Fwd: Simple Times - 01/20/08 - Simplifying life; brightening your home

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Start the year off right. Easy ways to stay in shape in the new year.

 

 

Simple Times

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Vol. 10, No. 2 -- January 20th, 2008

http://thesimplemom.wordpress.com/

debi

Copyright 2008 Deborah Taylor-Hough

ISSN: 1527-1269

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Celebrating 10+ years of saving your time, money and sanity!

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IN THIS ISSUE:

-- " Dear Readers "

-- Simple Living Quote

-- 10 Quick & Inexpensive Ways to Brighten Your Home for Spring

-- Simplifying Life: Ten Steps

-- Letters to the Editor / Reader Tips

-- Assorted Information (archives, etc.)

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Dear Readers,

 

It's mid-January ... which around here means rain. And cloudy skies.

And mustiness. And just general gloomy weather. So I started thinking

that perhaps if I started doing some Spring cleaning and redecorating

now, it might lighten up the mood a bit. It's amazing how just adding

a few potted flowers (artifical ones at this point because the real ones

would die) to my front step cheers me up each time I drive into the

carport.

 

When I saw Kathy Wilson's article on simple and inexpensive ideas for

brightening your home for Spring, I thought I'd include her tips in

this issue of Simple Times in case anyone else out there is feeling a

bit of the mid-winter blues, too.

 

I cleaned and straightened my carport and storage shed on Friday. We

had a brief period of nice weather, and I decided to take advantage of

it by doing some outdoor work around the house. Needed to wear gloves

and a warm sweater, but it was good to get outside for a couple of hours.

It also felt freeing to cart off a load of outgrown and unused things to

Goodwill, too. I feel a little lighter for the process. I even found

some books I'm ready to part with, so I'll probably have an eBay sale

around the time the next issue of Simple Times comes out. Be sure to

stay tuned. :-)

 

A quick reminder that the views and philosophies of the advertisers and

contributors to Simple Times don't necessarily represent my personal

beliefs or practices. I glean information and content for this newsletter

from many sources, so if you visit a contributor's website and find things

you don't agree with, please remember that it's not necessarily my view

on things, either. Just for the sake of example, I don't personally

practice Feng Shui (I have religious reasons that I won't go into), but

I've found that many people choosing to live simply are practitioners, so

you may find references to Feng Shui on a contributor's website. Don't

take it as a recommendation by me, however.

 

People who choose to simplify their daily lives do so for a wide range

of reasons, and I want this newsletter to continue to represent the

diversity within the Voluntary Simplicity and Downshifting movement.

 

Simply Yours,

 

Debi

(Deborah Taylor-Hough)

Editor, Simple Times Email Newsletter

--Author of the popular 'Frozen Assets' series; 'A Simple Choice: A

practical guide for saving your time, money & sanity'; and 'Frugal

Living for Dummies®

--Editor, Simple Times, Solo Parents, and Bright-Kids email newsletters

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Visit my new site!

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SIMPLE LIVING QUOTE

 

" Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate

cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. "

 

--Martin Luther King, Jr.

 

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10 QUICK & INEXPENSIVAE WAYS TO BRIGHTEN YOUR

HOME FOR SPRING

Copyright Kathy Wilson

Used with permission. All rights reserved.

http://www.thebudgetdecorator.com/

 

 

Spring is a sign of renewal in many areas of our lives, and our

homes are no different. There is something energizing and

refreshing about bringing that bright, airy feeling of Spring into

your home.

 

Here are the 10 best ways to spruce up and revitalize your

rooms, on a dime:

 

1) Add white! White with your present color scheme will both

cool and brighten, adding the freshness that only white can. If

your room colors tend toward the warm side, such as yellows,

browns, or reds ... then choose creamier white such as ecru

or ivory. If you have cooler colors in your room, such as greens

and blues, go with the brighter, cleaner whites.

 

2) Try painting your focal wall (that is, the one most seen) in a

sunnier, brighter, or lighter shade of your current wall color. It

will add lightness to the room without drastically changing the

whole scheme. Don’t worry, you can always go back to that

rich red in the fall, but how about a little petal pink, or sky blue?

Remember, it's only paint ... it's cheap!

 

3) Add a floral print fabric to your room. Using the primary colors

already in your room, visit your fabric store and pick out a floral

fabric you love with at least one of those primary colors in it. The

more, the better, but don't feel you must have every color in the

room also in the fabric. Use that floral fabric to make table scarves,

placemats, pillow covers, and simple seat cushion covers. Pair it

with a solid fabric color already in the room, and you have a custom-

coordinated look, for just a few dollars and some simple straight

sewing!

 

4) Pick up some pretty colored glassware from the dollar shop, and

display it where the sun will light it up. You could even use clear

glassware, and fill it with colored water to coordinate with the room.

Use your glassware as vases, pencil holders, or candy dishes, but

make sure it is seen. Glass sparkles and adds a bit of sunshine to

a room.

 

5) Take down your curtains, and just leave your mini blinds underneath.

