New Years Resolutions

I don't do New Year Resolutions but I have realised that about January each year I have an unconscious personal ritual I carry out.

 

 

Every year I reread Rhonda Hetzels' book Down to Earth.

It's a guide to simple living.  It's not preachy, it doesn't assume everyone can or wants to live the same life; but what it does do is have some solid advice broken down into sections that you can use and adapt to help live a simpler life.

 

I guess by rereading it, I am reconnecting with the principles that I want to be part of my life. 

Although I live in a rural area, we will never have a small holding, orchard and probably no chickens or bees (the garden is just too small).  I can however budget, grow as many veggies as I can fit in,  and make as much as I can. 

 

 

Jean-Luc cooks wonderful meals from scratch and he makes enough meals to freeze for future meals, we buy in bulk when things are cheap and have a store cupboard and freezer to store it.  I preserve as much of our excess veggies as I can - (go courgettes and tomatoes!) and haunt hedgerows and supermarket isles for cheap fruit and herbs for preserving.  

 

 

I make soap and laundry liquid, we haven't bought soap for over seven years and we only use shop bought laundry pods once every two months for white linens.  I'm learning to make my own clothes and try to buy good quality that will last when I do buy clothes - I'm lucky enough to have a sister who could be in the GB Olympic knitting team and who makes me gorgeous jumpers and dresses.

We are not perfect; on the non-frugal side Jean-Luc loves holidays in hot climes, loves his car and, as an IT specialist, loves high quality techy stuff.

 I love good wine, good coffee and good cheese.  I have a Doc Marten boot fetish and love books.  And of course I have a deep need to stash yarn and material.

 

Both Jean-Luc and I agree on the basics though - pay your bills first, save before you spend and wait until you have the money before you buy luxuries.

Why all this info - well it's just my way of saying very few of us are going to be able to live the perfect sustainable lifestyle with a small holding and eco house and we all have different ideas about what are necessities and what are luxuries; about what makes life bearable and what we want rather than need in our lives. 

The important thing is if you want to live simply, start with things you can change in your present lifestyle, develop a plan you and your family feel comfortable with and implement that plan; you can always change it later.  Life can change and unexpected things happen so be flexible and have some wiggle room but figure out what it is you can and want to change and do it.

Living simply can be challenging but rewarding, but if something isn't working for you don't feel pressured into continuing with it; some things that seemed a good idea prove to be just the opposite; so either try tweaking it to suit you or try something else completely.

 But if you fancy trying living simply - good luck and enjoy it.