Tip #32: “Keep calm and… save.” In other words, don’t buy impulsively…

Tip#33: If you really want to save when you eat pizza, don’t order breadsticks, ask for dip (which most place will give you for free), and use your pizza crusts. Just sayin’…

Tip#22- Spending money on friends, not off-limits. However, it must be done with a set budget in mind. For example, I am going to spend $40 on a present.

Tip#23- Potatoes: inexpensive, and versatile. Do you know how many things you can make out of potatoes???

Tip#24- You are free to make space in the budget for the things you consider important. For example, treats for yourself, gifts for friends or for those in need. The budget killer, is thinking to yourself: “I work, I deserve this, no matter how much it costs.” Do you deserve stuff? Maybe. Should you blow your budget for it? Probably not.

Tip#25- The saving of 1000 (or thousands) of dollars starts with a dollar. It adds up.

Tip#26- Make room in your budget for giving. In time, you’ll see it’s worth it. Generosity comes back to you in different ways.

Tip#27- I personally buy from Aldi’s (grocery store), because they have incredible prices, hands down, even compared to specials at other stores, and buying in bulk. (This has been my experience until now.)

Tip#28- Look for laundromats in your area that offer specials that you will use. Swiss Cleaner’s laundromats in my area offer $2.00 bonus when you add a $20 to the card. Also, weekdays before 3pm, the dryers are .19 for 10 minutes. (They also got WIFI, so I love it!!)

Tip#29- Cable… you have to weigh the cost against how much you REALLY use it. If your cable bill is upwards of $100, and you don’t really take advantage of it, try considering other options. (For example, Hulu Plus, Netflix, if they offer what you like to watch.)

Tip#30- The point of frugality is saving money on things that are not essential to you, so you can have more to spend on things that are more important to you.

Tip#12- Bring lunch to work.  If you work 5 days a week, and typically spend even $5 on lunch, you are still spending around $100 in just lunch.

Tip#13- Leftovers are money savers, but don’t just reheat them, revive them, create something new. Saving money can also be appetizing.

Tip#14- Only spend on your credit card the money you have available to you from other sources. Credit is not your money, so pay it all back as soon as possible.

Tip#15- The internet can provide us with countless more efficient alternatives. One of my favorites: Textbook purchases. Half.com, amazon.com, etc.

Tip#16- I really wanted to save money with textbooks, so I would buy the previous editions for a lot less.

Tip#17- Take care of your teeth, dentist bills are expensive.

Tip#18- Take care of yourself in general, medical bills are expensive.

Tip#19-FIFO (first in, first out) ideal way of managing grocery inventory at the house.

Tip#20- Recycling- good for environment, good for your piggy bank.

Tip #2- When shopping load everything you want into the cart, then apply tip # 1 right before the check out line.

Tip #3- Think of every dollar saved as money given to you.

Tip#4-  When at a restaurant, stick with water.  It’s healthier, and cheaper.

Tip#5-  Removing meat, snacks from our shopping lists tends to lower our grocery budget.

Tip#6-  A nice time out, doesn’t necessarily have to mean spending a regrettable amount of money.  Spend wisely, not impulsively.

Tip#7- Make a budget, track your expenses, and apply controls as needed. Try to cut back as much as possible.  (I use learnvest.com)

Tip#8-  When it comes to new gadgets: patience pays off.  Patience= less bugs, and less money spent.

Tip#9- If you have limited outgoing calls on your cell plan, but free received calls, just have people call you back.

Tip#10- Spend money as if you were poor, earn money as if you needed every cent.

My POV- I have an issue with any single item on my grocery list being over $3.50.

For that reason, we have had lots of time to make some improvements in the livability of the camper.  I will show you some of the things we have done and tell you about others.

We replaced the cushion foam in the dinette.  We found that after a few months of use over the past year, the old foam allowed one to “bottom out” while sitting.  Since we sit in the same area to read, eat, watch TV, use the computer, pay bills, talk, etc., this was a necessity.  I ordered custom cut foam from the Foam Online.  The new foam is MUCH more comfortable!

We also replaced the pleated shade in the dinette with a day/night shade.  Just did it today as a matter of fact.  We ordered the new blind from The Blind Chalet online.  It is a vast improvement.  The Bearded One is somewhat paranoid about folks looking in our windows so the day shade gives us privacy but still allows us to look out and lets light in.  The night shade will give total privacy when our lights are on at night.

Here is the blind with the night shade showing at the top and the day shade at the bottom. You can move them up and down to have all one or the other or lift the whole thing for a clear wiindow. Nifty.

We also found that the large tabletop that came with the camper was too big for us.  It made it difficult to sit down (had to kind of slide around the dinette sofa) and was made for four people.  We took that top off the base and added a square top using the top of a parsons table from Ikea.  It makes it much more comfortable to sit and easy to get up and down.  I added a storage cube with drawers from Target to provide a place to put books, magazines, tissue box, etc. and provide space for drinks when we are using the table top for reading or computing.

Parsons tabletop from IKEA with storage cube from Target. This makes this area much more efficient! The tabletop can still be completely removed to make the whole area a living room couch.

I found  plastic shoe storage at Walgreens while I was waiting for someone to get a shot.  You know, the kind that has a pocket for each shoe and is meant to hang on a closet door?  I cut it up and have used it for several purposes…

Shoe storage (duh) on an unseen wall in the bedroom area.

Supply storage in the shower area of the bathroom.

Odds and ends storage in the dinette/living room…electronic cords, cell phone, pens, medication, chapstick, etc.

