I’m taking some serious steps to simplify my life. Yeah, yeah, I know, I say that all the time. But seldom do I actually start pulling out my possessions and start listing them on eBay. I’m doing that now. I’m selling sterling silver flatwear, pewter pieces, and I’ll soon be adding jewelry and other trinkets.

If this first week of throwing out my “eBay net” works well, I’ll be digging into storage and pulling out more stuff to sell. I’m tired of being tied to so much stuff. Yeah, I have less “stuff” than most people I know and YES, I’ve sorted through it and managed to keep only the ‘best of the best’ from my collections.

But it’s still too much. I’m tired of the responsibility of it all.

My biggest desire right now is to be out of debt. COMPLETELY out of debt and it’s close. I’m almost there. So what’s the purpose of having all this stuff and having to put in extra hours to keep it insured and protected, dry and safe, to worry about it disappearing in a fire or by theft?

Life is too short.

After all, my dream is to travel light. And right now, I’m travelling pretty heavy through this life. So, if the first 7-day auctions go well, I’ll add more and continue to simplify my life. I’ll do it. I can and I will!

Take a walk on the woodsy side with this enchanting tiny house from Whales — built by hand with straw bales, imagination and little else. Simply amazing low-impact housing with a sense of magic and wonder — and all built for 3000 British pounds.

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In 2007, I have learned to say “no.”

It took alot to get me to that point. 2007 was obnoxious, but it beat the ability to say “no” into me by the beginning of the last month. I can now say NO — and mean it.

No to things that stress me out unnecessarily. No to unreasonable goals. No to commitments I’d rather not have. No to busy-work. No to things that make my stomach churn. And… for the first time ever: No to New Year’s resolutions. (more…)

It’s been many weeks since I’ve shared any Friday finds. I’d like to remedy that now. I’ve taken some of the “down” time this week to catch up on what’s going on around the web. Granted, I’ve allowed myself to lag behind a bit in recent months, but I’m back!

Today, I’m sharing a few entertainment finds across the web. (more…)

The most amazing thing happened during my work at the cabin last week. I bought a beautiful bathroom sink and cabinet. It has clean lines. It’s simple. It makes me happy. It’s nothing like the ugly one I thought I’d have to install to “get by” until I could find what I really wanted. (more…)

As I prepare to move again, I look around and wonder… how much of this stuff is actually adding to my quality of life and how much is detracting from it? I pack, and pack and pack some more. It’s exhausting. And I’m moving into a tiny cabin, so I’m not sure where it’s all going to go.

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Are you a paper person living in a digital world? Are you (like me) a technology geek who also likes the feel of high quality paper, the smell of ink on a freshly printed page, and you don’t really mind if a drop of ink goes awry, so long as you can use a fountain pen to do all your long-hand writing?

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This morning, I’m having a hard time staying focused. I’m headed out in December for a Cruise and that’s really prompted my travel bone to ache with desire.

It hasn’t helped that my mother recently gave me information on SkyBus.com.

I’ve been cruising the $10 flights (No, I’m not kidding) and wondering if I cared that I’d have to re-arrange my life to take a three day jaunt to Boston, or that for only $50 each way, I could plan my first visit to Canada (Vancouver). (more…)

This weekend, in addition to digging a hole (for one side of the new gate that I’m putting in — in the rockiest, most root-infested earth known to man), I also cleaned the construction supplies off the front porch and made the place much more pleasant.

This photo of Alex sitting on the porch swing on the farm was taken with my iPhone. Not bad, eh? Click to see the full-sized image.
It was a beautiful, albeit hot as the blazes this weekend. The swing is now the right height and has springs at the top for a comfortable rest and relaxation period (if you can bear the heat).

Early mornings and late evening is the best time to enjoy the porch. (more…)

Ok, I’ve HAD It… Time to Simplify! I seem to spend much of my time looking for the stuff that I recorded so I’d have it when I needed it.

