11.30 am
Before: How I used to live?
- I used to buy many things impulsively.
- I used to buy many things just to feel better.
Changes: What changes I´ve made to my life since I started to pay more attention to my wellbeing and simplify my life?
- I´ve learned to think twice before buying and recognize better when it’s just my desires that make me want to buy.
- I´ve learned that the deepest and the most sustainable wellbeing and happiness come from inside. It´s really the immaterial things in life that matters the most, not the material ones. Seeing the fragility of life and making priority list have helped me to realize the most meaningful things in my life.
- I´ve learned that you don´t need expensive equipment or hobbies to be active and take care of your wellbeing. It doesn´t cost anything to run in nature and do yoga at home. As a family we´ve learned that simple things done together and without hurry is the best we can do. We love to be in nature and do forest trips together. We also love to spend relaxing time at home by cooking together. Making the effort to take the children with us, no matter what we parents do is often enough for children.
- I´ve learned ways that help me to feel well and save money. Working for our food is the biggest thing in our family. We get a lot wellbeing AND save money by growing vegetables, picking up berries and mushrooms and making fish food from what we catch. Preserving and drying food is very important too.
- I´ve learned to plan better and find ways to save money, energy and time. Our family has a budget nowadays. We also plan our shopping better to minimize impulsive buying. We prepare homemade food and make homemade ready-to-eat freezer meals to avoid more expensive convenience food. We also save money by buying online, buying used, recycling, borrowing things, using less electricity and trying to make the most out of everything we have.
- I´ve learned the value of exchange and I´ve learned to receive help. I occasionally help out my mom, do her work in the cow house and donate her some of the things I don´t use anymore. My mom on the other hand makes food to our family. She also makes homemade berry juices and we´re able to get beef from my parents farm.
After: What kind of positive effects I´ve noticed now that I´ve been able to get closer to Living Simply.
- The quality of our family´s life has improved: Having less quantity and saving money enables me to put more time, energy and money on more meaningful things.
- I don’t have that much pressure to earn a lot of money anymore: The less your lifestyle costs, the less you need to make money to pay for your living. Question your consuming behavior and you’ll notice that you and your children actually need less to be well and happy. We all need to work to pay our bills, but we can affect on how many bills we get and how big they are.
- I feel better because of more sustainable and green choices: Smaller ecological footprint is good for your mental wellbeing. Real homemade, self-grown and wild food is on the other hand good for your physical wellbeing.
- I feel that I live more meaningful life: When you’re old and looking back to your past, which do you think is better: A) You’ve made a lot of money and have all kinds of properties to take care of. B) You’ve spend a lot of time with your loved ones and took care of your wellbeing to be able to be with them as long as possible.
Next time you can read about how I get connected to my body and mind on a daily basis.
Click to read the On the way to Simple Living: Intro.
Read all posts from my post series called On the way to Simple Living.
