Choosing Voluntary Simplicity » Voluntary Simplicity

Partly Sunny with the Probability of Happiness

Shirley — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 14:08:18 +0000

Since we no longer have any local radio or television stations, we depend on the Internet for weather forecasts. We regularly check two sites that follow the weather in our small town and the immediate surrounding areas, and both sites are surprisingly accurate in their predictions. Since the weather forecasts are for the same area, you would expect them to give similar information, and they do... but the difference in the way this information is presented is striking.

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Our Absolutely Amazing Fall

Shirley — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 13:32:04 +0000

It was a strange summer. This was the year when New England gardeners learned that no amount of expertise or hard work could overcome the weeks of constant rain and too cool temperatures that began in early June and continued on until the end of August.

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Playing at Frugality… or Really Living It?

Shirley — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 14:33:01 +0000

Readers often tell me that they would like to be more frugal but that they don't want a lifestyle of "living poor" and "doing without." What they don't realize is that there IS another way. Actually, I have serious objections to much of the frugal advice out there because it offers only quick-fix extreme measures that... like a crash diet... can't be lived with for very long. Extreme frugality sets up feelings of deprivation that almost always lead to bouts of spending... the money that you gave up so much to save gets spent impulsively and you're back to square one. To me, that yo-yo cycle of deprivation/splurging, deprivation/splurging is playing at frugality, not living it. Oddly, finding a level of frugality you CAN live with for the rest of your life is much, much easier.

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7 Grocery Shopping Strategies That Work For Me

Shirley — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 12:05:02 +0000

I keep a well-stocked pantry and an accurate ongoing pantry inventory. A small notebook hanging out of sight on the inside door of a pantry cabinet allows me to quickly update the list as inventory is added or used. This inventory list allows me to see at a glance exactly what is in the pantry and how much there is of each item.

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The Final Cut and Summer Memories

Shirley — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 12:40:11 +0000

This was such a beautiful sight... to have ninety logs "done" and to see only one log still left to be cut. And there's the little "brook" that formed under this log during one of our last torrential rains... and the thick layer of sawdust that is so wet and packed down, we're having to rake it up in stages as it dries.

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What True Frugality Is… and What It Is Not

Shirley — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 13:24:18 +0000

Have you ever noticed how many of the same people who are trying to promote a simple lifestyle make frugality into a negative concept... or how they routinely equate frugality with being cheap or miserly? Somehow frugality has become almost synonymous with deprivation and denial, and understandably, this kind of negative frugality turns most people off. It turns me off too...

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