Tag-Archive for » minimalism «

29
Jun 2010

Reducing Our Impact In Whatever Way We Can

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My post about all of us being responsible for the oil spill generated quite a bit of discussion over the last few days.  Any time this issue comes up (on my site and every other one I’ve visited), there are always people who are quick to point out why their particular situation makes it impossible to drive less.  Cars are so much a part of the American way of life that it makes sense that people will become defensive if they have to start questioning their dependence on cars.  But rather than dwell on the situations where being car-free is impossible, I much prefer to focus on solutions.  Cortney pointed out that cities aren’t going to start creating ways to make alternative transportation safer and more convenient unless they see a genuine need.  If your area isn’t safe for biking or walking, are you going to every town meeting, writing letters to council members, canvassing the neighborhood to find like-minded people who can stand with you in asking for better bike lanes, sidewalks, etc.?  The things that we complain about are things we could be changing…  In addition, we should be focusing on what we CAN do to lessen our dependence on oil (and our overall ecological impact) rather than the things we CAN’T do.  If you can’t give up your car, you can slow down on the highway in order to improve your gas mileage.  You can commit to giving up disposable items in favor of reusable ones (diapers, napkins, food storage containers, cleaning rags, even personal hygiene products).  You can slowly start eliminating meat and dairy from your diet.  Even if you have to drive to work everyday, you can focus on making your weekends car-free and based around activities that lessen your impact on the earth (planting a little garden to reduce your need for trucked-in food, for example) rather than going to the mall to buy more stuff.  The point I’m making is that we can all make a difference.  We don’t all have to follow the same path to make a difference, but we have to be aware that we need to make a difference before we will start making changes.

I mentioned driving slower as a way to conserve gasoline, and I want to expand on that just a bit in case you’re curious.  Basically, gas mileage drops off significantly once you go faster than about 55 mph.  I drive about 60 mph on the interstate, and I try to avoid rapid speed changes in town (coasting slowly to a stop at traffic lights, and accelerating slowly from a stop).  I also do some mental math every time I fill up my gas tank, and my average mpg is always in the 32 – 35 range (for the entire tank, including both city and highway).  That’s not bad for a 19 year old station wagon.  It helps that my car is a 4 cylinder stick shift, but if I were to go 80 mph on the interstate and not be as conscious of avoiding rapid speed changes in town, I’m sure my mileage would drop into the mid 20s.  I recognize that there are valid reasons for needing to drive sometimes, but there’s no valid reason why we can’t all slow down a bit and focus on getting as many miles as we can from a tank of gas.  Don’t leave your car running when you’re parked (that’s zero mpg), don’t keep your foot on the gas right up until you have to hit the brakes at a red light, don’t try to get everywhere as fast as you can.  And start calculating your actual gas mileage every time you fill up your tank (zero out the trip meter when you fill up, and then see what it’s at the next time you fill up.  Divide that number by the number of gallons it takes to fill your tank and you’ll have the average mpg you got from the last tank).  Make it a game to see if you can beat your last average – trust me, it becomes fun, and it will help you to remember to drive with maximum gas mileage in mind.

About 1000 people are reading this blog everyday.  And if I can inspire ten or twenty or a hundred of you to start making some small changes to conserve resources, I’ll feel successful.  An added bonus is that most of the things you can can do to conserve resources will also help you to save money, which is probably the reason you’re interested in my blog in the first place.  So I challenge you to think of something you can do today to reduce your use of oil, water, paper products, disposable items, etc.  If you come up with an idea that you think other people could do too, share it here or in whatever forum you choose to get the message out.  Most importantly, have fun with it!  And thank you for taking the time to think about it.

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Category: organic living, the simple life  Tags: , ,  35 Comments
23
Jun 2010

We Only Need One Dresser

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Last year when we moved to our new home, we essentially made four trips with a 14 foot truck (actually, I think the first trip was in a 17 foot truck…)  When moving day arrived, the 26 foot U-Haul that we had reserved wasn’t available, so we had to improvise with a tiny little truck, and only got it for half a day rather than the three days we had reserved.  So we crammed stuff into it as fast as we could and made three trips.  Good thing we were only moving an hour away!