And I still have some pockets left…just looking for inspiration!  All for $4!

I added storage for our laptop computer using two towel racks from (you called it!) IKEA.  I had to put spacers behind the mounting brackets to make the space wide enough for the height of the laptop but this works like a charm.  I can easily pull it in and out.  The computer travels without falling over or needing further stowage.  It can remain plugged in at all times.

I store the laptop bottom side out so it can “breathe”.

We added kitchen storage by adding racks for utensils over the stove.

Racks and hooks from IKEA (as is the cutting board that adds work space over the stove or sink as needed.

Shelves were added to the closet next to the stove.  We keep all our clothes in the bedroom area so the hanging bar in this area was a waste of space.  We bought bins with handles at Office Depot.  The bottom parts of the bins hold foodstuffs on the lower shelves.  The tops of the bins act as sliding shelves for the pans on the upper shelves.

The pantry with added shelves and sliding bins and shelves for kitchen items.

We put magnetic strips inside two cupboard doors to hang knives, scissors and tools.  Also from IKEA.

Magnetic racks from IKEA. Just don’t try to hang anything too heavy. We have had a few drops and these cupboards are over our heads while we are sitting at the dinette.

I love to cook so we need lots of spices.  There was an unused area under the refrigerator.  I added a metal sheet (ordered online) in a color to match the cabinets and bought magnetic cans from IKEA.  (Is this an ad for IKEA or what?)

Spices and little stuff (pins, paper clips, boullion cubes, etc.) stored in magnetic boxes under the frig. These things do not shake loose in travel! (I do keep the spices in resealing snack bags inside the cans. I sometimes have two bags in one can if it is a spice I do not use much.

We also added counter space when the pleated blind over the window between the truck cab and the camper failed.  (Who would have thought it would when it is located in the area where two people and two cats clamber in and out of bed…the cats a hundred times a day?)    We added a folding shelf that gives us privacy with the window when it is folded up and counter space when it is out.  I use the counter at times when cooking and as computing area since it is beside my seat.  It also holds the computer when we are watching a streamed show on the computer hooked to the TV.

The shelf, folded over the window. (A stock melamine shelf from Lowes cut to size with folding brackets we ordered online but (we are told) can be purchased at some hardware stores.

The shelf as counter space or computer work space. The window shows beneath.

In the bathroom, we started the first week taking off the bathroom door.  This space is the size of a small closet and has no window or vent.  The vent is just outside the bathroom door.  The shower curtain covers the door.  This makes activities there private but not suffocating!

The shower curtain acting as door instead of the suffocating wooden door that came with the camper. Makes me sweat just to think of being closed in that space with a door on it!

We ordered a teak bath mat for the bottom of the shower area.  It is wonderful!  Lets the water flow through but looks good and feels great underfoot.  The Bearded One oils it once in a while.

The teak mat in the shower area.from Teakworks4u.com.

And then there are the cats.  Their food and water fountain (one of ours demands running water) are on a shelf behind the flatscreen TV.  I wish there was an obtrusive place to keep the litter box but I have not found it.  I just keep it very clean.  We added a screened porch for them though outside a bedroom window.  It is a Kitty Kat Kabana and can be installed easily when we are at a campsite.  The cats go in and out through the window.  They love it.

The Kitty Kat Kabana from inside the camper.

And from the outside.

I think that is all the improvements we have made so far (other than the flat screen TV on a mount that allows it to be rotated to be seen from the dinette and kitchen or the bedroom.)  I am thinking of replacing the vinyl and carpet (why do they put carpet in campers?) with vinyl plank flooring.  But we will see.

Life in a truck camper can be very good!

I better go cook dinner.  Filets and baked potatoes for a feast tonight.

Related articles

• Life in a Truck Camper (goingbackwards.wordpress.com)
• The Kitty Kabana (goingbackwards.wordpress.com)
• 5 Best Pickup Truck Camper Shells (mademan.com)

This is one of my pet living system for one proposed subdivisions we wanted to develop…any comment or reaction…

A 300 sqm lot can be made sustainable now to provide basic livelihood only if we rediscover living as a collective whole again…not in fragmented outlook but as part of greater whole…for short…brothers & sisters in “Thy Kingdom Come…Thy Will be done!…on Earth as it is in Heaven”. If man have to discovers ways to plant growable food on space…We must first discover & start to live properly even in 300 sqm. on Earth…be efficient…be productive…excellent…and perfect…even as thy Father…is perfect!

WLB

THE PARTICIPATIVE URBAN AGRICULTURE FOR FILIPINO FOOD SECURITY

“AHHHH! Another inchworm on me!!!”

“I can’t go outside, there are BEES everywhere!”

“ This !@#$ pollen…I’m dyin’, Babe…”

Ah, the sounds of Spring.  If the gorgeous image above has you sneezing and itching rather than sighing and rejoicing, then you’re feeling the pain of many of us as we struggle to come to terms with this season.

It seems so unfair that during the most beautiful time of the year, when the world bursts into splendid color and temperatures are ideal, there are so many other things we have to deal with.  Bugs.  Pollen.  These bizarre inchworms I don’t remember before that are hanging from seemingly nowhere, creating a spider web of every parking lot, backyard, or school campus before terrorizing my kids, hours later, as they discover them on their clothes, in their ears, in their lunch bags…

Too bad Spring has to come with so much…life.

