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By eliza_cross, on March 27th, 2012%
 Photo by Chris Reed “Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity! I say, let your affairs be as two or three, and not a hundred or a thousand. Instead of a million, count half a dozen, and keep your accounts on your thumb-nail.” ~ Henry David Thoreau
What does financial simplicity mean to you? For me, it’s the feeling that we are in control of our money, rather than having our financial situation control us. It’s the peace that comes from living within our means. It’s a good night’s sleep, with a minimum of money worries.
Here are some of the ways we try to simplify the finances in our household:
- Specific, achievable goals for retirement, college, vacations and other large purchases.
- A minimum of bills, delivered and paid electronically to reduce paper.
- Bills paid on time. Because my income fluctuates as a writer, at the beginning of each month I make a list of bills, in order of the due date, and a monthly budget. This system has virtually eliminated late payments and fees.
- Money set aside regularly for annual bills like taxes and insurance. I have a special savings account to save for large annual expenses, and figure out how much to contribute each month so the big bills are usually covered.
- A neat, orderly system. Okay, I’m still working on better organization. But I do keep up with filing papers on a fairly consistent basis, and I’m moving on converting more paperwork to digital files and online billing.
- Meaningful sharing of our abundance with those less fortunate. Giving is a priority, and it gets budgeted along with our other expenses.
- Savings set aside each month and added to regularly. Savings is another line item on the budget.
- Discipline. At the end of each month I calculate our net worth, which is the only way I’ve found to truly stay honest about the state of our finances.
Have you found additional ways to simplify how you manage money? I’d love to hear your thoughts.
By eliza_cross, on January 30th, 2012%
 By PotteryBarn.com Organizing has many benefits. Along with the inner peace that comes from working and living in a calm space, organized living means less time looking for lost items and a visually pleasing, harmonious environment.
Clearing space is a gift you give yourself.
Today’s challenge is to organize one area. It can be a small or big project, depending on how much time you want to devote to it. You could simply take ten minutes to straighten up your desk and get rid of unnecessary papers. Or spend thirty minutes organizing the medicine cabinet. You could clean out your refrigerator. Unclutter the coat closet. Tackle one wall of the garage. Spend a day straightening up the basement. It’s up to you. Just organize a space, and bask in the rewards.
For inspiration, you might enjoy these websites — with tons of tips and information:
Unclutterer
Organized Home
Get Organized
Creative Organizing
If you clear a space and like the result, be sure to let us know about it!
Pin It
P.S. In case you’ve just joined us, the January Money Diet is a challenge to take a 31-day break from nonessential spending. Even though January is winding down, you can learn more about the money diet here — and jump right in!
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Win a Deluxe Happy Simple Living Gift Basket
In honor of the January Money Diet, I’ll be giving away a gift basket chock-full of home and garden goodies plus several books at the end of the month. On January 31, 2012 (that’s tomorrow!), I’ll draw one random name from everyone who commented during the month and that lucky person will win the gift basket. I hope you’ll stop by often this month and share your own ideas, thoughts and experiences about taking a 31-day break from nonessential spending.
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By eliza_cross, on January 28th, 2012%
“The remarkable thing about my mother is that for thirty years she served us nothing but leftovers. The original meal has never been found.” ~Calvin Trillin
It just kills me to discard spoiled food that we didn’t eat. One of my goals this year is to make better use of leftovers. The whole concept of “zero waste” appeals to me on so many levels, and utilizing food efficiently is so important.
If you feel the same way, you might enjoy the Leftover Chef site where you can input whatever strange ingredients are lurking in your refrigerator for recipe ideas. Enter ‘turkey, ‘cranberries,’ and ‘onions,’ for instance, and you’ll find an appealing recipe for Turkey Cutlets with Cranberry – Pear Relish.
Do you have stale crackers and chips lurking in the pantry? Refresh them by spreading them in a single layer on a cookie sheet and baking at 300 degrees F for about 5 minutes. Allow to cool and then seal in an airtight container.
What about those stray veggies in the vegetable crisper? Use them in salads or on pizza, or freeze them for your next batch of soup.
Leftover tortillas can be used to make homemade tortilla chips, like this healthy baked version from Savory Sweet Life.
What’s your favorite way to use leftovers? We’d love to hear your ideas!
P.S. In case you’ve just joined us, the January Money Diet is a challenge to take a 31-day break from nonessential spending. You can learn more about the money diet here — and jump right in!
—————————————————————————
Win a Deluxe Happy Simple Living Gift Basket
In honor of the January Money Diet, I’ll be giving away a gift basket chock-full of home and garden goodies plus several books at the end of the month. On January 31, 2012, I’ll draw one random name from everyone who commented during the month and that lucky person will win the gift basket. I hope you’ll stop by often this month and share your own ideas, thoughts and experiences about taking a 31-day break from nonessential spending.
