squeeky buddha

What is "Voluntary Simplicity"?

Borrowed from a blog I read. (www.choosingvoluntarysimplicity.com)

Voluntary simplicity is a philosophy. Often called compassionate living, it is a conscious choice to simplify your life and a deliberate downshifting to create the life and home environment that fit you and your family. …

You should definitely go and read the full post for yourself, it is VERY enlightening.

Ch-ch-changes

I’m not sure if we’ve really out and out told anyone, family included, that we have been slowly moving our little family toward a direction of complete self sustainability. I’ve since learned that this is now called “Voluntary Simplicity.”

We started slow, purging possessions (a work in progress), changing our consumer/consumption habits, and undertaking an overhaul in our eating habits and the food we choose. 

I guess it might be a good idea to give a little background here as to how we got here/where we stand now. Brad wrote something up today so I think I’ll just post it below and then add my own thoughts after.

In the past several years:

1. My wife’s company shut down and that, in turn, cut our monthly income by about 2/3 (she made a lot more than I)
   
2. We have moved from a 1700 sq ft house to an 1100 sq ft house with half the mortgage payment of the bigger.
   
3. We have adopted a son and my wife stays home to raise him (she has not returned to the workforce)
   
4. We went from two car payments to none (sold one, paid off the other)
   
5. We have increased our weekly food bill by eating locally & organic and staying away from items that aren’t really food (no processed foods, no HFCS, etc.). For those of you who have done this you know that eating better costs twice as much but is WELL worth it
   
6. We got rid of cable and now only turn the TV on when the weather is bad (yes, that means that our toddler does NOT watch TV)
   
7. We got rid of my cell phone because I never used it
   
8. We bought a reel mower instead of a gas mower
   
9. I, of course, drive a scooter to and from work and get 80+ mpg
   

Were any of these sacrifices made out of desperation? Sure, a couple were. Have any of them made me feel like I am living less of a life? The answer is unequivocally NO!
We feel that we are getting more out of life every single day because we’re not tied down to the trappings of commercialism and consumerism. we’re not working just so we can go buy stuff we don’t need to fill up space in a house we didn’t need and time in a life that could be spent better elsewhere.
We actually have more disposable income right now than we did we we were making 3x what I’m now making. The upside is that since we don’t watch TV and don’t get inundated with commercials for the latest fast food or car or electronic doohickey, we don’t feel the need to go buy it. Out of sight, out of mind. We’re able to put a lot more of my income into savings for that day when it will be needed rather than wasting it on STUFF. Stuff can rule your life if you let it. It ruled mine for 32 years before I said enough.
I know not everything that worked for us will for you. I know that not everything we were able to do would even be possible for everyone else, but I am here to tell you that I am a walking, breathing example of how you don’t need most of the things you feel you can’t live without. Our grandparents and even our parents got by on much, much less than most of us do and I don’t hesitate to say that they probably led a much happier, more fulfilling life than most of us have been able to. 
This desire that’s been ingrained into us to get richer, thinner, more tan, etc., is ruining our lives, whether we realize it or not. Once you realize that desire was planted there by advertisers and marketing executives, you’ll realize that you’re not buying their products for YOUR happiness but THEIRS! They’re the ones making the money and we’re the ones getting stuck with all this stuff that ends up ruling our lives.
I’m just trying to say that nothing is impossible and if you stop and really think about your reasons behind a decision, you’ll be more apt to make the right decision for yourself.

Yeah, so he’s a little wordy, but you get the idea! haha  Now here is my “list”, some of the smaller, day to day things that we’ve changed that might be possible for you to incorporate into your life.

1. We have eliminated all plastics from our kitchen. We don’t use baggies, Tupperware (or similar) storage containers, and we removed all plastic dinnerware, utensils, and cups (including sippy cups). Some of the changes have had some up-front costs, of course, but some are saving us money in the long run. Since we no longer use baggies or paper towels, that has saved us a nice little bit each month. To take the place of baggies, I’ve reused a couple of very small glass containers that some pre-prepared food came in as well as a couple of Ball jars that I received preserves in from my mother. I simply removed the label when I washed it. In place of the paper towels I use my existing kitchen towels and for those “nasty, not to be mentioned here” clean ups, well I did buy a bundle of “rag” towels at the dollar store. In retrospect however, I should and will in the future, buy towels at Goodwill or the like, cut them into manageable sizes and sanitize them at home before use. (reduce-REUSE-recycle)
   
2. We switched from high-priced, ultra-plush, toilet paper to a 70% recycled brand we found at Walgreens. Not only have we found it to be less expensive, we found it works just as well (imagine that), was NO less soft, and each & every roll has lasted us more than twice as long as the previous tp!!  We were astounded to say the least. This sounds like we are giving up a tiny life luxury, but it is something that we haven’t even noticed except in the pocketbook.
   
