"Tis a Gift to Be Simple"

10 Little Things We Do;
to try to be simple and frugal (in this material world)

(this was inspired by an article, The Pursuit of a Simpler Life at homesanctuary.typepad.com)

1. I cook a lot of soups and stews. This allows for nutritious, one pot meals. Plus, I always make enough to last for a couple nights worth of dinners, or one dinner and a couple days worth of lunches...either way, there's more than just one meal's worth of food.
2. I "go to town" (yes, we live in the country) once a week. During this trip, all errands are done at once.
3. I grow some of the fruits, veggies and herbs that we eat.
4. "Play-dates" anyone? Who needs them when you and your kids are active in your church like we are!?
5. I don't wash our clothes just because they've been worn. Actually, I check to see if there dirty/smelly first. Lot's of times, we can wear things two or three times before they get washed (socks and underwear are excluded from this rule!)
6. Living in the parsonage. Yes, I realize this is hardly an option for most families, but it works great for us! No driving to and from church and it simplifies our finances.
7. We use cloth napkins.
8. I use cloth diapers on my kids till about 6 mos. old.
9. Clothes we buy are either on sale or bought at discount stores (and believe it or not, unless I told you, you'd never know)
10. I never refuse "hand-me-downs", or "seconds," if we can't use them, then I'll give them to someone who can.

Goals for living even more simply:

1. To re-begin my composting endeavors. I was very faithful at this, however, after having baby #2, I found myself each day, waiting for that moment of opportunity to run out to the compost, and it never really came. My house started smelling a little foul from my ever mounting pile of compost on my kitchen counter) Now that baby is a little older, I think this is very do-able.
2. To burn burnable garbage.
3. Once a month grocery shopping.