Simple Living (costs, electric, paper, water)

[FreedomThroughAnarchism]

Originally Posted by 20yrsinBranson

See if you can get a copy of "One Acre and Independence" by Bradford Angier.

Think that title should have been One Acre & Security. You might have got that slightly mixed up with another well known self sufficiency book by similar name, Five Acres and Independence by Maurice G. Kains.

I own the latter book and enjoyed that one. It is pretty dated, I think it was originally written in the late 1930's or 1940'ish, but it's some pretty solid small farm advice that I think more than stands the test of time over decades, even centuries. I'll have to check out the Bradford Angier one.

[Lamplight]

Originally Posted by Joke Insurance

Do you prefer to download your music as a eco-friendly/simply living manner?

No I don't download any music either. In fact there is no music stored on my hard drive. My taste in music has changed many times over the years, but for some reason I still have all the CDs I've ever purchased, when I no longer even care for the music contained on 90% of them. But pretty soon I'm planning to give many of them to a friend who is a bit of a CD hoarder (and actually listens to them more than I would). To be honest, I don't even listen to music that often anymore. And if there's a song I want to hear that's not on any of my CDs, I can almost always find it on Youtube so I can still hear it occasionally.

[FreedomThroughAnarchism]

Originally Posted by Lamplight

I've seen threads like this on other forums, but so far I haven't come across any on this board (though I certainly could have missed one).

I own a house, which I'm trying to sell, and it's about 1000 square feet. Most people I know consider it a small cottage, but the more I get rid of unused stuff, the more I notice how much unused space I also have. I've concluded I could comfortably live in a much, much smaller space. I think all I would need to truly live comfortably would be a small room to sleep, read, and use my computer, an area for cooking, whether it was in the same room or not, and a bathroom.

One hitch in this plan is the fact that I love bicycles and getting around by bicycle. I own three and two of those I'm not sure I could part with.

This is a pretty common theme on the Self Sufficiency & Preparedness subgroup on city-data. I don't know if you've ever read that one before, but the idea of "living simply" (in all its many forms) is a topic that a lot of self sufficiency people are pretty receptive to for a variety of reasons, part of which is just a motivation/desire to leave a smaller footprint on the planet, but also because when striving towards self sufficiency, it's just a lot easier to manage when you 'think small.'

More stuff just equals more problems, more money down the drain, more things to worry about, more space you'll need to accommodate the tons of junk, and that's just more labor in myriad ways, etc...


The micro-home/'tiny home' movement is growing in popularity (its really an old movement.... but like many things, it goes in cycles and new generations tend to discover old ideas again. The Internet has been useful in popularizing this idea of smaller homes to a new generation). This sounds like it would be a good 'fit' for you.

I don't know if you've checked out some of the tiny home blogs, but its perhaps worth a look. Some of them are pretty nifty looking, and they make efficient use of space more so than your average house.

I notice you said you are a bicycling enthusiast, as am I (I'm also holding onto a bike for sentimental reasons - a 20 year old carbon fiber bike that's still pretty damn sweet, even though its a bit dated compared to todays models).... anyway.... I don't think your bikes are necessarily incompatible with a smaller home. You might have to consider getting rid of one, but I think you can do a trade-off.... just get rid of other stuff you are less attached to (books, CD's, etc...) and you can keep the bike(s).

[Lamplight]

Originally Posted by FreedomThroughAnarchism

This is a pretty common theme on the Self Sufficiency & Preparedness subgroup on city-data. I don't know if you've ever read that one before, but the idea of "living simply" (in all its many forms) is a topic that a lot of self sufficiency people are pretty receptive to for a variety of reasons, part of which is just a motivation/desire to leave a smaller footprint on the planet, but also because when striving towards self sufficiency, it's just a lot easier to manage when you 'think small.'

I have actually looked at that subforum, but the one time I looked it seemed most of the threads were mainly about stocking up on food/guns/ammo for some impending apocalypse. That's not my cup of tea, so I haven't been back. However I may check it out again since it's been a while.

Originally Posted by FreedomThroughAnarchism

More stuff just equals more problems, more money down the drain, more things to worry about, more space you'll need to accommodate the tons of junk, and that's just more labor in myriad ways, etc...


The micro-home/'tiny home' movement is growing in popularity (its really an old movement.... but like many things, it goes in cycles and new generations tend to discover old ideas again. The Internet has been useful in popularizing this idea of smaller homes to a new generation). This sounds like it would be a good 'fit' for you.

I don't know if you've checked out some of the tiny home blogs, but its perhaps worth a look. Some of them are pretty nifty looking, and they make efficient use of space more so than your average house.

I notice you said you are a bicycling enthusiast, as am I (I'm also holding onto a bike for sentimental reasons - a 20 year old carbon fiber bike that's still pretty damn sweet, even though its a bit dated compared to todays models).... anyway.... I don't think your bikes are necessarily incompatible with a smaller home. You might have to consider getting rid of one, but I think you can do a trade-off.... just get rid of other stuff you are less attached to (books, CD's, etc...) and you can keep the bike(s).

I like the tiny home idea, but at this point in my life I just don't think I want to own a house. I currently own my house (and it's paid for) and I simply don't care for the stress and upkeep. I have considered living on a small boat, but even though I could easily buy one with the money I'll get from selling my house, I think I'd just run into the same stress and upkeep issue, probably even more so. I've also thought about selling all but my touring bicycle, and just riding it all over and sleeping in a tent. But I have a bad knee and I have to take it pretty easy when I ride these days, although I still love riding more than just about anything. If I did that I'd definitely have to get rid of almost everything! (which would probably be a good thing)

[HappyTexan]

I stumbled onto this site. It's jam packed with so many good articles.

