1/4 mile away, get fresh farm produce from the farmer's market, and bake our bread. If you've grown up plowing fields, digging fence post holes and installing fence around a few hundred acres, milking the goats and cows before the sun is up, and worried about whether your crops or animals survived heat, drought, or the freeze, a simple life in the city might sound good. Interacting with people of all nationalities and all walks of life in a city adds meaning to my life. You can lead a simple life wherever you are. It's more a state of mind than a location. I don't watch television or carry a cell phone, and can't imagine being connected to an electronic device when going for a walk or on a hike. I enjoy being with family and friends, exploring nature, reading, shaving, and hanging out with you guys. That's my simple life.

I’m not prepared for that level of simplicity.

I live in a city, so the comfort level is high. But: no car, no TV, no landline, not a single social network app on my phone or PC, no loans, recently retired. Reading a lot, meeting friends and family, different hobbies, and an occasional cigar :-) This is simple enough for my taste.

while i don't think i can say that i live a simple life style i think it is compared to others. We still can and freeze our own fruits and vegetables (which we are finding out now as we look for a new stove, that it's not easy to find one with the type of burners that can take a canner) No smart phone, pay off our credit card every month, minimal cable tv service (only one small flat screen tv) etc. Just don't require the same up to date gizmos as most people to be happy.

As a kid I spent summers on my Aunt and Uncles farm upstate New York. The chores to do never ended 7 days a week no matter the weather and has been said no matter how you felt. When the summer was over I was glad to get back to the big city. These days retired even though I live in the city from my house I can see the end of the city and the wilderness starting. I like it that way. The country is minutes away.

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

...These days retired even though I live in the city from my house I can see the end of the city and the wilderness starting. I like it that way. The country is minutes away.

Yessir. That may very well be the ideal solution: live on the fringes, with a view of
the wide open spaces; yet still be close enough to town to benefit from Costco and
emergency medical care. yuk yuk

I find myself in much the same situation. My personal ideal is a small town, near
enough to the ocean and/or a river/lake, to go fishing; yet within an hours drive
of a hospital.

Internet service, cable TV, and cellphones are nice, too...but there lies the slippery
slope to decadence.

Courage, my man! Beware the Devil!