Because that’s what it is, isn’t it? Spring is when everything wakes up, blooms, reproduces, spreads itself around, matures, creates, combines, transforms.  Spring is the process of creating life, and it is both exquisitely beautiful and unbelievably messy.  Spring is the necessary transition that every living thing must go through in order to obtain sustainability.

Spring is temporary, and nothing in bloom or in caterpillar form will look the same in a matter of weeks, or even days.  These things will eventually turn into what they were created to be, but in the meantime, the process can be viewed as either beautiful or an inconvenient, disgusting mess.

This spring, are we going to appreciate the flowers or begrudge the pollen?  In our own lives, are we going to appreciate the inevitable transformations, growth opportunities, and transitional periods we all go through?  Will we see them as temporary, prompting us to both relish the beauty of it AND have strength to get through the messier parts?

This is life.  This is the season we are in.  Recognize it, appreciate it, use it.  Don’t stay inside and wait for something better to come along later- you and all creation have important work to do.   It will beautiful and messy and weird…enjoy the ride, and enjoy the assurance that it’s turning into something fantastic.

The Amanda Grace

She’s ready to sail! When I first looked over her, I found no soft spots or cracks in the fiberglass. The mast and rigging were all in good shape and the windows (the only remarked upon negative) had been recently sealed. She has a bimini, rolling furler, working sails, and wheel steering. Yep. Pretty amazing!

The only part that needs work is the interior. I’ll need do a serious cleaning on the inside to get rid of the dirt and mold that has sprouted up occasionally. The cushions will all need cleaning and some of the wood will need to be refinished. I’m also planning on redoing the floor. (the planks a bit rotted and spongy)

She’s a 27 footer made by US Yachts in 1983. I’m getting ahead of myself here, so I’ll just start at the beginning and tell you exactly how this all came about.

It all started when I moved out of my dorm.

You see, like most innocent, bright-eyed college students, I lived in a dorm my freshman year complete with my “Unlimited” meal plan and mini fridge. It was only after my sophomore year that I realized what a folly this was. I did the math and it turns out that I was spending around 500 dollars a month for a tiny room that I had to share with a roommate and a bathroom that I had to share with 3 people. I decided enough was enough, looked around, and eventually signed a lease and started laying down around 400 a month for my own room in a house off campus with two other cellists. I quickly realized that there is a major difference between the way that men and women think. I was outnumbered and ready to surrender.

During those three years, I began to look into alternative housing options. Apartments on campus are ridiculously expensive. Most cost from $450 – 550 a month not counting the electricity and water. This seemed absurd to me. Why are we college students forced to pay these incredible amounts of money for tuition, then pay so much for crappy housing? It felt like I was being screwed at every turn. Inspiration struck when I discovered this article by Ken Ilgunas. In the article, he talks about how he managed to go debt free and still get a masters from Duke by living in an old black van in a parking space to save money. This immediately appealed to me, as I’ve already lived many summers in tents or cabins. Compared to those, a van would be a real step up! I started saving.

I hate to say it, but there were a couple of issues with the van idea. First and most important, was the fact that a van was simply not outfitted to live in. There simply isn’t enough headroom for tall guy like me. Sure, there are exceptions like  VW buses, but if I popped the top in a parking space, it would quickly become obvious what I was doing. The other issue was cost. VW buses or really any kind of van with that kind of headroom is difficult to find on the cheap. The last, and by far most decisive reason I abandoned the idea were my friends’ reaction to it. When I unveiled my master plot to them, I was met with the same comment over and over. “Dude. That’s creepy…”

So back to the drawing board. After searching for an answer to my problem for a while and not having any luck, I eventually got to talking with an old family friend. Turns out that back in the day, this guy had bought an old school bus and outfitted it to live on. It had been complete with living room, shower, bathroom, the works. I was really impressed. I researched the idea thoroughly and found some really creative examples of homes made in this fashion. Here’s a link to my favorite. Best of all, because schools are required to get rid of buses after a certain number of years, there is a large surplus here in the States. I could potentially buy a good bus for only a couple thousand!

There was only one problem. Where would I put it? There simply wasn’t an easy way to overcome this obstacle. It’s hard enough to find parking for a car at UT. Finding a place to park a bus was a nightmare. Zoning laws also tend to frown on this sort of thing. So even if I found a private driveway to park in, if a single neighbor complained about me, I’d have to move. If worst came to worst and I couldn’t find a place to park, I learned that I’d have to live in a trailer park. I wasn’t too keen on this.

About the time my big yellow dreams were being crushed by reality, one of my Uncles fulfilled a lifelong dream and bought a sailboat. Turns out that in this economy, sailboats are remarkably cheap. He’d managed to find a 27′ Catalina for two grand. I was impressed. With a thorough cleaning, some refinishing of the teak, a little fiberglass work, and a new motor, his boat looked brand new. The wheels in my head began to turn…

The first step was finding a place to dock my boat. That proved to be simple. The Volunteer Landing Marina is right next to campus. Better yet, the slip fees are only $225 a month with water included. That is half what I was paying for my room the house.

Now to find a boat. I started obsessively checking sailboatlistings.com, craigslist, and ebay. I priced hundreds of boats and looked at thousands of pictures. Over my spring break I traveled up to the Chesapeake Bay to visit my Uncle and see his boat. We slept aboard it that night and I decided that I was in love. The very next morning I called half a dozen ads and went to look at a couple of boats that were in the classifieds. The next day, I found her. The Amanda Grace.

At the time, she was owned by the Sea Scouts of Maryland. They’d loved her and taken great care of her, but they simply had too many boats and needed money to have repairs done on several of their larger boats. For $1900 she was mine.