Enjoy.

Everything You Wanted to Know About Simplifying Your Life, and Way More | zen habits

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[Dressy]

Originally Posted by 20yrsinBranson

In case you have not noticed, libraries generally throw books away (oh, excuse me- have "book sales") if a book is more than a few years old. Please go to your library today and see if you can get a copy of the 1981 version of "Back to Basics" which was published by Reader's Digest. See if you can get a copy of "One Acre and Independence" by Bradford Angier.

Most libraries I have been to personally do not have much in the way of books about self-sufficient living, homesteading, living off the land, sustainable agriculture, shearing sheep, raising rabbits, and holistic lifestyles, which is what my library of, oh.... 500 or 600 books consists chiefly of.

I suppose if you want to read romance novels, the library would be fine for that, but life is way too short for romance novels.

20yrsinBranson

I have no idea where you are but...
There is a whole section in our local library on home improvements and we borrowed a lot of books on wood work, gardening and repair, while working on our new house. And here you go: Storey's guide to raising rabbits / Bob Bennett ; [edited by Deborah Burns].
Storey's guide to raising rabbits / Bob Bennett ; [edited by Deborah Burns]. - Item Details - Chicago Public Library

And (drums!) here is your Reader's Digest, 1981 "Back to basics"
If you follow the link you will see there are 10 copies of it available

Back to basics : how to learn and enjoy traditional American skills. - Item Details - Chicago Public Library


Could not find another book you mentioned, but like somebody mentioned above - the book with such title not exist.


If you are unhappy about how your library operates you can complain and bring suggestions to their board of directors. I once complained that the tax payers' money is wasted on excessive air conditioning - and next day it was a lot nicer and warmer there. But nobody will change anything about your community if you only complain about it in the forum instead of let it known to the right authorities. This is not a guarantee either, but at least a reasonable thing to do.
I never read romance novels, unless on the beach - when it is hard to read anything else. Most of them are plain stupid. I read a lot of textbooks though, on abstract Math. Makes up for a lot of reading.
but there are a lot of famous and prominent novels that are worth reading and are available in the library (Unless one thinks that "French Lieutenant woman" or "Anna Karenina" is a romance novel and life is too short to read them. But then I guess, one should not read anything at all.)

[pvande55]

For the last several years construction has been practically dead. Some firms tried to revive the business with green building and LEED. I don't know any that have been successful.

[Joke Insurance]

I will be taking advantage of the links posted on here. Thanks for posting them!

[SueDenim]

We are practicing living primitively in our east coast town home in preparation for relocating to a tiny house (I think we will not have a wired house, only a battery bank, so the goal has been to use only batteries or flame for up to a week at a time to see how it goes). We've been at it for 1 year and it's easy to do but we have embraced more archaic practices such as eschewing cotton clothing because it's cumbersome to wash and less comfortable to wear, and using turkish bath techniques rather than a daily shower.

I found that "modern" living with all its interiors and fabrics and petrochemicals and cleansing routines could not translate into "simple" or "green" without an awful lot of the same redundancy we have now and twice as much labor.

[MissingAll4Seasons]

Two years ago we downsized from a 3k sq ft home to a 16x20 wall tent while building our 16x24 cabin. Knowing that we were going to end up with less than 1k sq ft, we did a big clearing out.

1. We rationalized all the software, music, movies and game discs -- sold or recycled all the duplicates, old, unused ones and then put the remaining ones in photo albums with 4 disc sleeves (hold 8) and 4x6 photo sleeves to hold the cover art inserts and such. We took an entire wall of discs down to 8 binders.

2. We rationalized all our books -- sold or recycled all the dupes, old and unused ones, as well as all but the most precious or instruction books with diagrams you really need to see, and used that money to purchase electronic versions, either for computer or Kindle. We took an entire wall of books down to 4 discs of electronic backup and 2 small book boxes.

3. We sold or donated all our large furniture. We only kept the queen-sized bed, a dresser, and shelves that flat-pack. We have replaced our two full-sized living room sets with 2 small recliners... comfortable seating that you can still nap in, in less than 10 sq ft. All other storage will be built-ins with no space wasted (drawers & cubbies under stairs, nooks in between studs, etc).

4. Anything that doesn't need to be kept heated lives in an outbuilding. You can't get rid of everything extra when you live in the bush because when you need something, you *really* need it, but you might only need 2-3 times a year. BUT that doesn't mean that it has to be inside the house wasting heated space, all it needs is a simple shed to keep it protected from the elements and critters.

5. ORGANIZATION!! Whatever style of organizer you are, get everything you own organized and keep up with it! Toss or burn your junk mail immediately, respond to and file the important stuff immediately. Label and rotate the food in your fridge, freezer, and pantry so you aren't wasting food, money and space. Give everything a home, that way you can always find it and won't end up buying extra that you don't need. Unless you really need more than 2 of something (1 in use, 1 as a spare) get rid of the extras, and get rid of the old one whenever you upgrade unless it's in good condition and you're keeping it as a spare... most things only need ONE spare, don't lull yourself into keeping a dozen because you'll need it "some day"!