Hello and Welcome!
I’m Eliza Cross, founder and publisher of Happy Simple Living. Welcome to my kitchen! It’s my happy place, and I’m glad you’re here.
Happy Simple Living is where you can explore ideas and discoveries about simplifying, cooking good food, saving money, organizing, creating a comfortable home, organic gardening, and sustainable living.
How This Blog Started
I wrote my first post on July 22, 2006. (Was it really that long ago?!)
Back then, blogs were like online diaries. So I felt completely comfortable posting about changing a lightbulb!
The original name of this blog was “Urban Homesteader,” and I hoped to turn our suburban house and yard into a sort of mini-farm.
However, some other urban homesteaders trademarked the phrase and began taking legal action against people who used it.
Fortunately, this happened at exactly the same time I realized I was too lazy to raise chickens.
New Blog Name, New Focus
In 2010, I reframed the blog’s focus to better fit my heart and goals (and avoid getting sued). I changed the name to Happy Simple Living to share recipes, ideas, and tips for simplifying everyday life.
Since then, I’ve posted about hundreds of topics ranging from Homemade Cheese Crackers and Mega Toilet Paper Rolls to Controlling Bindweed and that time I got a weird condition called Pine Mouth.
Happy Simple Living’s strategies have been featured by Forbes, Business Insider, U.S. News and World Report, CBS-4 Denver, Fox 31 Denver, and others.
If you like bacon, you’re invited to visit our sister site BENSA, the Bacon Lovers Society. BENSA is where I post all my bacon recipes as well as bacon events, funny memes and jokes, and bacon cooking guides.
I would also love to connect with you over at my professional website ElizaCross.com, where you can read about my books (I’ve written 17 so far!) and other work.
If you’re new here, you might enjoy browsing some of our most popular recipes and articles:
Top 5 Recipes
Top 5 Articles
Recent Press for Happy Simple Living
Declutter and Make Room for Joy This Holiday Season – Dec. 23, 2024 – St. George News
Woman Shares Two-Ingredient Hack for Streak-Free Windows That’ll Take 10 Minutes – Oct. 3, 2024 – The Mirror US
Windows will be ‘Sparkling and Streak-Free’ in 10 Minutes with Natural Streak Free Solution – Oct. 1, 2024 – Express
Inspiring Simplicity. Weekend Reads – July 15, 2023 – Becoming Minimalist
The Ultimate Room by Room Decluttering List – April 27, 2023 – Redfin Blog
#7 of 100 Best Simple Living Blogs and Websites – April, 2023 – FeedSpot
Thanks for sharing this interesting post with us.I enjoy at the time of reading this post.Keep sharing with us.I am very interested by reading this.. Its very helpful yo us..keep posting such an interesting things..
Thank you
I thought I had the patent on “urban homesteader”,a completely suberbanized city-boy,with a sence of self-reliance. Now after 10 years,I find this cool site. AWESOME!
I Love your blog. It’s a lot of what I hope to accomplish through my site. Please stop by and comment. I’m new at this and want to be able to share some wisdom on the benefits and joy of living a peaceful life.
Thanks
What a pleasure to have found your blog, Eliza.
A reminder of being awake for life.
Your former, across the street, neighbor.
Anna
Nice to know you Eliza! You have a good blog
I love your list Liza, we’re on the same list but there is a little bit difference, I fail sometimes in following my list because I forget to do the rest that is probably my problem on how to manage well my time through my list which I depend on. By the way it is great I love your list! Stay healthy and always keep going!
I just found your blog through the comment you left on our blog, and I like it already just from reading your priority list…I have been yearning for exactly what you wrote down, and am hoping that blogging about it helps out. Feel free to pop over anytime :)
Enjoyable blog… and in the above all good words of wisdom to live by. We have a dandelion problem also, made worse that the dog loves to go crashing through them – thankfully they are typically relegated to the large field of to the side.
David
Hi Eliza,
I started following your other blog a couple years ago, I think we live in the same neighborhood, and in any case I share your dandelion issues in our yard too. Thanks for the ideas about prioritizing and saving.
i like this!!!!
Hi Eliza,
Just found your site through the e-college finder’s wellness guru list. I too am on a quest to live a happy, healthy, balanced life. I’m glad I found you.
I agree with your priorities, lately I have found the joy in simply living each day as it comes. I have found that everytime I make plans, life happens and all my plans are null and void. Rejoice in the day and the challenges it provides so that we may become stronger souls. My spirit is healthier today than it was yesterday and it will be fortified each day of my life. Riches don’t always have to do with money!
Really a lovely site Eliza! It captures your spirit so well! Thanks for sharing! – Laura Lee
Eliza…your mom just told me about this site – GREAT!!! I’ll have to find time to read back entries. ;-) We met at a tea your mom hosted a while back. I am also a writer and work in marketing some still, but mostly am a book project manager for a Christian publishing company.
I love it! Eliza, I am so glad I found you! What serendipity! (I love that word!)