I am thrilled with all the de-cluttering that has been going on around here lately, but I sure wish I had done it a year ago.  Maybe then we wouldn’t have had to make so many trips with our tiny little truck, and we could have saved a lot of time that we spent packing random crap into boxes.  Our little family of three people, one cat, and one dog sure did have a lot of boxes.

In our old house, we had a built-in shelving unit in our bedroom, and one dresser.  When we moved, we still had the dresser, but no shelving unit.  So I immediately began looking for a new dresser on Craigs List.  I found a great big one for $100, and we promptly hooked up our wagon and went to pick it up.  I offered $80, we settled on $90, and it’s been in our bedroom ever since.  It’s a nice dresser with a huge mirror on top, but it is a very large piece of furniture.  And now that I’ve been getting rid of so much stuff lately, I’ve realized that we don’t need two dressers in our bedroom at all.  My husband and I can share one dresser for socks and underwear, and all the rest of our clothes fit nicely in the closet.

So we are getting rid of the gigantic dresser.  And apparently I was a golden opportunity for the lady who was selling it last summer, because I’ve dropped the price all the way to $40 (I finally have someone coming over tonight… fingers crossed!) and it’s still here.  Bummer, but a good lesson learned:  Before shopping for things to store our stuff, we should take a long hard look at the stuff and see if it’s worth storing.

I don’t mind selling the dresser at a loss, because I’ve come to terms with the idea that I need to forget about sunk costs if I’m going to get rid of all the extra stuff we have sitting around.  We no longer need the dresser, so hanging onto it is completely counter-productive.  I’d much rather have the empty floor space in our bedroom.  And since the $90 we spent on the dresser is long gone, the $40 I can get from selling it now is a bonus.

So here’s my challenge for you… if you’re thinking about buying anything to store stuff – dresser, shelves, containers, etc – see if you can figure out a way to get rid of the stuff instead so that you don’t need the storage item after all.  I promise it will feel good!

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Category: Our stuff  Tags: , ,  15 Comments
18
Jun 2010

Finding Inspiration In Tiny Houses

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Hope you’re all having a great Friday!  My de-cluttering is still going strong… I’ve even progressed to furniture!  Earlier this week I got rid of a desk by using the free section of Craigs List, and I’m hoping to get rid of a dresser today.  We decided that my husband and I can share a dresser for things like underwear and socks, and that way we’ll have more open floor space in our bedroom.  Once we get rid of the second dresser, all that will be in our bedroom is the bed and one dresser.  I did some more purging in our closet this week, and there’s nothing sitting on the floor at all now – it’s all hanging up or neatly folded (only one or two deep) on the shelves.  Much better!  I’m also starting to see a difference in terms of cleaning… the house is staying cleaner longer without much effort from us, and when it does need to be cleaned, it’s a faster process.  Having empty counters in the kitchen and bathroom means that I can wipe them down more often without having to move a bunch of stuff.  Having fewer toys in the living room means there isn’t as much to get tossed around.  Piles attract piles, so eliminating random piles of stuff in closets and on shelves means that we’re no longer likely to toss stuff in those spots.  I’m having so much fun getting rid of stuff that my desire to go shopping at the thrift stores for entertainment is completely gone!

One of the inspirations for my purging journey has been the Tiny House Blog, which is a fantastic resource and a wonderful read.  Even if you aren’t looking to move (we certainly aren’t!) it’s fun to look at all the absolutely fantastic little houses, and it’s a reminder that we don’t really need much in the way of stuff or extra space in order to be happy.  If you are considering moving, the Tiny House Blog might inspire you to look for a much smaller place than you originally had in mind.

My husband and I both work from home, and we have a toddler, which together presents a unique challenge in terms of housing… we have to have a place where my husband (who spends quite a bit of time on the phone with clients) can work without house/toddler noises in the background.  Having a basement has been perfect for us, and that’s where my husband spends a good chunk of his day.  If your work/family situation is like ours, a super tiny house might not work out, but chances are a smaller-than-average one would work just fine.  When we moved last year, our primary concern was the yard, as we had big plans for an orchard, berry patch, and huge veggie garden (all in place and growing now!).  We didn’t really care one way or another about the house, and ended up with a pretty average-size place (1350 sq feet plus a full unfinished basement).  We don’t plan to move again (ever!) but I do want to make our house easier to clean (less stuff is already having that effect) and make sure that it continues to feel spacious… no stuff creeping in around us to fill up the rooms.  So even for people who have no desire to actually move to a tiny house, reading about them can be motivating and rewarding.