Currently, she’s still docked up at the Fort Washington Marina, patiently waiting for the school year to finish so I’ll have time for her. I’ve already made all the arrangements to have her transported. At the end of May, my beautiful new craft will be floating at my slip in Knoxville and I’ll be able to begin work on her interior.

Check back for some pictures!

Chris

That concept improved my life greatly in the last two years.

Boundaries define where my person begins and ends and where another person begins and ends. It’s like a bubble or invisible circle around each person that determines a person’s rights.

Boundaries determine who and what you let into your life.

I believe a vital part of efficient living is to be emotionally healthy. Boundaries help achieve emotional health.

The whole point of boundaries is to respect yourself, to teach others how to respect you and to respect others.

Let me give an example: let’s say you have a dear friend who is chronically late, no matter what. I’m not talking fashionably late, I mean 30 minutes late every time you meet. You love this friend, but you are tired of wasting your time waiting for them. You have missed parts of events or entirely missed events because you waited for that friend in order to leave.

Time is precious and you like to use it wisely. Applying a boundary would involve kindly talking to your friend about their tardiness and how it makes you feel. You would give them a few chances to be on time. If they still show up late without making an effort, you would tell them that next time you will give them 5 minutes past your meet-up time and if they are not there, you will leave without them. And you do exactly that.

The point is not to hurt them. It is simply to establish the value of your time, teaching them to respect the schedule you set together. That is setting a boundary.

Boundaries are always about what you can control. In the above example, you cannot force the other person to be on time. You cannot control their feelings if they are hurt when they show up late and you already left. You are only responsible for your own person and actions.

Applying boundaries is not always easy. Today I had to establish a strong boundary towards some people I really care about. They will most likely be hurt by my boundary. However, my emotional and family health come first. I did not make the decision lightly, and I knew it was the right thing to do.

Are you good with setting boundaries for yourself?

1.  Storage

My small storage unit is relatively cheap and I can frequently swap out the things I need and don’t need with a quick visit to my unit.  This enables me to keep only the things I absolutely need in the car with me and avoid looking like a hoarder.  While it is obviously necessary to have a change of clothes, one’s back seat shouldn’t look like the floor of your local Marshall’s after a busy day.  For keeping small things (vitamin bottles and such) organized, I have a medium-sized plastic storage box that fits neatly on the floor behind my seat.

2.  Compartmentalizing

Everything should have a place be it in your home or in your car.  In my trunk, I have a place to put dirty laundry, a gym bag with my clean clothes (easier to tote around), a hygiene bag, some food, and a couple gallons of water.  I have to be careful to make sure I do laundry as often as I can to avoid unwanted odors.  I find rolling my clean clothes rather than folding them allows me to store more with less wrinkles.

3.  Power

Since I cannot run my car at all hours, charging cell phones and computers sometimes requires me entering a fine establishment and charging my electronics.  Keeping a handy phone charger in my jacket pocket allows for me to quickly take advantage of a nearby outlet at work.  Still, a DC/AC power converter is a must-have for my car.  I keep it under a seat and wrap up the cords when it’s not in use.

4.  Food

Planning and logging your food intake is one thing most Americans should do anyway.  This would go a long way toward fighting growing food costs and the obesity epidemic.  If there wasn’t a refrigerator or pantry sitting there with cheap snack food at the ready, one would be less inclined to add unnecessary pounds and drain their pocketbook.

I find myself eating a good bit of canned tuna and chicken for protein.  Carbohydrates are provided by fruits and vegetables that I can pick up at Wal-Mart at any time.  Since nuts are easy to store and require no refrigeration, they provide my fat.  As I said before, I keep lots of water around to stay hydrated.  For more information on nutrition and how your body is supposed to be fed, check out my resource page for some links.  Eating out is expensive and I only do that once in a while with friends to maintain appearances and feed my need for social interaction.

-

While the situation isn’t perfect, I think I’m doing rather well for myself and, by keeping my car in order in the ways I have listed above, I’m never embarrassed to offer someone a lift in my “home” and I’m never without anything I absolutely need.  If you have any questions about this lifestyle, please feel free to leave a comment below.

Christopher Lowell

During the few brief years I watched daytime television while staying home with babies, I became obsessed with home decorating shows.  My favorite designer was Christopher Lowell, whose flamboyant mannerisms partnered with a very practical, affordable style that made everyone feel like they were just “this close” to having the house of their dreams.  I loved him. My husband hated him because I often tried to create that house of my dreams during children’s naptimes or whenever he went out of town, thinly disguising my rogue behavior as a “SURPRISE!!!”  He never bought it.

Anyway, one bit of advice Christopher Lowell gave me is something I’ve held onto and applied to more than he ever intended: when trying to improve something, “Add To, Don’t Take Away.”
Examples: Don’t tear out your old kitchen cabinets; paint them.  Don’t throw out your couch; recover it.  Don’t replace the carpet; top it with a throw rug. Don’t insist on new tile to update a bathroom, paint the walls a hip contrasting color.

By simply adding a “finishing touch” to what you already have, you can easily make it more attractive, updated, and usable.

Now, I could stop this blog post right here, and we’d all have plenty to work with for the next week.  Just walking around our houses with a new eye to “what could I add?” rather than “what needs replacing?” can save us thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours. Look at our furniture, our wardrobe, our yard.  What little touches could we ADD that would give life to what we already have?  Chances are, we even already have most of these finishing touches- they’re just in the wrong place.

