BellaOnline Forums Home and Garden Living Simply Is Living Simply easier in Today's economy?

What do you think?

Is Living Simply easier done in today's economy? Many are saving money in what many people are calling a recession. Do you think that the economy can drive more people to live simply or do you think it is just a frame of mind?

Your thoughts?
Aimee

Hello!
I think that many factors must be taken into consideration while Living Simply. I think it is a frame of mind shaped by things such as the economy etc. Being in a recession certainly forces people to look at things differently.

Any other thoughts?
Aimee

Hello Aimee,
I love this topic but haven't seen any respones to it. So, I'll jump in here
I wrote this about 4 times but then deleted it..lol.. I keep changing my mind on what I want to say I guess.
I think it can make people think about it but sometimes they think it'll be easier until they look into how much work it really takes (but if you ask me it's worth it most of the time.)
Raising livestock is what I am thinking right now. The start up fees (cost of the animals), good fence, food for animals is up just like food for us, vet cost (some people have a little know how and can care for them but if you don't you'll need to pay someone that does when things happen, and things do come up.), and having the right amount of land and right amount of pasture or brush (so it doesn't stink, is healthier for your critters, keep worm loads down = more milk and more meat, and so on..)
I myself am all for it but if you ask my husband he may have another answer (because he has to do a lot of the building that I can't do) hee..hee..
You should have seen my husband's face when I told him it was time to process our free ranged turkeys. He wasn't going to have anything to do with it beside eat it. It's not for everyone but I like my meat (what does bother me is raising something and then the THOUGHT of any of that meat going into the trash.. Now, that bugs the heck out of me. Almost a sin in my eyes.)
Anyway, even tho some people may think about it- it can be a little much in the beginning.

Dora Renee' Wilkerson

p.s.
I would love to know what you and others are doing to live more simple (I guess I could start another post on this but thought I'd just ask on this one.)

Here is what we do...
Make soap.
Make shampoo.
Raise livestock (chickens, rabbits, goats, horses, and so on..)
Make own bread.
Make my own butter and ice cream.
Have a couple solar panels.
Garden (I am no master gradener but working on learning more each year.)
spin wool/knit (more of a hobby because I am so slow but I can do it.)
Sew and embroider work
We do most of our own repairs when we can.
Canning food/freeze food.
Process our own food- well I had to do the turkeys..lol
Make some of my own cheeses.

Hi Dora,
Wow, you do so much already!

What do others do to live more simply?

I enjoy making my own dinners and freezing them to take to work, and just have around the house. It is a creative outlet and saves me money.

No more spending money on spas where I never go anyway after the first couple of weeks. Walking is free and so is exercising. You can buy equipment at the store and use it whenever you want. There is no membership requirements at your home and no days where you are restricted.

With my fragrance column, I have been making so many fragranced items for the home, the bath, body and spa stuff that I don't need to spend money there anymore.

I know how to sew and with the price of clothing, it is time to whip out my petterns, material and thread and start sewing. Besides - I can then say I am a clothing designer (LOL).

Jewelry making is something I have done ever since my late husband and I were in the flea market business. I don't do it often, but maybe I should pick it up again.

Who knows - getting into the DIY mindset is also a possibility for a brand new business.

Hi Robin;

I am a crafter. I think it is the way you look at the world that changes things. Nothing escapes my imaginative eye. Everything I look at I see with a view of "what can I use this for?" Or " How can I make this myself?"
I tend to think... it's been made, someone made it, so can I.
I've made candles using terra cotta pot trays. I've used copper plumbing clamps as handles on a gourd bowl. I've made braclets out of scrabble tiles, and spoons for necklaces.
I peruse decorating catalogs and try to find ideas that I can do at home.
I learned to live simply after my divorce. Money was tight and I found some inventive ways to save money. Rather than being a depressing time in my life it was invigorating and empowering. finding ways to save money became a game or an art for me.
Times are better now, but I still prefer to do it myself if I can. I see no sense in paying someone else for something I can do.
My daughter and I make our own fragrance products, including lip gloss, hand sanitizers, flea spray, room deoderizers,carpet fresheners etc. We grow our own herbs and use those in rice bags we make ourselves. We also dry and grind the herbs and save them to cook with in the winter months.
We have a stash box in the closet were we save empty candle jars, glass perfume bottles, and anything else we think we might be able to use in crafting.
It just takes a different eye on things, an imagination, and a little confidence that you can do it.

Bylen

I definitely think our society had become far too much about "buy buy buy!!" with people throwing away tons of things just because they wanted something new. Look at the way people in the US live compared with most people around the world. We expect to have multiple color TVs, air conditioners, all sorts of things as a bare necessity If you look even 100 years ago at what people were happy with, it is a huge difference.

So I think it's a very good thing people are waking up to what really is necessary in life and focusing on that. I think it's good that where before people were always singing the praises of buying things, that now people are actually feeling proud of living a more simple way. It's progress.

I blame cable TV for our massive consumerism. Before, you only saw the people around you and felt competition with them for a cooler car of such. You rarely saw inside your neighbor's houses to even try to compete. Now with all the reality shows and TV shows, we are bombarded with all the cool things "people like us" have and we want to live like they do. We're convinced everyone has an iPod and a BluRay DVD player and so on ...

I think everything we need is available for us to make our lives easier, and although our house already has the blue-ray and the Ipods; we have vowed to change our way of living and we are starting with this Christmas, we are going to make as many gifts as we can and we hope that we will receive the homemade gifts back as well!

Mary Caliendo
Tea Editor

I absolutely live simply. I make 99% of all my food from scratch. I recycle just about everything I use or have or give away. There is too much waste in this country. Buy, buy, buy. I hate it all. I hate shopping, I hate the Malls. If I need something I try to figure out a way to make it, get it at a discount or get it for free. Plus the fact most things you buy are total Cr@p! I can't tell you how many NEW things I have bought that I was so disappointed with. And TRY returning something. That's a whole different can of worms. Once someone has your money they are GONE.

I think more people are "living simply" because they have to, but I don't think it makes it easier. How hard is it to shop at Goodwill for some items rather than buying them new? How hard is it to be mindful of the food you buy so you aren't wasting a lot of produce and things? How hard is it to get that old vacuum fixed than getting a new one? Some things we have seriously taken for granted. It's just reverting to a different mind set.

Cooking at home is probably harder (more time consuming) than going out to eat, but with just a little bit of planning you can come up with an easy schedule to accommodate this. Or, do all of your cooking on one day and refrigerate it for later. This is a big time saver for me! Not to mention healthier over all.

I will admit that being poorer than I was a few months ago has caused me to spend my money differently, but honestly they were changes I wanted to make anyway. I think of it as more of a change in perspective than a change in income (for the most part).