While the term Simple Living means different things to different people, some refer to simple living as a return to old fashioned homemaking and increased self sufficiency. This goes hand in hand with slowing down, being content at home, and reducing the amount that we buy. This may sound sort of complicated, and maybe you are feeling drawn to the idea of simple living, but you have no idea where to begin. The good news is that we don’t have to try to do everything at once. You don’t have to live on a farm and grow all your own food in order to simplify. That doesn’t even have to be the goal. You can take baby steps toward simplifying and implementing old fashioned homemaking in our homes no matter where you live. Here are a few ideas to choose from.
Baby Steps to Simple Living
Stay home more.
While there are lots of ways to simplify, choosing to stay home more, is one of the most straightforward steps to begin because most likely it will impact not only your time and energy, but your wallet, and your homemaking. Of course everyone has different circumstances, and most people have some outside commitments that are important and necessary.
However, if you find that you feel hurried all of the time, it might be a good idea to carefully consider all that you pack into your schedule every week and ask yourself if you could slow down and spread out the number of activities, or eliminate certain things altogether. This doesn’t mean that you are a recluse who never leaves the house, and who is never involved in any sort of outside activities.
Outside activities can be really fun! It is important, though, to make sure there is some margin in our days and that we are not always going at breakneck speed. The interesting thing about taking this first step toward simplifying, is that it spills over into other areas of life. If we are at home more, we have more time to make meals from scratch or take up other hobbies like gardening or sewing. Additionally, it is good for our finances because (although it is still incredibly easy to buy stuff at home via the internet), it is easier to spend money when we are out of the house. At home, we will be less likely to substitute a good meal for fast food, we won’t have as many opportunities for impulse spending, and we won’t need to fill our cars with gasoline as often.
Cook some meals from scratch.
Even if you are not much of a cook, and you don’t cook most of your meals, you can start small, and slowly increase your cooking skills. For some this might mean cooking just one easy meal a week at home, for others it might mean learning how to preserve food or baking bread. Everyone is at a different level, and that’s ok. Don’t forget to mix it up sometimes; every so often a break and a pizza night is really nice.
If you are a new cook or in a busy season, stick to easy meals, and don’t try to do it all at once. The important thing is that you are trying. It is wonderful to be able to serve your family healthy meals that are eaten together around your own table regardless of your skill level. This is nourishing not only to your body, but also to your family as a whole.
Start a small vegetable or herb garden.
Once you start making more meals at home, you may be interested in growing and preserving some of your own food. You don’t have to do this all at once. If you have never gardened before, you might try one or two small raised beds with a few vegetables or herbs. If that sounds like too much you could even just get a potted tomato plant or some potted herbs. Gardening can be a great way to get outside, and it can be relaxing too. Not to mention, you and your family get to eat the healthy homegrown produce.
Cut out some screen time.
Are you wondering how you are ever going to make time to take some baby steps toward a simpler lifestyle? The truth is making or growing even some of your own things does take more time, but it is both satisfying and rewarding.
Staying at home more does enable us to do some of these things, but only if we use the time at home wisely. I do not really consider myself someone who is on my phone a lot, but I still find myself using it way more than I would like to admit.
Many people are addicted, at least on some level to their phones without even knowing it. It is easy to waste a half hour or even an hour just scrolling on your phone. I am not talking about the phone aspect of your phone (considering that most people don’t have landlines, we do need them for communication), but rather the internet aspect. Whether it is social media, videos, or online shopping, we can easily get sucked in. Once you start to intentionally set limits on phone use, you will notice that you are less distracted from what you are doing in real life.
Conclusion
When you take intentional steps toward living a simple lifestyle, you will begin to notice that as you make small changes in one area of your life, these changes will have a snowball effect on other areas of your life. When you deliberately slow down, limit phone use, and use your time for things like cooking at home, gardening, or sewing, you will begin to see the joy in simple everyday life at home. It is a joy to serve homemade meals to your family around your own table. It’s fun to pick fresh produce out of your garden even if it is a tiny garden box. It is satisfying to make things at home, even if they are just simple things. The little things in life really matter.
