going to try and word this right... - Page 2

[p.s]

excellent post!

[Momma Aimee]

I think you are right

and I think it is human nature

to constantly compare yourself to pople who you either value or who you see "living as you want to live" be it $$$$ or a pool or even a great mom with good kids, or a great profsional in your field or a strong believer in your church.

i think you see it in any group of people -- here it is easy to see tredns cuz it is all in writting, to be compared AND it s here "forever" so yu can see how things change over time.

AImee

[ShannonCC]

Originally Posted by tinybutterfly

I am inspired by others, but...

I'd like to set my own standard to live up to.

: I am inspired by many people but I'm not confusing their lives with mine. I used to be more concerned with what others did or what people thought of me but the more time goes on, the less I care. It's a much happier place to be

[marybethorama]

this thread is reminding me of the "crunchier than thou" threads we have sometimes.

....our house is 100 SQ FT and we all share ONE BOWL, ONE SPOON and ONE KNIFE. We're so simple we don't NEED forks or plates."

[ShannonCC]

You need a KNIFE?

[mommaof3boz]

Gosh guys at our house we each have a Swiss army knife that has a built in plate and cup and a portable dishwasher. Only takes one drawer in the kitchen for everyone's things. :

[kerc]

:

[minimunklemama]

we eat off the floor,saves washing up and so a dish soap bottle doesn't clutter my sparkling sparse counter top

[katheek77]

Bah.

We do what makes us happy. We don't have cable, but then we turn around and blow that same amount on new books we could get perfectly easy from the library and NOT have to find storage space for.

As long as we're putting a specific amount into investment/savings each month and paying our bills, we'll blow what's leftover on "stupid" stuff, thank you very much (eating out, toys for the kid, toys for the husband ).

We don't want a large house, not because of some "frugality" issue, but just because we don't need the space (we have one child, and don't want anymore), and, frankly, we're lazy (don't even like cleaning the apt.) and hope to pay it off fairly quickly. But, we want a house with certain features we DESIRE not need...a yard, an extra space (extra bedroom, or den, or something) for our hobbies, a nice kitchen (I LOVE to cook and bake when I have the time; hate being cramped in our kitchen). We'll forgo the dining room, extra bath, garage, etc.

Do I compare our lifestyle to others? Sometimes...but usually it's because I look at people who live WAY beyond their means by CHOICE, and that confounds me. I like where we are...it's pretty stress free...we're not poor, we're not rich, we don't have to worry about where our next meal is coming from, but we also don't have to worry about paying a 4,000/month mortgage. We do some "crunchy" stuff, and are completely blatantly non-natural in other areas. *shrug* I've lived on 758/month (first teaching job on the rez), and I've lived on 6000+/month (when we were both working). We don't make that much anymore, and we have a kid now, but I don't think we're missing anything, as we've actually "upgraded" our life, if you want to call it that...we just shoved a lot of money into savings/investments and paying off our cars before that. It's all about finding the balance and trying to be happy and true to yourselves

[2GR8KIDS]

Great thread. I've also been exploring simplicity, decluttering, Compact-ing, etc. Still looking for the right balance for me. My goal is to spend less time and mental energy on *stuff*, more time on relationships and things that are more important to me. What I've learned so far is that I can spend even more time and energy on *stuff* when I'm on the simplicity path than when I wasn't- for example, I could spend hours and gas and effort searching thrift stores for something I have determined I need (like a sport coat for DS's first communion) rather than buying an inexpensive one from a store nearby and then passing it on when we're done with it. I could spend hours on some decluttering project rather than playing with my kids. This is so not the point of "mindful living" for me.

[Kavita]

Originally Posted by caeden&connersmom

Yes yes and yes! I feel guilty cause Im not more (Insert MDC adjective, hehe)

I didnt CD, I did BF but not for years, I love to grow my own food and would love some animals, I LONG to be self sufficient and at the same time I LONG to have nice things and be comfortable!! (Like looking through magazines and seeing a to die for kitchen! Ours is a mess and I would SO LOVE to have a nice kitchen to cook in!!)

I love my 1750 sq ft house and we have plans for an addition, at the very same time I wish we could move into a one room cabin in the woods! :

!

Ha ha, I was laughing as I read this because I *so* know what you mean! We're moving to Louisville so we've really had to recently examine where we want to live, what kind of lifestyle is for us, etc. I saw the cutest little farm for sale online, about 1 1/2 hours from where DH is going to be working, and was fantasizing about having a little farm and some chickens and maybe a couple of goats . . . but then I have to realize that most of my houseplants die due to neglect and I don't even like scooping dog poo from my yard, and I go crazy if I'm at home too much, and I want to live within five minutes of a coffee shop and a health food store, and we travel a fair amount and it's hard enough to find someone to housesit and watch our dogs--I can't imagine we'd be able to easily find someone to come and dependably milk the goats ,etc etc.--so I don't think that makes me a really great candidate for subsistence farming or rural living!!!!

[Momma Aimee]

see I am so NOT into this movement.

I am decluttering -- kinda cuz DH and both were past 30 when we married, him almost 40 -- so I am still trying to pair two houses down to one. And cuz I want to be able to use all the stuff i keep without dealing with the c%^p.

BUT I have 3 sets of china -- and love them all. (in addition to daily dises). I have 2 sets of sliver. I have another set of sliver to come fraom my Grandparents, and 2 more set fo china -- one from each Grandma. I also have baby clothing that belonged to me and to my parents and MY GRANDPARENTS and enough photos to start a musum.

And we live in a 2000 sq foot house and and NEED MORE ROOM. We will add 750 or so, maybe a full 1000 when we do the basement adn it is still not gonna be enough for me, if we move again, for dh's work, we agreed BIGGER.

Aimee

[ShannonCC]

Originally Posted by Kavita

Ha ha, I was laughing as I read this because I *so* know what you mean! We're moving to Louisville so we've really had to recently examine where we want to live, what kind of lifestyle is for us, etc. I saw the cutest little farm for sale online, about 1 1/2 hours from where DH is going to be working, and was fantasizing about having a little farm and some chickens and maybe a couple of goats . . . but then I have to realize that most of my houseplants die due to neglect and I don't even like scooping dog poo from my yard, and I go crazy if I'm at home too much, and I want to live within five minutes of a coffee shop and a health food store, and we travel a fair amount and it's hard enough to find someone to housesit and watch our dogs--I can't imagine we'd be able to easily find someone to come and dependably milk the goats ,etc etc.--so I don't think that makes me a really great candidate for subsistence farming or rural living!!!!

Oh man, thank you for the laugh! We're going on our first family vacation with all the kids and the biggest pain in the butt is finding someone to watch our dog (not fully trained and probably never will be) and cat (just got over a UTI and is eating raw food for his health). So the idea that I could add to this with "please come over daily and milk my goats" is making me laugh

[sabrinat]

Originally Posted by marybethorama

this thread is reminding me of the "crunchier than thou" threads we have sometimes.

....our house is 100 SQ FT and we all share ONE BOWL, ONE SPOON and ONE KNIFE. We're so simple we don't NEED forks or plates."

That had me laughing out loud...HARD!