But I want to take it a step further.  What about other aspects of our lives that don’t seem to be working for us?  Our career? Our bodies? Our marriage?  Our temperament? Our past?

Just because we don’t like what we see doesn’t mean we need to start over- it means we just need to take the next step.  Somewhere, within our grasp, is the key to making it more attractive, more usable, more enjoyable.

And let me take it one last step further.  Why don’t we all see just how little it takes to take everything to the next level? What’s the absolute least we can add to something to make it enough?

We will go into more detail about all the ways we can apply this concept to almost every aspect of our lives in upcoming posts.  For now, let’s take the following week to stop ourselves every time we hear ourselves saying, “I need a new…”, “I wish I didn’t have…”, or “If only I’d…” and replace the thought with, “All I have to do is…”

Viewing everything you own, have, and are in a positive light, ready to be used and appreciated, is exactly how we are meant to live.  Philippians 4: 8 says, “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable- if anything is excellent or praiseworthy- think about such things.” I believe this verse doesn’t mean to keep your head in the clouds and ignore the pain, suffering, and evil around you, but rather to recognize and appreciate “anything that is excellent or praiseworthy” and stop obsessing about all its faults.

Please take some time this week to do this.  Since I finally started looking at the world this way, I have saved myself from so much unnecessary pain and expense from everything from remodeling to even surgery and grad school.  See the good in what you already have…then perhaps do that one thing you know you need to do to make it right…but don’t tear down what you’ve already done, even if it’s not perfect.

When God made the world, He saw that it was good.  I believe He still feels that way about it, and us, despite the flaws.  We can do the same.

This week:

1. Create a list with three columns.
2. Every time you hear yourself saying an “I need/I wish/If Only”, write down exactly what’s bothering you in the first column.  Don’t go out LOOKING for things to get bothered about, just empower yourself IF it happens.
3. In column 2, write down something positive, noble, true, useful, pure, lovely, or admirable about the offending object/trait/person/entity.
4. In column 3, brainstorm a few easy/free/cheap/obvious things you could contribute to the situation that could possibly change your mind about it.
5. Pick the absolute easiest thought from column 3 for at least one item and go do it.  Now.

Unfortunately, when we are actually on the road, we have to stow many items to prevent things sliding around in the camper as we travel and being damaged.  For that reason, the camper is not ready for viewing when the door is first opened.

For that reason, and the fact that I need to come up with new ideas for the blog, I will take you on a tour of our camper.

Our Real-Lite truck camper on our F250 Turbo Diesel.

Another angle.

The sitting area set up as a living room. We put the tray on the cushions to give us a place to put our drinks, but Allie uses it as a perch to look out the window.The kitchen. Racks over the range hold most of our utensils. A sizeable pantry is to the left of the stove.The refrigerator (next to the couch, across from a small, very efficient bathroom). The magnetic canisters under the frig hold our spices. It was a great addition to the camper.)

The sitting area set up for dining. The table is at a height that can be used for additional kitchen countertop space but we generally keep it stowed unless we are eating, to give us additional room to move about.

The bedroom, The bed is very comfortable with a Serta mattress.

A different view of the bedroom. The television can pivot for viewing in the bedroom or in the kitchen/sitting area.

All in all, we have everything we need to be comfortable.  We are enjoying the ease of travelling in the truck camper.  It is SO much easier to get into and out of gas stations, shopping stops, tourist destinations, and to park at the campground.

I refused to learn to drive the truck pulling our trailer but I enjoy driving this rig.

So ends the home tour.  We have been on the road for more than 3 weeks and have enjoyed every moment.  Just shows how little one needs to be happy!

How does one do that?

I have come up with 25 points that contribute to efficient living:

1. Be present in the moment and appreciate your current state.
2. Be generous with your time and resources. Generosity keeps us selfless and it always comes back to bless us again.
3. Get emotionally healthy. Let go of negative emotions (resentment, negativity, depression, bitterness, anger). Build healthy boundaries. Forgive.
4. Nurture relationships. Value family and friends. Give your time to them. Try to speak their love language.
5. Actively choose every aspect of your life. Your work, how you spend your free time, what you eat, how you take care of your health. Choose what you let in: tv, movies, reading.
6. Read. Reading opens up the mind and inspires.
7. Let go of judgement. It only harms to judge and helps no one. It shuts people out and closes doors.
8. Leave a legacy. Make sure your life has an impact beyond your own person.
9. Be grateful. For your health, your family, your friends, abundance, healthy children, a healthy marriage.
10. Be respectful. Be considerate of the environment and others.
11. Know yourself. Know what you are good at, and inversely what you are not good at, your unique gifts, your personality type. THEN use your life to bless others.
12. Be physically active. Pick at least one activity you enjoy and DO IT! It does good to your body and your mind
13. Let go of stress.
14. Appreciate beauty. In music, art, nature, literature, architecture, in people. There is beauty all around, open your eyes to see it!
15. Value spirituality. We are more than dust There is a great treasure in discovering what transcends us.
16. Don’t be afraid to go against the flow. The secret to a fulfilling life lies in making unconventional choices.
17. Value time and relationships above status and wealth.
18. Be informed. Ignorance is a poor excuse for inaction or mediocre choices.
19. Encourage others to live an efficient life.
20. Apply the Golden Rule. Treat others like you would like to be treated.
21. Stop wasting time. Evaluate your activities and choose whether they accomplish a higher purpose or if you are just being a a couch potato.
22. Use routines and scheduling if they help you live be efficient.
23. Be confident. Don’t apologize for who you are, be proud, you are unique!
24. Welcome change. Change is uncomfortable, but it’s the only way growth can come.
25. Live simply. This can have a different meaning for different people, but basically, don’t accumulate stuff and activities to fill a void inside. Stuff and busyness do not make you happy. Let go of clutter in your home. Budget efficiently; reduce unnecessary spending. Be content with what you have.