On another note, I also wanted to share a fantastic blog post from Green And Crunchy.  There’s just no way you can scroll through all those awesome pictures and not be inspired to eat something tasty and nutritious.  I love how simple so much of their food is… lots of fruits and veggies just cut up – no need to spend hours slaving away in the kitchen.  And a huge congratulations to Mama Green And Crunchy, who is going to be a mama again!

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Category: family, real estate  Tags: , ,  14 Comments
14
Jun 2010

Do You Want Your Own Business?

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Because of the little business that we started when we first got married, my husband and I have been able to move to a better location where we can pursue our dream of growing our own food, without having to be tied to a particular location for work.  We’ve kept up with advances in technology over the years in order to make our business nearly paperless, very automated, location-independent, and with multiple streams of revenue.  We have worked hard, but we’ve also been very lucky.

I know that I have lots of readers who want something similar but aren’t sure where to start.  There are lots of people who are looking for information and ideas about starting their own business… without going broke in the process.  Blogging has exploded in popularity over the last several years, with lots of people trying to start a blog, put some ads on the sidebar, and then kick back and watch the money roll in.  It doesn’t really work that way for most of us though, and I think that a lot of people get discouraged when they don’t see big traffic numbers or ad revenue after the first few months.

I’ve been reading Everett Bogue’s site, Far Beyond The Stars, for several weeks now, and I’ve been really impressed with everything he writes.  If we didn’t already have our own successful, flexible business, I absolutely believe that I’d be motivated by Everett to start something.  He’s a walking-the-walk expert on minimalism (which is something that I’m finding more and more appealing), and he’s also figured out how to create a business that can support him, and allow him to work and live anywhere, all while still having lots of free time for things other than work.  He’s re-releasing his e-book Minimalist Business tomorrow morning (Tuesday, June 15th) at 10am PST, and I wanted to spread the word to my readers and fellow bloggers who have an interest in creating or growing their own little business.  A blog is a great platform to spread your message to the world, and it can also generate income… but it doesn’t just happen.

If you’re interested in Everett’s other e-book, The Art Of Being Minimalist, he lets you read the first 30 pages for free before you buy the e-book, so check it out and see what you think.

My husband and I are very lucky to have a business that we own and run ourselves.  We work from home, we set our own schedules, and we make a good living.  We work a lot, but it’s work we enjoy, and we’re able to fit our job around our life.  My husband’s office is in the basement, but he just came up and spent the last hour playing in the backyard with our son.  Even though it’s a busy Monday, he was able to take a break in the middle of the day and have some great family time.  As an aside, right before our son was born, we hired Spectrum Communications to answer our phone if we couldn’t get to it.  Most of our business is done online, and most of our communication is by email.  But plenty of clients choose to call, and we feel that it’s better to have a live person answer the phone (even if they just have to take a message) than a voice mail system.  In the two years we’ve been using Spectrum, our monthly bill has never been above $250 (it’s usually below $200), and they have always done a really good job.  Having them there to answer the phone allows us to be even more flexible in our schedules.  During the time that my husband just spent playing with our son, two clients called, and both times the Spectrum folks took messages and emailed them to us.  I can definitely recommend a service like this if you’re self employed and need a little help juggling the phones.  (no, they aren’t paying me to recommend them – I just think that they’ve provided a really good service for our family, and it’s been very affordable).

I’m feeling very fortunate right now to have the little business we’ve created, and I hope some of you are inspired to start diversifying your income a bit.  You don’t have to (and probably shouldn’t!) quit your day job and dive right into supporting yourself with your own business.  But a little extra money can’t hurt, and who knows what it might turn into down the road?

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Category: just my life, other bloggers  Tags: , ,  4 Comments