I work in marketing, and it demands that I know a little bit of everything. My boss tells me to dip my toes into music, movies, trends, the latest news, etc. to help me stay creative.

But the thing is, that's so taxing for me. I barely have any time for the things that actually matter to me, and now I have to sacrifice them to make time for stuff I don't care for?

Don't get me wrong, I do try to be more "well-rounded" but I always feel terrible after. I just end up longing for the hours I've lost that I could've used to be happy.

I really want to care for a lot of things, but I just can't force myself to do it.

My favorite foods, binging one of my favorite shows (Always Sunny in Philadelphia), adult beverages and video games. Couldn't ask for a more relaxing day.

Hi all!

I’m new to simple living. This year, I threw a Halloween party and tried to brainstorm ways to make it more “simple.” Instead of ordering, we did a Mac and cheese bar with homemade food, and instead of buying a new costume, I wore the same witches hat I’ve had for 3 years.

However, I also ended up going out drinking (haha oops) and doing a little bit of shopping.

My goal this year is to still thoroughly celebrate the season (Halloween and thanksgiving are my favorite holidays) but not go crazy with consumerism.

What are some other tips to simplify Halloween for my family?

Yesterday I was triggered by a discussion about the dominant position of work in your life. Found this one today.

I wish there were more random swings in the world. They are reminders to stop and play. Swinging on top of a mountain overlooking a lake was so incredibly peaceful. Thank you so much to the person/people who bought this swing and took the time to hang it up.

Hello all

Just getting into minimalism after spending on items for years , selling what I can and decluttering , minimalism seems to bring me peace , just want a simple uncluttered life with less visual noise , also save money .

Please do give hints and tips and general suggestions on how to improve my new minimalist journey Looking forward to seeing your responses and how living simply has improved your life

Hi everyone,

I’m looking for ideas / to start a conversation about “unplugged” wind down activities for after a long day at work when you’re zapped. My go to has historically been scrolling for hours on social medias, but realizing that this is actually MORE tiring to the brain.

I have hobbies like reading, weaving, journaling, etc. However after work I find my brain is too tired and fried for these, and I tend to do them in the evening when I’ve recovered from work zap a bit.

Any ideas for low-energy, unplugged wind down routines for after work that can replace scrolling and mindlessly watching pointless YouTube videos?

I’m making my own bread crumbs , like my grandma used to do . I felt as if the world slowed down as I was reminiscing of the times I spent at the kitchen as a helper and apprentice

I’m moving to a new city next month, and I’m feeling overwhelmed by the amount of stuff I’ve accumulated. I rarely buy new clothes, so I’m still wearing things from as far back as 2018.

I’m considering selling or donating everything I don’t use and keeping just a few essentials. I plan to reset my MacBook and iPhone to streamline my digital life as well. I’m aiming for a minimalist wardrobe with just 1-2 pairs of shoes and sandals, 1-3 pairs of shorts, a few T-shirts, and 2 pairs of trousers since I’m moving somewhere warm.

While I worry I might regret getting rid of some nice clothes, I really feel the need for a fresh start. It’s actually been a calling for me for a long time. I’ve donated clothes and random items, sold things, and moved digital content to a hard drive, but this will be a big reset—starting almost from scratch. I believe it will be liberating. Has anyone else gone through something similar?

I'm just curious, because I feel like I've got the rest of the simple lifestyle in the bag, but mealtimes still pose a challenge.

I know this sub generally eschews technology for lots of good reasons, and I certainly practice a form of digital minimalism. But I love how much clutter is saved with so many things being digital. My parents' house had bookshelves full of books, cabinets full of photo albums, and files full of documents. I have all of those things on my phone. Reading is one of my favorite hobbies, and having it all on my phone makes it unbelievably convenient to jump into a book no matter where I am.

Hello, everyone! I'm 23 years old and currently navigating a tough financial situation. I recently returned from America with some debt and, as of now, I'm without a job. I’m actively job hunting and my primary goal is to pay off my debt first.

I aspire to achieve financial freedom someday, and I'm currently diving into the psychology of money to better understand my finances. Once I find a job and tackle my debt, I'm a bit lost on what to do next. Should I focus on saving or start investing?

I would really appreciate any advice or insights you might have on how to approach this journey. Thanks in advance!

Recently, I have been exploring frivolity and exploration within my simple living practice. I'm someone who easily leans into minimalism, efficiency, and focus in decluttering my life but has a more challenging time letting things go, not working towards a specific goal, or feeling like I'm wasting time.