And now, add your own!

It was probably 8am.

Don’t we often feel that way? Not only has advent been replaced by a frantic countdown calendar entitled “Only – Shopping days until Christmas!”, but the concept of “The 12 days of Christmas” has been completely forgotten.

Somehow, the entire Christmas season has been reduced to that single moment of our families running down the stairs and saying “OOOOOHHHH” at the magical bounty we’ve created for them under the tree.  Starting the season early just means getting a jump-start on locating, purchasing, wrapping, and cooking the items necessary to create this snapshot image.

Trying to save money, reduce waste, and spread contentment and gratitude under this mindset is almost impossible, because we’ve created this formula:

Christmas = room full of gifts, therefore fewer gifts = less Christmas = deprived kids.

Many of us add an hour of church on Christmas Eve to this equation, plus nagging reminders to our kids about the Real Meaning Of Christmas, the Joy of Giving, and the Threat of Coal in the Stocking, but we all know the above formula is the dominant one.

But what if we gave ourselves and our family an entire SEASON of authentic, sustainable gifts, and then made Christmas morning last for days and weeks, rather than an hour?  Sound exhausting and expensive?  Exactly the opposite.

Through trial and error, and some stumbling across wonderful advice from friends and authors, I’ve compiled a list of inexpensive and even FREE ways to help us celebrate Advent as an entire season of sustainable joy, abundance, and gratitude rather than a frantic race leading to a fleeting moment of indulgence and entitlement.  Many of these tricks are for families with young children, but can be adapted to any situation.

3 Fun Ways to stretch out Advent:

The Bean Jar:  Starting December 1^st, set out an empty jar next to a bowl of dried beans.  For each good deed done in our family, a bean goes into the jar.  Yes, it works the other way, too, in our house, at least. Christmas night, Santa replaces the beans with jelly beans (therefore knowing how Good or Bad everyone was), taking the dried ones back to make soup for the tired elves.

The Book Basket: This involves wrapping up 25 Christmas or winter-themed books and letting the kids unwrap one per night.  I use books we already have, but throughout the year search thrift stores and library sales to add a few surprises.  My kids LOVE this tradition, and even though they read chapter books independently by now, they cuddle up next to me (yep, even my 11-year-old) and allow me to stretch out a little more childhood in our family.  Plus, they get to unwrap 25 presents before Christmas morning!!

The Activity List:  Starting NOW, start brainstorming fun things you’d like to do this Christmas season.  Put a price limit on the entire thing, and treat the budget like one of your Christmas gifts…opened early!  Make sure many can be done spur-of-the-moment.  I seriously urge you to involve your kids in this list, because when I asked mine what they wanted to do, the simplicity of it often shocked me: Draw a picture of Santa Claus.  Make a paper chain for the Christmas tree.  Sing a song.  These are the things kids treasure, and we often miss them because we’re trying to give them a Barbie Dream House.

The best part of all three ideas is they give us practical and teaching methods to get the season in line with our values.  The Bean Jar encourages us to help others, recognize good behavior in our kids, and begin a healthy dialog about right vs. wrong.  The Book Basket can start the habit of a nightly devotional with our family, especially if we choose our Christmas books carefully.  And the Activity List can encompass service projects, educational opportunities, and time for fellowship.

With all of this, the Christmas season is already looking pretty good, and we haven’t even gotten to Christmas morning…that’s next week!

A cellphone
Keys
A wallet

Something to watch http://www.ted.com/talks/jan_chipchase_on_our_mobile_phones.html

I don’t think that the cellphone is going to be replaced soon, but the keys and wallet are a peculiar thing. I found that I rarely spend cash, about once every two months. I don’t have many keys, two keys for my work, and another two for my apartment. The rest can be access through pin codes and my Wisc Card.

So why do we really need to carry in our wallets?

Some sort of ID, in this case, my Wisc card and driving license
A bus pass for transport use
My debit card
Emergency cash, $20 ought to be enough
Insurance card

That is not much, most of them are flat, why do we even carry a wallet?

Here is my solution, I got a free card holder from ASM (school government) which has a keyring, I attached my keys, which are keys and a small penknife all bundled into a single package.

One may ask why? I will give several reasons

1. Two things to bring instead of three, less hassle
2. Smaller overall size, this is especially important if you wear jeans and it is hard to fit two things into one pocket. It is also easier to take out.
3. One less thing to get lost, imagine being late for class and you are searching frantically for the keys and wallet.

That’s it for now ciao

Music of the day – fripSide – only my railgun [sat vs shiny RMX]

Minimize, Simplify, Reuse and Recycle

Plastic Bags measure your commitment to the earth. Ideally you grow 50% of your food and buy the other 50% at local grown stands, brews and bakeries. You don’t put things in a bag that you can carry and you bring your own reusable bags when needed. When you forget your bag and you end up needing a plastic bag, then you reuse them to sort recycling. You keep 5 bags in inventory and if you start to accumulate more then that, you are either forgetting your reusables or buying more then you need or not using them to separate recycling.

