I've been reading a few different blogs lately that have been inspirational.
Yup, sappy, but true.
I had filled my Google Reader with crafts and candy and cooking and other fun stuff - but lately I have found some reading topics that have made me feel good on a more personal level. No this isn't about religion (well not to me anyway!) but simplicity.
Simple? huh?
So my use of the internet has brought me some new categories and fun words to share. Words like frugality. Minimalism. Simplicity.
Sounds a little intense and frightening, almost like I've gone off the deep end?
Nope. Nothing drastic. Just me, but better. Happier.
Small changes in my life are beginning to bring to me a piece of mind, and what I see as a healthy thought process in gaining insight to my relationship with my stuff.
So maybe take a few moments and check out some of the blogs I have been reading (in no particular order) and a little blurb about each from their own pages...or scroll down and read about what the heck the above title means!
The Simple Dollar
"The Simple Dollar is a blog for those of us who need both cents and sense: people fighting debt and bad spending habits while building a financially secure future and still affording a latte or two. Our busy lives are crazy enough without having to compare five hundred mutual funds – we just want simple ways to manage our finances and save a little money."
Unclutterer
"Unclutterer is the website for home and office organization. It’s not just for the helplessly disorganized who would lose their heads if they weren’t attached, and pack rats looking to put their stashes on a diet, but also for obsessive compulsive neat freaks looking to squeeze even more order into their lives. We hope we can make getting and staying organized fun and informative."
The Simple Rabbit Society
"The Simple Rabbit Society is a society for simple rabbits. And damn cute.
We share articles, advice, hacks, and tips for achieving an awesome life through minimalism."
Simpler Living
"Welcome to Simpler Living! I launched this blog in 2008 to motivate myself to downsize and find new homes for my unwanted things by giving them to my readers, friends, family and charity. I lost more than 100 pounds of clutter, learned to let go of sentimental stuff and got more organized."
Rowdy Kittens
"Somewhere along the way we start thinking we need more and more stuff to be happy. But is that really true? Do we need a bigger house, a better car, or a large salary to find happiness?
Imagine what the world would look like if we pursued our dreams rather than more stuff.
And that’s where this blog comes in handy…"
The Non-Consumer Advocate
"My journey to live well on less and to not buy new is far from over. I am constantly learning new ways to support my goals. I look forward to sharing my insights and foibles with you. I also look forward to hearing ideas and inspiration from my readers."
From these and some other sources that I may have missed (I have a lot in my Reader!) I came up with a fun project today. You see, I like the idea of simplification of stuff, and I decided a nice place to start was the bathroom, where we have 5 different toothpastes in a cup. It bugs me that we only use one type (I've tried to go back to the others but I find the one our dentist gave us is my favorite by far!) I got it in my mind that I was going to throw out at least three of these 5...keeping the one we like and a specialty script fluoride treatment. Then the part of my brain that hates wasting anything chimed in - NO I said, these have been here for much too long... but wait. The toilet is dirty. I don't like to use caustic cleaners in the toilet. What would be wrong with squirting the last of this tube (the one in my hand that was going to the trash) into the toilet and using it with the brush as a cleaner?
Now your thought process is potentially going in two directions - "hey not bad" or "WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" Hopefully the first as from a logical standpoint, where is the true problem? Normally a product used to remove stains from enamel, why not stains from porcelain?
Or I just brushed the toilet with toothpaste. Weirdo.
Regardless, it worked well on a few levels. I got rid of something we weren't using, repurposed that same product to do another job, used up that product, got a fun topic for a blog post, and a clean minty-fresh toilet...or two, I can't imagine why I wouldn't have tried it on the other toilet too...
Or again, I'm the odd one squeezing toothpaste in the toilet when my other half comes in and asks..."Are you cleaning the toilet with toothpaste?!"