I may simplify my physical life — constantly — but my virtual life is cluttered all to hell. There. I said it. I admit it. I’m a virtual packrat.

Since 1 gig of stuff is stored in the same physical space as 750 gigs, I’ve “reasoned” that I’m still simplifed. I’m just lying to myself. And I’ve been looking at buying more HD space because 1.5 terabytes isn’t enough.

How sad.

The fact is, I’ve had an epiphany. (Unlike some creative types, I still believe in that concept). Granted, the epiphany came as the result of personal frustration and total exhaustion, but it came all at once so, I’m sticking with the “epiphany” term.

It’s a horrible realization. It’s also joined by dozens of other, more specific realizations that I now have to confront and solve. For instance… (more…)

Want to call information for free? Willing to listen to a 15-second audio ad to avoid the usual information charges? Maybe you are out on your cell phone (like I was this weekend) and need some info to save drive time? (more…)

I’ve moved into a larger space now, but I’m still enamored with small spaces, and will be moving into a tiny house when I return to the farm. So, I’m still watching and collecting the coolest ways to make the most of small spaces for storage and a clutter free existence.

Here are a few of the ideas I’ve collected from the web, from friends and family and from my own experience: (more…)

I found Jeri Danski’s Professional Organizer Blog online yesterday and I must say I love the content, the candor and the colorful photos she uses to keep her blog interesting.

If you crave conspicuous organization and conservative consumption, you should visit her blog. I know I’ll be back!

Hot Spot #2 for simplification (a process that has amplified importance in a tiny house) is the kitchen.

The kitchen is a minefield for complication in your life. There are gadgets for every imaginable use. Only you can determine which of these are actually essential. But, beware — this is an area where gadget lovers face their biggest demons and where “coolness” factors can often outweigh usefulness realities.

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Here’s an informative chart about the value of various wholesome foods, which arrived by email from my mother this week.

Personally, I’d recommend using organic versions of these to boost the value even more. Staying healthy with excellent whole food choices in your diet is one of the best ways to save money and improve overall health.

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Some areas are tougher than others when you begin your journey to a simpler existence. These areas of your home will stop your efforts dead, if you are not both diligent and careful.

I offer the following tips for these areas to help you push through the hard spots. The first (and the top offender) in the “collections and stuff I don’t really need” category is the closet.

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I’ve been using The Gimp for a couple months now and so far, it’s great. It took a bit of time to learn the new format and to be able to find the functions I wanted or needed, but I think most of the learning curve is behind me now.

It’s a keeper. I’m not a heavy user, but I am a regular user and I find that The Gimp loads much faster than Paint Shop Pro 7.0 and it screams past the molasses-style loading speed of Paint Shop Pro 9.0. I uninstalled 9.0 almost immediately because it loaded so incredibly slowly– on both my machines.

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After being extremely pleased with the results of using ChatterBug for my long distance, I’ve hit a brick wall. Last week, while I was still in Florida, the service went down. The company sent out an email offering an alternate 800 number to use to place calls.

This meant an additional step, but I was ok with that because 1.) I wasn’t using the service at the moment and 2.) Contacting me with a word-around is great customer service. Things happen, I get that. I’m ok with a temporary work around for snafus.

However, it’s now Tuesday and the service still isn’t working — and neither is the “work around” 800 number. They don’t even offer the opportunity to leave a message today either (I left one yesterday). Now, they have a recording saying that the service is down, that they have no idea when it will be restored and that I should continue to call back because they will update the recording as things change…

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I found an article today about the tiny houses being built by Lowes for the needs of Katrina survivors. These minuscule dwellings offer all the basics and nothing extravagant. These and other homes like them are, IMHO, the wave of the future.

I’ve watched and dreamed about the designs of the Tumbleweed Tiny House Company for several years now, myself. I even developed the floor plan for my own house based, in great part, on the desire to keep the footprint small and the utility high in my home.

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