Simple Living - Introduction

We live in a world of consumerism. Everyday I spend my money on things I want, rather than being thrifty and spend only on things I need. Our lives are so polluted, and we don’t even know it. For a while now I’ve been thinking a lot about changing our lives slowly – to simplify, to live more naturally, to be frugal, to be greener. How?

There are so many goals I want to achieve, some of them are;

- To pay off our debts – make budget, live within budget, reduce spending on unnecessary items, reduce grocery/food bills, etc.

-To get rid of all the chemicals in the house – living with a baby and now toddler makes me realise the urgency of getting rid of so many hazardous item in the house. Floor cleaner, toilet cleaner, detergents, shampoos. These things are not good for the environment, what more if they come into contact with your baby. I’m looking into natural, green cleaning and starting to incorporate them in our house to replace these chemical cleaners.

-To cook nutritious food from scratch – prepared processed food are full of so-called ‘permitted’ additives, preservatives, coloring etc. No wonder we cancer is spreading like mushrooms nowadays. I want to start stockpiling, buying fresh staples, organic whenever possible and eat healthily, as well as saving money by not eating out anymore (or less eating out at least). I struggle on this idea because of time constraints. But I really want to achieve this. For now, only Adam gets the luxury of homemade food.

-To purge out the plastics – I would like to start using fabric bags to shop and not accept anymore plastic bags.

To try out CDs (cloth diapers) – many ppl are already doing this. But I’m still clinging on those disposables. Sigh. I can. I can. I will. Maybe next baby? Hehe.

-To start producing my own food for sustainable living – ok this is still far off but I like the idea of growing my own vegetables, fruits, or even just potted herbs. My mom and MIL has chooks, that’s even better. Or maybe cows and goats? Ok that’s too far off..hehe

-To learn new skills like knitting or repairing furniture or sewing curtains – to make and decorate my home with my own hands instead of always going to the shops and buying something ‘Made in China’.

Right, that’s all for now. Lots of things I’d like to achieve but I don’t want to overwhelm myself with too many targets at a time, that is a surefire way to failure. I’ll just start slowly and focus on one goal at a time.

Simple living is an ancient art, really. Back then, during our grandmother’s time, these things were just the way of life. They make do with what they have and they don’t waste anything. They were frugal and creative and they managed to turn their houses into homes with almost no money.

Hopefully this entry will be the start of more entries to come on this topic. I want to start recording here what i am already doing, what I am trying out, what I plan to try out in regards to simplifying my life. If there are any of you who has already practiced simple, natural living, and would like to share, pls do. I need all the motivation I can get. Maybe if I write my thoughts down I’d actually be more committed to doing them =) Although I am simplifying, taking the first few steps isn’t so simple.