One way I have been practicing this is by visiting the local library, perusing the shelves, looking for nothing in particular, and grabbing whatever looks good. Then, I might spend an evening or two thumbing through them, reading excerpts, and looking at the photos. If something isn't striking my interest, I give myself permission to stop reading and turn the book back in, no shame. I've done a few rounds of this, and it is a lot of fun to do during cozy fall nights.

Here is a collection of books I picked up on my weekend visit recently! Do folks have other ideas for frivolity and exploration?

https://preview.redd.it/fw8yn6e6l5wd1.jpg?width=1152&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=92a2a14a23014274c2cf4db0acccaa09e09b9ec1

i guess many of you already simplified their lifes by bevomikg more minimalistic, change hobbies from online gaming to offline writing (or what have you) .. i did most of that.. i still play videogames but only offline dingle player and only on weeknights.. and i have to say.. my life did slow down and feels more relaxed.. but there is still one thing that stresses me out .. working full time and the need to always make my boss happy. in addition to that .. we have a whatsapp groupd where even on sundays.. coworkers post stuff and my boss posts new topics for the week.. i turned off notifications of this group and never look into it on weekends.. but its still part of my thoughts .. it penetrates my private life on a Psychological level.. i hate when work never feels reallly done .. i wish i could go back to a time when work was done after the shift ends .. this work life balance stuff is just mental.. work should be like this: go to work.. do your job.. go home and enjoy life ..

Hi guys, as the wealthiest of our society keep getting wealthier at the fastest rate we have ever seen and keep hoarding all the wealth at the expense of us ordinary people. The only natural consequence is life getting worse for us ordinary people and more and more of us slipping into poverty and survival mode. The middle class will disappear and there will be a small 5% of elite people and 95% of the rest of us who live in dire conditions. You can see this happening all around us at the moment. If you look at history this is how humans have normally lived for centuries so maybe we are just returning to the normal state after the last 70 years was an anomaly where a middle class could form.

Anyways, this ‘feudal’ process is happening rather quickly and in 10-15 years we may already have got there. How does simple living look like in those conditions?

I am a cybersecurity professional and my wife is in finance dealing with clients daily. Our life seems very fast paced due to our jobs. We are sometimes too involved in making money and worrying about work. We are grateful to be earning well and have no debt other than mortgage which takes about 30% of our income.

We love to travel so that's why cant stop working because travel is so expensive these days. What would be your advice to add some simplicity into our life amidst all the busy schedule.

Howdy

About to down size from two vehicle to one. We rarely ever find ourself using both vehicles at the same time and are trying to become more sustainable etc.

My ask is for those that are a one car family, what works best for you and yours?

I can’t do electric, to much rural driving not enough charging stations where we go.

We don’t road trip a ton but plans of doing so more often in our future. We are a family of 3. I do do home improvement projects (nothing major) that do require sometimes going to the hardware store to grab wood, rocks etc.

Really miss when I didn't have access to the Internet where- and whenever. Also needing it for so many daily things is really getting on my nerves.

I've been wandering on this sub for years, since at least march 2020 and wanted to share an anecdote. I've always been drawn to the simple living mindset, especially as a Caribbean person. I'm 27, but many of my friends kindly mock my 'grandpa' or 'uncle' energy, the way I value the simplest things in life. I recently left an office job to get into landscaping and spend my days outdoors, hands in the dirt. I start my days at 6am, I do some some stretches and play with cats while my girlfriend sleeps. I leave around 7 and get to the sites by 8am. I spend the next 8 hours gardening, listening to songs, podcasts, or the sounds of nature or the city I live in. I leave at 4pm and spend my commute reading, people watching or watching videos on Youtube or TikTok. I get home to my little family and feel immense gratitude daily. The dream, right? While all of this is indeed my dream, I sometimes have moments in my days where I think 'shouldn't I be doing something more meaningful?'. I have to use bathrooms located in the same room as trash rooms. I get stung or burn my skin here and there. When I get up from being crouched for hours, my back hurts a lot. I often groan when I get back down, and some days, I'm so exhausted I can barely enjoy my evenings. I go straight to bed, so that by 6am the next morning, I'm ready to rock and roll again. I occasionally miss the days I worked from home and had all the comforts that existed there. I had a job which allowed me to work 25 hours a week and be able to afford my life. Yet, I never knew what to do with all of my free time and felt unfulfilled. Now, I work more and my body is taking the hit more, but to get to literally smell the flowers all day is a privilege. I'm writing all this to remind everyone that the grass is always greener, but to also consider the things that truly matter to you, and learn to make small sacrifices. Ultimately, simple living is simple, but it is still living, and living requires effort and intention.