Use Renewable Energy and bio-fuel (Solar heat, wood/bio furnace)

Use lights sparingly and be efficient with solar lighting

Use mirrors to reflect sunlight inside

Use a High pressure low flow shower head (they cost $5!)

Turn off the heat just before it reaches the desired use. The remaining radiant heat will finish the job.

If you have a ceramic or stone cooking surface you can cook with 25 degrees lower then recipes say to use with standard stove etc.

Use LED bulbs

Use Solar water heaters and a tankless heat on demand unit.

Leave floor vents from basement open in summer to keep houses cool.

If you do not have a low flush toilet, put a bottle of water in the tank to reduce water waste.

USE Clotheslines

Water garden early before sun gets high and increases evaporation

BIKE everywhere local. Carpool on road trips. Use public buses and trains.

Grow hemp for industrial uses. Hemp is the worlds miracle life crop. Everything from oils to fiber use can replace hundreds of store purchases.

REUSE FABRICS:

Socks with holes in them or missing their mate make great dust cloths (slip them over your hand and dust away), or use them as dish cloths, or to wash the car, or store stuff in them (game pieces, marbles – you’ll come up with all kinds of other things), again slip them over  your hand to clean window blinds or shutters

http://hubpages.com/hub/30-Uses-For-Old-Socksm

http://www.ehow.com/how_4588136_new-uses-old-socks.html

http://frugal.families.com/blog/new-uses-for-old-socks

Type uses for old socks in any search engine and see what other ideas people have come up with.

REUSE PACKING MATERIALS:
One-third of all packaging is thrown away immediately after the package is opened. Try to think about ways you can reuse these materials.

Packing peanuts can be used to fill the bottom portion of outdoor pots and planters, saving on the amount of soil you need to use to fill the container.

Cardboard has many uses – lay a large piece of cardboard on the garage floor in a place that will catch drips or leaks from the engine or other parts of the car.

Cardboard can be made into furniture (type “making furniture from cardboard” into any Internet search engine). Here’s just one list:
1.    Burn barrel starter material.
2.    Garage floor covering for oil spills.
3.    Packing material for shipping your friends presents.
4.    Makeshift dust pans for large floor junk in the garage.
5.    Storm window coverings.
6.    Broken car window replacements.
7.    Coloring material for the kids.
8.    Project material for the kids and their friends and their friends…
9.    Backing for paper note pads.
10.   Garage notes for measuring, drawing or figuring something so you don’t have to back into the house to find a note pad and pencil.
11.   To use for your outside burn barrel cover, to set on the grass so the hot lid won’t burn the grass.
12.   Patterns for things.
13.   Garage trash holders.
14.   Use extra 123′s to hold your movies in,
15.   Use them for bookshelves or CD holders.
16.   Sock drawer separator walls.
17.   Placemats for the table when kids are doing home projects.
18.   Fan to restart your burn barrel fire.
19.   Computer mouse pads.
20.   Wind protector for the beach.
21.   Cut & line with foil and create a sun tan shield for your face.
22.   Inside cupboard lining.
23.   Silverware drawer separators.
24.   Mudroom flooring.
25.   Recycle.
26.   Kids play houses.
27.   Play houses for your cats.
28.   Tear up for a compost pile or a worm bed.
29.   Donate to a local cardboard drive
And there are many more…

SPENDING

Shop with Cash/debit Card to avoid Credit Debt

Use Coupons (find your local double coupon store)

Buy Clearance (if you must buy processed food like Yogurt/Cottage Cheese then look for a store that has a clearance section)

Shop Thrift

Shop Dollar Stores

Net 10 Has .10 cents/min.  pre paid. $1 FCC fee for total $16/mo. for 150 minutes! Boost Mobile has unlimited cell plan for $25 plus $10 fees a month. Add Skype mobile unlimited for $3 a month on a separate smart phone for WiFi use.

Don’t support the insurance and bio-med giants! (car insurance is mandatory by law so try to bike as much as possible and have the lowest priced policy possible. If everyone did this, the prices would drop and a lot of the corruption would be solved.) Use organic medicine!

Don’t finance! If you can not afford something up front with cash, do not get it!

BUY GOLD/SILVER

Keep spending cash in a 5% wachovia account ($100 max each month plus $1 per card use is transfered) This account will not be available after 2011!

BARTER as much as possible

MAKE your own items and make enough to use for barter!

FOOD

GROW YOUR OWN

Use a Solar Dehydrator to dry meet and fruits/veggies (cheap to build)

Cook from Organic ingredients

Support Organic Farmers Food Stands and Market gatherings

DRINK Water (you do not need Sodas etc.) Wine and Beers are for special occasions

Extract Fresh Juices from your fruit if you want fruit juice

Shop Bakery Outlets (grains are 75% lower priced then WalMart)

STOP buying fake food (each purchase is a vote to support Monsanto and outrageous food prices)

Cook in Cast Iron (Teflon flakes rub off into food and cause health problems)

Avoid Microwaves (this is a leading cause of cancer) Avoid warming in Plastic containers. The government sold out to GE and refused to accept the studies showing radioactive waves being infused with food made food high in cancer causing agents.

Store Fish by Rinsing with Lemon Juice and keeping on ice or curing

Cure and Dehydrate Fish and Meats

Freeze Berries w/out rinsing

Blanche Veggies before Freezing (put into boiling water then dip in cold water)

Eat the top 10 items listed on my Health Food Blog daily to avoid being sick.

GENERAL

Teach your children the right choices for the future of the Earth and generations to come

Keep a Price Book (record increases so you will be inspired to protest)

Use Cloth (Napkins, towels etc.)

