What are some ways that you live simply?

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goravens

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I’ve been reading and reflecting on the Gospel passage of “go, sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and come follow me.”

In thinking of ways I can respond to that call in my life, I’d love to hear from fellow CA members on ways that you purposefully choose to live more simply and make sacrifices.
 
My wife and I have chosen not to shop on Sundays, unless absolutely necessary. In addition to helping us live the Day of the Lord better, it also helps us think about what “absolutely necessary” means.
 
For us it is simply having fewer distractions. I used to have a bunch of hobbies that all needed special equipment or time alloted. We have focused on family and home based hobbies and less on ones that separate or isolate. Our weekend getaways tend to be camping and/or fishing.

Of course our greatest role models for simple living are our friends at Marymount hermitage. These Sisters know a lot about living simply. You haven’t seen it all until you’ve seen a nun in a denim habit and hiking boots! www.marymount-hermitage.org
 
This wonderful thread would be better suited for the Family forum in the Catholic Living section.
 
Our family is turning away from watching secular television. We only watch EWTN, and I watch a Mexican soap opera to keep up with my Spanish skills (and Mexican soaps usually last only about 6-9 months and portray the good guys with traditional Christian–usually Catholic–values). We also tape a program called “Oobi” for us to watch with our son–about 15-20 minutes at the most. When our dish contract expires, we plan on doing away with any type of TV service. I would also suggest not entering into a TV service contract with a company that requires you to pay a penalty for cancelling service early! We learned this one the hard way!!
 
I’ve recently gotten involved in www.freecycle.org. I joined just to see if anyone was offering baby stuff, but I haven’t seen anything I could really use so far (which is fine).

But, it’s inspired me to start cleaning out things we don’t need and responding to people who need things I wouldn’t have thought of even offering. People want everything from freezer-burned meat (used as dog food) to old towels to my husband’s pants he no longer likes to wear to coffee cans to coupons I can’t use, etc. There is nothing that someone doesn’t want!

Since we are preparing for the baby, it’s nice to get things moved out of our living space that we don’t need. It makes things simpler for us and it also makes me look individually at the value of all the stuff we have.
 
Avoiding debt. If I can’t pay cash, I can’t have it (mortgage excepted). Makes budgeting pretty easy.

Buy quality basics, not frills. When we got a minivan, we got what we felt was the best one available at the time; 2003 Honda Odyssey, but got a base model as we felt the doodads, leather, etc was awfully overpriced for what it really added to the experience. But it has all the same mechanicals.

Do whatever you can do yourself. Mow the lawn, change the oil, paint the living room. Paying other people to do what you are able to yourself is the breeding ground for class snobbery.

Make sure you share the tasks around the house. Nothing is beneath you. Besides, you appreciate your spouse more if you know what they are doing for you! For me, that means vacuuming and toilet scrubbing. For women, mow the lawn, try fixing the kids bikes, etc.
 
We buy used cars and keep them for 20+ years. Until the body falls off the frame. [We buy cars that have a separate frame, rather than unit body cars, which rot out too easily.] Saves wonderfully on both car payments AND on insurance premiums. Also saves on the emotion of getting a parking lot ding.

Learned to do my own body work. Got very good at it. Got to the point that I didn’t even need to use power tools. Long story. One time, the body shop told my wife that I could do the job… and I did, out in the open in the driveway. The whole neighborhood dropped by to watch. With the encouragement of an audience, I actually did everything including the paint in one day… I set up lights so I did the paint late at night. It was a hoot. Didn’t look too bad. But it was an old car, so nobody lost any sleep over minor irregularities.
 
I stop and think if I really need that item I am thinking of purchasing…most of the time I do not buy it.

Also, no shopping on Sunday. It is easy to be mindful of what you need and get it before Sunday. Of course, if out of necessity I need something I will not be scrupulous about it, but that rarely happens.

The best thing I did was give up television.
 
We only have one car and I don’t drive. How’s that for living simply!
 
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manualman:
Avoiding debt. If I can’t pay cash, I can’t have it (mortgage excepted). Makes budgeting pretty easy.

Do whatever you can do yourself. Mow the lawn, change the oil, paint the living room. Paying other people to do what you are able to yourself is the breeding ground for class snobbery.
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AMEN! DH is right now putting a new fuel pump on my used Nissan. I could have the car in a day if we went to a shop - and pay $$$$$ for it. If it takes 3 days, so be it - we can live with one car for 3 days!

Another small thing - that has felt so good, I stopped coloring my hair. I am prematurely grey, but, get more compliments on the pretty silver color now that I went natural - and I save about $1000 per year!
 
By having seven children, I must to have a simple spirit in order to meet their needs.
 
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geojack:
Paying other people to do things you can do for yourself keeps the economy going. It leaves more time for family.
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Point #2: maybe. Strange though, that there appears to be an inverse relationship between wealth and actual family time. Something to ponder…

Point #1: Nuh, uh. Service jobs do not grow the economy. They simply transfer wealth, not create new wealth. When a company takes $40,000 of raw materials and turns it into a house that sells for $250,000, THAT’s growing the economy since EVERYBODY has more than they started with. Once your windows are washed, lawn mowed and oil changed, you are just OUT that money. No value added.
 
Live in Army housing - LOL! (sorry, have to a military family to understand! 😉 )
 
We live simply by being technologically backward - still have dial-up access to the Internet, no cable, tiny little tv, still a vcr - no dvd player. I resisted cell phones for a long time, until my dh got a job a good distance away from home and must drive his old clunker to get there, and my car broke down and it was only by the grace of God that a telephone was available nearby to call for help. We have pay-as-you-go plans and hardly ever use the phones.

Betsy
 
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manualman:
Point #2: maybe. Strange though, that there appears to be an inverse relationship between wealth and actual family time. Something to ponder…

Point #1: Nuh, uh. Service jobs do not grow the economy. They simply transfer wealth, not create new wealth. When a company takes $40,000 of raw materials and turns it into a house that sells for $250,000, THAT’s growing the economy since EVERYBODY has more than they started with. Once your windows are washed, lawn mowed and oil changed, you are just OUT that money. No value added.
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So when Valvoline opened 1000’s of oil change places it did nothing for the economy? All the new construction, employment etc means nothing?

I don’t recall mentioning wealth. You don’t have to be rich to have work done so you can have time to take your family to a game or movie.
 
  1. Get rid of Cable TV - there isn’t anything good on there anyway. I still have a TV and a dvd player for the occasion I want to watch a movie…but it’s not very often.
  2. Buy in bulk
  3. Cook in large portions then freeze the leftovers
  4. Don’t drive unless you have to (bike or walk where possible)
  5. Make your own cloths
  6. Go to the library instead of the book store
 
Get rid of your TV! It’s great. Don’t worry about missing news, etc. Anything important will be in the paper.
 
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