Don't leave it bare, though, we don't want boring! Swag some dried or

silk flowers over the top of the blinds, or use some muslin to twist

around a curtain rod for an informal but airy valance. (No sew!)

 

6) Keep your windows sparkling clean. Dirty windows cut down on a

surprising amount of light, and make a room look dull. As a bonus,

clean windows mean more sparkling glass, and that makes a room feel

larger and brighter.

 

7) Pot up some pansies from the garden center and use them indoors as

houseplants. They are cheap, easy, and add flowers to a room without

the cost of replacing floral arrangements every week. You can even

coordinate the flower color to the color scheme of the room. Don't match

the colors, just pick something complementary.

 

8) Clear most of the artwork and accessories out of your room, and just

keep a few larger, simpler pieces. It declutters the room, and helps to

put the focus on the freshness of a room. Consider picking up a white

lattice from the garden center, and hang it on the wall as a focal point.

Place a potted plant in front of it, or hang small framed garden catalog

prints from it. Let it be a reminder of the outdoors all season long!

 

9) Use a stencil or a stamp to add floral and nature motifs to your room

for very little money. Stencil vines around windows and doors, hand-paint

seasonal sayings over doorways with a paint pen, or stamp a floral bouquet

on the front of cupboard doors. You can always paint over those small

areas with touch up paint in the fall. (Or you might love them so much,

they stay year round!)

 

10) Finally, don't forget your entry area when you are creating that

spring glow all around your home. Remember, your entries are a

visitors first impression of your home. Add a pot of pansies on the

porch, paint your entry a fresh spring color, and hang a handmade

wreath, or a basket of flowers on the front door.

 

All these ideas take very little time, little or no money, and do

wonders for your spirit and the spirit of those who you love. Take a

little time to brighten your lives!

 

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

--Kathy Wilson is an author, columnist, and editor of The Budget

Decorator. If you would like hundreds more great budget decorating

ideas, visit her at http://www.TheBudgetDecorator.com . Don’t forget

to sign up for her free newsletter and ebooks while you’re there!

 

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O.U.R. S.P.O.N.S.O.R.

 

 

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SIMPLIFYING LIFE: TEN STEPS

Copyright 2005 Brad Swift of Life On Purpose Institute, Inc.

Used with permission from EzineArticles.com.

All rights reserved.

 

 

Perhaps you woke up one morning to realize the old joke is

true: " Even if you finish the rat race in first, you're still a rat. "

Or maybe, the thought crept in more slowly, wedging itself

into your consciousness while sitting in the five o'clock traffic

jam as you commute home. However it appeared, you now

realize it's time for a change to a simpler way of life.

 

But how do you start? These ten steps will provide you with

guidance to propel you along the path.

 

1) The first step may be the easiest for many people because

by the time you're reading this, it may already have been

accomplished. That is making up your heart and mind that it's

time to simplify, even better if the decision has moved to the

level of being committed. If not, don't worry. It's quite possible

to test the waters of simple living before diving in.

 

2) A helpful realization to tag on to the decision to simplify is to

realize that it's a process most easily and simply accomplished

slowly and mindfully. Bringing the " rat race mentality " of drive,

determination and " get the job done no matter what " can be self

defeating. So, ease up and enjoy the ride.

 

3) The next step may be a little more difficult, but it can be

accomplished by everyone, even those who consider themselves

the exception. Carve out a little space and time for self reflection.

Maybe it's one night a week, or a few lunch breaks where you

take your bag lunch to a quiet park bench, or a weekend when

you tell everyone you're going away and then you don't. Or you

go somewhere quiet and serene with only one agenda -- to be

with yourself. It's fine to take your family as long as they agree to

participate in the purpose of the trip, which is steps 4, 5 and 6.

 

4) In the carved out space and time, begin to examine what's

truly important to you. What gives you joy, satisfaction, fulfillment,

what makes you laugh or cry movingly. Look beyond just the

momentary surface level stuff and see what provides deeper

moments of meaning. Remember back to your childhood years.

Were there moments with your family that, while they may have

appeared routine in the moment, you now remember fondly?

 

5) While examining what brings joy and satisfaction to your life,

also spend some time examining your values. As you do, notice

whether your current life is consistent with those values. If not,

where have they been compromised, and how might a simpler,

less complex life allow for a renewal of those values.

 

6) Last of all, look at your life to see where it's primarily being

shaped by a particular lifestyle, as in the " keeping up with the

Jones mentality " and where it's being shaped by your values.

One useful way to do this is to draw a line down the middle of

a page of paper. On one side write " Lifestyle-based Life, " on the

other write " Value-based Life. " Then, looking at your life, write

down whatever fits under the two headings.

 

For example, does the car or cars you own represent your values

or your lifestyle? How about where you live -- the home and

neighborhood. How about your job, ir how much or little you're

involved in the community, etc?

 

By the way, there's nothing wrong with lifestyle. It's just not a

very good way to shape a life if you're interested in joy and

satisfaction. There are also no right answers. Each person must

look and make the call for themselves.