Avoid Single use, Styrofoam/Plastic items.

Wash in Cold Water

Trade Clothing with Neighbors to limit buying new

Store Paint Cans upside down to keep a tight seal

HOME REMEDIES

Use kitty litter and grind with a brick to remove oil stains on cement

50/50 water and white vinegar helps nail polish last 2x longer

FACTS:

According to the Aluminum Association, Americans throw away enough aluminum every three months to rebuild the commercial air fleet. The only use I accept for foil is for survival. It’s ability to take up little space but expand for large scale use, puts it at the top of the survival list with duct tape. It can form a solar funnel for heating, cooking, fire starting and many other life saving uses.

Corporations spent $121 million in 2009-2010 to flood D.C. with lobbyists to kill the climate legislation. And to keep things interesting in the 2010 election cycles, the oil side of the business spent $19,588,091 on the U.S. political process. And the coal side of things spent $10,423,347.

2011, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced that they’d be opening up big tracts of public land for coal mining.

Peabody Energy and Arch Coal are racing to build coal export terminals on the Washington coast to export the dirty black rock to Asian markets. The Dept. of Interior just green lighted these port expansions by opening up the Powder River Basin coal tracts.

Increasing climate mayhem, irrigation running dry in some countries (the World Bank says 175 million people in India are being fed with grain grown by overpumping aquifers), erosion and desertification in some oth­ers, corn being used for fuel, yields-per-acre having levelled off in the advanced countries, phosphorus for fertilizer getting scarce, 80 million more mouths to feed every year and a couple of billion more in Asia moving up to the Western-style banquet table: all this doesn’t add up.

As soon as I logged onto the slopes report, I knew this Christmas vacation was not going to turn out as planned: 0.00” of snow.  High in the low 60’s.  Rain expected for Wednesday.

It was tempting to call the whole thing off since obviously this year we were not going to have a repeat of the past two years’ mother lode of December snow on the east coast.  It just wasn’t going to be the same.

And it hasn’t been.

The weather has been more pleasant for our little ones.  A  hike is planned for this afternoon on the snow-free trails.  I heard “golf” mentioned under someone’s breath.

Best of all, the slopes have been limited, but less crowded, thanks to everyone else who bailed on this fantastic opportunity for a multi-season holiday.  And slush is the next best thing to powder, we’re realizing.

We had to go into this vacation realizing it wouldn’t match our original idea of a “perfect” holiday, and as a result, we looked for, and found, the hidden blessings these new conditions had to offer.

How else could we apply this mindset to this upcoming week?

So many of us desperately want our holiday to be *perfect*, and thereby construct an image in our mind as to what that should entail.  We are almost inevitably let down.

Our kids are imperfect.  Our relatives are imperfect.  Our judgment in choosing gifts is imperfect.  Our cooking is imperfect (okay, at least mine is).  If your house looks perfect right now, it won’t by 9am Christmas morning.

We need to not only accept these imperfections, but embrace and celebrate them for the blessings they contain. After all, that’s what the first Christmas was all about: unbelievable blessings to the world amidst a bunch of imperfect circumstances.

A teenaged, unwed mother.  A forced census that required a long journey during the last month of pregnancy.  Giving birth in a barn.  Finding out you’re now a fugitive because the king wants to kill your new baby.

The Christmas story is most notable for its imperfections, not despite them, and so can each of our Christmases be.

Step 1: Rather than picturing the “perfect” Christmas in your head this year, imagine the worst-case scenario.  You can do this- you know what’s coming.  You know exactly what Uncle Albert is capable of after that third glass of eggnog.  You know the gift that will be fought over.  You know how your mother-in-law will act.  You can name the elephants in that room.  Play the whole thing out, start to finish, in your mind, including the repercussions for each perceived “disaster”.  If everyone is still alive by the end of this scenario, you can stop stressing.

Step 2: Now imagine you’re watching it on TV.  Pretty funny, huh?  Sit back and see the back story, the endearing quirks, the irony, the misunderstood protagonists, the characters in transition, the comedies of errors.  Separate out the meaningless details from the real storyline that you will stick with you long after the day has played out.  And enjoy the twists and turns, because after all, when’s the last time you had a great laugh over the time everything went RIGHT?

Step 3: Proactively prepare for the hidden blessings.  Know your mom will overbuy for your kids? Then return a few gifts you had planned to give them, and enjoy the savings.  Your sister-in-law is a control freak?  Call her up now and delegate to her everything you don’t feeling like doing.  Strongly suspect your husband hasn’t gotten you anything?  Find the perfect gift for yourself, then plan a day after Christmas where your husband will take the kids to allow you to go out and get it yourself (plus a mani-pedi, in “interest.”) Can’t spend the actual day of Christmas the way you’d like to due to uncooperative extended family?  Plan a Boxing Day (Dec. 26^th), New Year’s, or Three Kings Day that’s more intimate, more social, less materialistic…whatever you sacrificed on December 25^th.

Step 4:  At the end of it all, reflect upon and appreciate what made this year unique.  Chances are, it will be all the quirks, drama, chaos, little crises, and messes that created the chemistry you will never, ever be able to repeat once the kids are older, the crazy elderly relatives have passed on, the random girlfriend was dumped, and the sister-in-law finally adjusted her meds.

Next Christmas may be more perfect, but I bet it won’t be more fun.  For now, let’s all enjoy the ride.

Merry Christmas!!!!