Simple Living Mamas Tribe! - Page 9

[beansricerevolt]

Originally Posted by scifimama

has anyone used the new clorox green cleaners? i bought the bottle that you can dilute. it smells nice. but i'd rather support mrs. meyers not clorox

I just use vinegar, water and an eo.
I will not support Clorox for many reasons.
They are jumping on the whole "green" bandwagon to make $. They could care less about our health or the environment.

[transformed]

Originally Posted by beansricerevolt

I just use vinegar, water and an eo.
I will not support Clorox for many reasons.
They are jumping on the whole "green" bandwagon to make $. They could care less about our health or the environment.

:

it's not realy "green."

[zeldabee]

Originally Posted by scifimama

but i'd rather support mrs. meyers not clorox

I bought some Mrs Meyers, and it was so heavily perfumed I couldn't use it.

Originally Posted by beansricerevolt

I just use vinegar, water and an eo.
I will not support Clorox for many reasons.
They are jumping on the whole "green" bandwagon to make $. They could care less about our health or the environment.

Yeah that. Vinegar and water with lemon or lavender EO. Borax for the white enamel. A paste of baking soda, Dr. Bronners, and vinegar on the metal fixtures. Diluted Dr. Bronner's on windows and mirrors. They work as well or better than commercial cleaners, and they don't stink.

[ReadingMama]

Thanks for posting about the economic stimulus checks! I hadn't heard about that. We will add that to our (currently non-existent) savings so that hopefully we'll have a solid emergency fund. We're planning to pay off our debts and be done with credit cards. That will greatly simplify things.

I am working on changing my attitude about the size of our house too. It's 1200 square feet (including a sunroom.) We painted all the rooms in the past year and I'm slowly decorating it. I'm finding that I like it better now that it's fixed up more-even though the space is the same. I was inspired by someone here at MDC who said, "I love my little house!"

[zeldabee]

Originally Posted by transformed

living simply TV show:

http://health.discovery.com/fansites...o_fansite.html

That looks interesting. He's a cutie pie, too.

[artparent]

oo, simplicity goals, good idea! i have a few days without my partner, and so i always think i can accomplish more so here are my big plans:

i want to get rid of all the stuff waiting to be got rid of - already decluttered but not exit-ed.

i want to find a home for anything i put my hands on, (or get rid of it)

i want to empty our clothes closet and then put back only the things we want to keep.

*

[mamavegan]

Originally Posted by transformed

living simply TV show:

http://health.discovery.com/fansites...o_fansite.html

For some reason I can't find the actual show times/dates for this.

[kerc]

Originally Posted by transformed

any thoughts about blowing the "economic stimulus" checks? Anyone need emotional support?

I'd like to buck bushes whole plan by saving the money, and not filtering it back into the economy.

LOL our plan is to pay off some debt with it.

[ZanZansMommy]

Originally Posted by ReadingMama

I was inspired by someone here at MDC who said, "I love my little house!"

That's so funny to me b/c my really good friend, who happens to live in a 4200 sq ft home with only her DH & DD, tells me all the time "I Love you little home." It's somewhat perplexing to me b/c her home is huge & elegantly decorated but I think she feels like she's swimming in crap. Not to mention she has to get on the intercom system just to find her DH So, now I say, I love my little house too (it's 1,000 sq ft).

[kerc]

LOL. I have about 1200 sq ft above ground. We moved from 740 sq ft above ground. I keep telling myself I live in a HUGE house.

[noahandlinasmom]

Count me in! We live a somewhat simple life already, but husband and I our complete opposites. I long for a much more simpler life, and he longs for more money and stuff. We have a very small income, so right now, simplicity is our option, which means I do get to make a lot of simple choices, but, it's always a silent battle between DH and I.

Simple things we do:
cloth diaper and wipes
hang dry in warm weather- I love this chore for some reason
use mostly natural/organic cleaners and beauty/hygiene products
try to live on a regular budget
live in a <1000 sq. foot condo with 2 kids and 1 on the way and don't desire a bigger space
compost-although we don't have a garden, so I am not sure what to do with it yet
recycle-not as much as we should, but we're trying
love second hand shopping much more than new
try not to buy what we don't need
try to eat naturally/organically-but we do have a sweet tooth
try to reduce utility bills by consuming less energy
re-gift like crazy
don't use napkins or paper towels- wash cloths instead
try to keep selfless living close to heart by remembering how blessed we are in comparison to most of the world

Things we need to work on:
cutting out junk food more and more
impulse buying-even when it's a super price, any price is a bad price if we don't need it, or will be in debt afterwards
gardening
tv/internet time
finding healthy snacks when running errands rather than eating fast food
recycling more
being content with life
spend more time enjoying nature even in the cold
and I am sure there's much more

looking forward to the inspiration and great ideas

[AlpineMama]

Bump

[BCattS]

Count me in, too! Always trying to get comfortable with "enough" and not "more." (That's a tough one in the US!)

[notwonamesalike]

DH and I were talking this morning about a friend that won $5,000 in the lottery. Inevitably the conversation turned to "what would we do if we had millions?"

We laughed when we realized we wouldn't live much differently. We would probably do a few upgrades to our home that we've wanted for a while. Cork flooring in the kitchen, planting some more trees in our yard, Adding a shade structure to our backyard.

But we would still coupon, still eat in and cook mostly from scratch, still shop second hand. Still compost, still buy locally. Etc. Etc.


One thing we have decided to do - which is a HUGE step for us. We're going cable free in April. We'll still have the option to watch movies and such with the DVD player - and we'll keep our subscription to netflix - but we've decided cable TV is a huge drain on our time and a money sucker we don't need.

I'm a little nervous - but I think it will be a good move for us.

[alisonh916]

What an awesome thread! living simply is my goal for the year. now it's just trying to get dh on board he is an impulse shopper! But I've already made changes that I am so excited about!

recycling
using cloth instead of paper towels.
Hanging most of our clothes to dry
decluttering/finding new uses for things
cooking from scratch/ eating at home/eliminating processed foods
cooking large batches then using my freezer to store
using natural cleaners like vinegar/baking soda/tea tree oil
using natural beauty products

My goals now are to :
really focus on things we need and not "extras"
phase out the amount of tv my family watches
start a small garden this spring, buy locally what i don't grow
learn to sew, so that I can attempt to make some of our clothes!
not get caught up in comparing our life and the way we live to everyone else

[holyhelianthus]

BUMP!

I need a kick in the butt, mamas. Things have been going out of control in my home and we have lost a lot of our values

[artparent]

((mag)) how about some gentle encouragement instead?

what about setting a goal or two for the next week, if things aren't too overwhelming? simple living is great, but just parenting is certainly enough sometimes.

*

[unlegal]

I've fallen seriously behind, too. I am feeling so overwhelmed, especially with just taking care of our home. I'm not sure if I have too high of standards or what, because I just never feel like anything is good enough.

I talked with my husband, and I'm thinking what might really help me out is if he takes the kids out for maybe 2-3 hours a week, and I stay home and clean/purge/organize. I think if I had that solid time alone, I could get a ton done, and not feel so crazy all week.

As it is now, I feel like I can only do enough to barely stay afloat, and, to me, that's not the right way to raise a family.

[chanibell]

Hey everyone. I'm looking forward to going to my first meeting about simple living in my area. The topic will be materialism.

[gottothinkpositive]

so how does this work?