We live overseas (American expats). I THOUGHT we were living simply – no car, no clothes dryer, minimal AC, lots of local produce, etc. We’ve done a lot to try to simplify our lives here, to live more like the locals and less like consumer-crazed westerners. BUT, reading this series of posts has really challenged me to think about how much money I spend on trying to hang on to the things that I used to have in the USA. A great example of that would be having special import foods shipped to our city every few months. I’ve learned to make lots of things myself, but still… Thanks for the kick in the pants to re-evaluate what we are wasting and what more we can be doing to live simply so that we can give more to others!

Bartering is a nice compliment to the whole borrow/lend thing.  One of my favorite trade offs has been this:  I teach in a high school tutorial program for kids who are home schooled.  The mom of one of my students is a licensed massage therapist.  Rather than pay me the usual tuition, she has paid me in massages.  It has been fabulous!! 

You are smart to do this when you kids are still young.  For them, it will just be normal.  Do you know about Morningside Farms food co-op?.  They deliver once a month to Murfreesboro or will UPS for a fee.  It is less about fresh food and more about staples, like grains if you happen to have a grain mill, natural sweeteners, vitamins, essential oils, etc.  They do have frozen foods, snacks, etc… I like it because there is no joining fee.  You get an email once a month reminding you it’s time to order, then you go pick it up or have it delivered.  Several friends and I used to order once a month.  On of us would go pick up everyone’s stuff, then distribute.  I now order less frequently and just stock up.  They will also allow you to split cases on most items, unlike most co-ops.  There is wonderful Amish butter in the cool months, but they won’t ship it in the summer.  You can check them out at http://www.morningsidefarm.com

We have cable. For me, it’s included in my rent. I’ve said before that no cable means no tv at all, but that probably doesn’t fly with you Shaun, because you don’t watch any tv.  However, you also don’t read fiction.  You don’t live and breathe story like some of us and that works for you.  I decided this year to ditch a bunch of shows and now I’m mainly watching for shows like LOST and American Idol.

I’m on a clothes buying fast as well.  I simply have way too many.  I realized that when I was packing. 

For someone like me, these are huge changes.  Shopping is an addiction and it has always been a huge recreational activity for me.  Bargain hunting has always been my favorite sport.  however, getting bargains is not always in everyone’s best interest.  (like the kids working in unsafe factories for less than a dollar a day.) So I am trying to learn about not buying new and also about buying fair trade. I’m trying to remember that even though I might save a buck on something, that doesn’t make it a righteous purchase.  It’s really hard…in the heat of the moment, I might just want to shop at Wal-mart instead of figuring something else out.

I’m with you on all of the green stuff.  I just attended a session today at Book Expo America on how the book industry is dealing with their impact on the environment and it was really interesting and impressive to me since my company does absolutely nothing and also is now outsourcing at alarming rates.  But that’s another story.

We’re trying a lot of things on that list, too.  Another thing on my list is that we have decreased church activities over the years.  I’m at church three times a week, which still sounds like a lot.  My wife and kids are there only once.  We’re also looking forward to a time when church is more of a way of life instead of a place to go.  We understand this more theoretically than practically right now.