 

7) By this time in the process, you'll probably see some areas

that could benefit from simplification since it appears that a " value-

based life " and a simple life go hand-in-hand. If you're into making

lists, you might want to list what possible actions you could take

towards that aim, then prioritize them. Or just pick two or three

activities that would be fun, engaging and would move you further

down the simplicity path.

 

8) Simplifying your finances is often one of the most strategic steps

to take for people who have identified that much of their life energy

has been devoted more to lifestyle building than value building. A

very powerful and effective process for financial transformation is

outlined in the bestseller, " Your Money or Your Life " (YMORL), by

Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin. I highly recommend this book for

a more thorough look at this area of life.

 

In the meantime, here are a few steps to get you started:

 

a) Find out where your money goes. Most people don't have a good

handle on where all their money goes. The simplest way to determine

this is to keep track for a few weeks or months where every cent is

spent. This one step can be very revealing because once you realize

that you're spending $5 a day on Cappuccino which equates to $150

a month or $1800 a year, you realize that it might be possible to

streamline your budget starting here.

 

b) Start to measure your spending against how much fulfillment and

satisfaction you're receiving. If you think of money as something that

you exchange your life energy for, you're spending naturally becomes

more conscious.

 

c) Determine how much money you're exchanging your life energy for

in your job or career. Again, most people don't realize or take into

account how much it costs them to work, so they often have an inflated

view of how much money they make. To figure this out, take your base

amount of pay and subtract all the expenditures that are directly related

to work. In other words, if you weren't working, would you be eating your

lunches out each day? How about the cost of that 30 minute commute

(also factor in the commute time as hours worked)? How much do you

spend on business attire? Factor all of this to determine how much you're

really taking home. People often realize from this exercise that instead

of

making $20/hr at work, their actual income is only $8-10. Suddenly, the

$5 Cappuccino is costing them 30 minutes of their life energy. It can be

a revealing experience going through this process.

 

9) Many people realize from step 8 that one big area of their life that

could be simplified and would have an accumulative effect elsewhere is

to eliminate their debt. Debt-free living is a great way to live life. I

call it

living a life paid in full. Much of the lifestyle we've come to expect and

take for granted in this country comes with an incredibly high price tag,

especially when we're " buying now and paying later. " Besides YMORL,

another beneficial resource on debt elimination is the " Financial

Independence Network Limited " (FINL). FINL provides simple and

effective methods to eliminate all debt within 5-7 years for most people

while also providing the inspiration and encouragement to keep you on

track.

 

10) The last step is patience and persistence. Remember, it's taken

most people years, perhaps even generations to develop the complex

lives they live. It's unrealistic to think it can be all turned around at

once.

Besides, it's the journey that we're here for, not the destination.

 

Enjoy the ride!

 

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

--Dr. Brad Swift founded Life On Purpose Institute in 1996 with the vision

of creating a World On Purpose by assisting people like yourself to

clarify

their life purpose & live true to it. Determine how on or off purpose your

life

is with the fun & insightful Self Test at:

http://lifeonpurpose.com/_forms/self-test.php?source=ezart

 

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Brad_Swift

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Feel free to forward this newsletter to your family and friends. :-)

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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR / READER TIPS

We'd love to hear YOUR tips and ideas for simplifying daily life.

Send your simple living comments/tips to: DSimple

 

 

Re: Educating / amusing kids

My tip is very simple :-) I change the background picture on our

computer almost daily. I vary it from works of art to nature photos,

from interesting architecture to anything that I think would educate

or amuse my kids -- at the moment, there's a photograph of a

man walking past an empty rack outside a building. The empty

rack has a large sign above it that says, " Free Air Guitar, please

take one. " My kids like to check the computer to see what I've

added. I think it has broadened their outlook on life to see the

incredible variety of creativity in the world. All I do to put a new

picture on our computer is right click on an image on the web

and then click on " Set as Desktop Background " -- couldn't be

easier!

--Tabatha

 

 

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SIMPLE TIMES RECOMMENDED BOOKS

Book list for frugality and simple living

Go to: http://snurl.com/simplebooks

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SIMPLE TIMES ARCHIVES

 

Two years' worth of back issues are available by clicking the

" Read Messages " button at: http://snurl.com/st_archives

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As always, a special " Thank you! " goes out to Gary Foreman

and the friendly folks at the Dollar Stretcher for making this

mailing list possible!

 

== http://www.stretcher.com/ ==

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Feel free to forward this newsletter to your family and friends. :-)

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EDITOR'S BOOKS AND AUDIO RESOURCES:

Books and resources by Deborah Taylor-Hough

Editor, Simple Times Email Newsletter

http://snurl.com/debisbooks

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DEBI'S ON-LINE RESOURCES:

Personal Blog: http://dsimple.wordpress.com/

Frugality/Simplicity: http://thesimplemom.wordpress.com

Cooking Ahead: http://frozenassets.wordpress.com/

Bright-Kids: http://brightkids.wordpress.com

Tupperware®: http://snurl.com/DebiTupperware

Kids' Books: http://snurl.com/books4kids

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