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By eliza_cross, on January 6th, 2012%
 Photo by Joe Photo “If you take care of the small things, the big things take care of themselves.” ~ Emily Dickinson
January is the perfect time to tackle maintenance and upkeep tasks. Perhaps your garden tools could use a good cleaning and sharpening, or maybe it’s time to defrag your computer’s hard drive and update all the programs. Or maybe your bike could use a good tune-up, or you could wash the windows or polish the furniture.
Is there something in your immediate vicinity that could benefit from some maintenance or “spit and polish,” as Dad used to say? Take care of whatever’s calling out for a little extra attention from you today — and be sure to let us know what you do.
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Win a Deluxe Happy Simple Living Gift Basket
In honor of the January Money Diet, I’ll be giving away a gift basket of home and garden goodies plus several books at the end of the month. On January 31, 2012, I’ll draw one random name from everyone who commented during the month and that lucky person will win the gift basket. I hope you’ll stop by often this month and share your own ideas, thoughts and experiences about taking a 31-day break from nonessential spending.
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By eliza_cross, on January 2nd, 2012%
 Photo by Kirrily Robert “Ask your child what he wants for dinner only if he’s buying.” ~ Fran Lebowitz
If a typical month includes several restaurant meals and a few pizza deliveries or take-out dinners, cooking at home can be a significant area of savings this month. The trick to successfully avoiding expensive convenience foods is to do a little planning. Today’s task is to figure out your meals for the rest of the week.
If you participated in yesterday’s “Shop At Home” challenge, you likely unearthed some pantry items that you can utilize for meals this month. Take a few minutes to take inventory of your other basic ingredients so you can use up food from the freezer and refrigerator this month. I find it easiest to plan a week at a time, and if you’re a list-maker like I am you may want to access one of these handy meal planning worksheets from our friends at Unclutterer.
It’s far more economical to plan meals using the grocery store circular for inspiration, so you can choose meals that utilize seasonal, lower-priced ingredients. I also keep a running list in a small notebook of meals my family especially likes; then, when I’m low on inspiration I can review the list and get some ideas for sure-to-please meals.
I won’t get into couponing and online grocery games, because we all have varying amounts of time that we can devote to shopping and cooking; if you’re a whiz at saving coupons, that’s all the better! Just try to figure out the meals you want to prepare and serve for the next week, take advantage of seasonal foods and specials, stay within your budget, and purchase the groceries. You’ll be way ahead in the challenge to spend less and eat well this month.
If you could use a little recipe inspiration, check out Taste of Home for reader-tested recipes and comfort food, the food section of the Pioneer Woman’s blog for hearty, easy meals, and my friend Michele Morris’s blog Cooking With Michele for more upscale offerings.
For great advice about creating a shopping list, MealsMatter.com offers these excellent tips on meal planning.
Finally, before you head to the store you may want to read Real Simple magazine’s 6 tips to save money on groceries.
P.S. If you’ve joined us, today is Day 2 of the January Money Diet — a 31-day challenge to take a break from nonessential spending. Care to join us? Just jump right in and start saving! I’ll also be giving away a gift basket chock-full of home and garden goodies plus several books at the end of the month. On January 31, 2012, I’ll draw one random name from everyone who commented during the month and that lucky person will win the gift basket. I hope you’ll stop by often this month and share your own ideas, thoughts and experiences.
By eliza_cross, on March 19th, 2011%
“What amazes me is that most days feel useless. I don’t seem to accomplish anything – just a few pages, most of which don’t seem very good. Yet, when I put all those wasted days together, I somehow end up with a book of which I’m very proud.” ~ Louis Sachar, author of more than 20 books
Why I Began Thinking About The Value of Small Steps
I recently decided to open a separate investment account to begin saving for our next car. I don’t plan to buy an automobile for many years, but I like the idea of having the money set aside so it’s there when the time comes.
For now I’ve been putting aside $25 a month, and I was a little discouraged when I reviewed the account statement recently and saw that the balance had reached just $175.00. “What’s the use?” that negative little voice in my head said. “At the rate you’re going, it’ll never amount to anything.”
“Not so fast, Kemosabe,” the positive little voice in my head said. “Stick with your plan.” Thank goodness the wise voice is the one I try to listen to. After all, I’ve lived and breathed the benefits of incremental acts and persistence, from writing books to saving money to paying off debt. You probably have, too.
After I told the negative voice to beat it, I made a list of some of the amazing things that can be accomplished with small steps, consistency and perseverance:
1. Learn a new skill. Got 15 minutes a day? You could learn how to speak a foreign language, play an instrument or Continue reading 15 Amazing Benefits of Small Steps, Consistency and Perseverance
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