I’m looking for some content to watch, of people who have decided to homestead, maybe in a new country, and live cheaply off the land. And just people doing some interesting, simple-living and alternative lifestyles. TIA

I love the fact that our house is paid off and we are debt free. We live in an inner-city area that's not horrible, but a pretty high-crime area. Still, we have good neighbors, though many of the older ones have died off. We paid very little for our house years and years ago, and we wouldn't get much for it if we sold it now. We would love to move to a safer, more quaint area with less noise pollution, especially because we're getting older. What are your thoughts? Can we live a simple life just being grateful for what we have, and not desiring something more? Is it antithetical to simple living to want a more peaceful and safer place to live?

I have always felt rooted in simple living. I would also say I’m a minimalist. I avoid over consuming, I reuse as much as possible, I try to buy local/sustainable, I love taking time to see the simple things around me, and I stopped using social media in 2020. The one area I struggled in for a long time was being a workaholic. I was using work to quiet my never ending thoughts (I was also diagnosed with ADHD in 2020 at 36yrs old). Then a year ago I left a job I loved and started a fast spiral into slowing down (the irony). Pairing my already simple ways with less work and way more time was great at first until I realized everybody around me was still busy and stuck to their screens. I‘ve spent this year in therapy doing a LOT of work on myself and in some ways I’m really happy with how far I’ve come. However, I feel more alone than ever. My family doesn’t really have much interest in simple living concepts. I have three teenagers who built a lot of connections online through the pandemic and my partner supports some of the things that are important to me but isn’t particularly driven in any of the ways I am. I don’t feel like I have any in person people that align with my ways of thinking either. I know much of this lifestyle is an internal thing and I have to continue to work on my mindset through mindfulness and meditation but it’s tough to find the energy to work on it when you feel you are in it alone. I even find it difficult right now to read and learn about new things because I know it will feel motivating at first and then die out as I realize I’m the only one looking to make a change. Overall the thing I need to spend time on right now is my comfort in being alone but I’m having a really difficult time getting my brain out of the ”I wish somebody wanted to do this with me” loop.

Just spent the morning sitting on the porch. 🍂

Good morning! Wonder what other subs do you regularly check/ participate in? Does simple living mean it is all consuming, or do we have other “hobbies”?

I have just joined Walking sub 😜

I’ve seen it defined many times in the context of consumerism, and a lot of people ask for advice around impulse shopping and buying clothing… I’m not a huge consumer of stuff and I hate clutter, I so I think I’m good at simple living in that context.

But I also always feel like I’m running a rat race trying to go to events and see more friends, do more activities with my partner… this doesn’t feel like simple living. I just feel like I’m doing too much, not enough cooking at home and not enough time for myself and fitness.

Thanks for the engagement. I’m hoping to get some clarity.

Do you guys have this awkward phase when you first start practicing slow living? I was just trying to enjoy the coffee at a cafe yesterday, I put my phone aside, stared at the people outside, empty headed. Yet I don’t feel relaxed to be honest, i somehow felt pretentious that I’m acting differently from my usual cafe phone scrolling behaviour. Did anyone have similar experience that can give me some advice or spot what I’m missing here ?

I am working in a job I don't love. There's talk of expanding, add reports to my role, etc. I don't want that. But I like most of the people I work with, I don't hate the work. There's a mission to it that I can support. There just aren't a lot of other options to get this work done. There are forces that make leaving difficult, economic and family and so forth.

For all I don't want to be here, I think I could use it to build into a life I want... But I don't want to be here and unhappy. The other things I dearly wanted out of life will likely never happen and this would just be one more of those things.

So I guess the question is, how do you accommodate those forces? How do you compartmentalize so the things you have to do stay out of the "real" part of your life? How do you focus on happy and fulfilled inside all this?

It's a rough day.

What will you all be up to this weekend? 🍂🍁

I have a smartphone, so it can work in a pinch if something is vital. I have a computer at work… but I often work at home also… today when the home computer died I took it as an easy sign to not work at home anymore, plus less temptation to binge watch things (I already have no TV or couch, but a home computer works basically the same). Anyway, yay.