3. I learned I can live without Swiffer. I know, I didn’t think it would be possible either, but it is, it is possible to live in an 1100 sq ft home witha toddler, two pugs, two cats, and nothing but hardwood floors and NOT own a Swiffer. I use a broom and dustpan, it works just as good and is MUCH cheaper. When I do feel that I need to “dust” the floors, I have a washable cotton “swiffer” that I can use.
   
4. I don’t have to have my hair colored, cut, or “maintained” every 4-6 months.  Now, I have to admit that I had no problem with getting my hair cut regularly, but I realized that it was purely vanity that was keeping color on my hair. The natural brown color of my hair is not mousey or blah, in fact now that I’m eating better and taking better care of myself I’ve found that my hair is actually quite healthy. No, I have not cut it in a while either, but that is a decision I made so that I don’t have to wash, condition, and dry/style my hair every day. Since I’ve let it get longer it is MUCH easier to manage and deal with on a day to day basis. Plus, when isn’t a ponytail in style?
   

These are just a few of the changes we’ve made in our life lately. In upcoming posts I’ll list other things we’re doing to move toward our end goal. Speaking of which, I’ll save that little nugget for a future post as well.

Have a good sleep.

just a little fruity info

Corporate Infant Store Liars

When Beans was just a tiny sprout Fu & I were registered at “SchmabiesRus.” So, ever since then I’ve been on their email list for coupons, etc., and I do have to admit that in a pinch I will go there to purchase Seventh Generation products if our local natural grocer is out of Beans size of diaper.  ANYWAY, yesterday I received a mass email from them touting their new ORGANIC product lines, they proclaimed that they were now going to carry Method, Earth’s Best, Seventh Generation, and several other large name earth friendly brands. So today, as part of a playdate outing, I thought I would go by with list in hand to see if I could pick up a few things that I’ve had trouble finding around here. I guess I expected them to have a grand, fancy, new section drawing attention to all these products, but no they were simply shoved in among the other toxic products. AND when I asked a store associate where all their new organic lines were she was almost stumped.  Hmm, seems like something so glam and hip would at least be a marketing gimmick to a big box store.  I guess they still aren’t even seeing the $$$ that new mom’s are willing to spend to keep their little ones healthy and safe.

And so, I purchased a few little things that I’ve been wanting to try but all in all I was pretty disappointed with their selection and presentation. Perhaps they need to know that it would behoove them to call attention to the BPA free bottles or the non-toxic cleaners. Hmm, maybe they are afraid it will hurt the sales of all their other nasty products. 

Maybe I’ll send a little note to their corporate office to let them know my smart ass opinion and maybe I’ll just keep it to myself.  HA!  Naaaa, I’ll probably email them!  :) 

Squeeky Clean

So today is the day that I begin something I’ve been mulling over in my mind for a few weeks now. Fu & I have been transitioning our lives to a greener path over the past few months and I’ve realized that I want to document it. Not just for me, but for anyone else that might be interested (here’s where I dream that someone out there actually gives a damn about my boring life - HA!).

Anyway, I’ll start with the way we’ve changed our eating habits, food purchases, cleaning products, and clothing/toy purchases. We’ve gone natural/organic/[insert trendy term of the day here].

1. We only buy enough food for a week at a time (we don’t bulk buy).
2. We buy all our meat and produce from the farmer’s market, trying to ensure that it is locally and organically grown.
3. We buy only foods that do NOT contain processed or artificial ingredients (e.g. high fructose corn syrup)
4. We buy our bread from a local bakery that only uses unprocessed ingredients.
5. We went through our kitchen and removed all plastic dishes, storage containers, & cookware and any remaining food that contained nasty ingredients.
6. We removed all toxic cleaners from our home long ago, mostly for safety reasons. I now use vinegar, baking soda, and hydrogen peroxide for most of my cleaning.
7. We’ve switched to recycled toilet paper (available at Walgreens) and found that we now go through just 1 ROLL every 2 weeks where as we were using at least three times that amount of Charmin. 
8. We no longer use paper towels or napkins.
9. We are in the process of switching ALL toiletries to non-toxic/organic as they need to be replaced.
10. We are much more careful about our clothing purchases. We don’t want to buy/wear anything that can’t be recycled or composted later on. We also don’t want to contribute to any unfair labor practices anywhere in the world.
11. We do NOT shop at WALMART! In fact we try very hard to only shop from locally owned stores.