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Living Without

One of my never-ending sources of inspiration is Miss Britt.  After discovering her blog, we were fortunate enough to meet her and her family in real life during the first leg of their cross-country RV adventure.  


This past week, she wrote a piece for TLC Parentables about the things her family has learned to live without. I am constantly grateful for all that we have. More and more, I have been feeling this pull to minimize and scale back. While there are some things that I love and can't seem to live without (more on that later), I find myself asking the question, "Do I really need that?" quite a bit lately.


Britt shared the things that her family has eliminated from their life (without much sacrifice) so I thought I would share my own list:


1. Cable TV We dropped our cable in July and I haven't missed it. There are times when I wish I could watch something on NBC (our antenna doesn't seem to get a good signal for the local affiliate). I'm sure that I will be buying a subscription to Mad Men on iTunes when season 5 comes out. But since we cut the cord, I find myself reading more, watching quality television (rather than just running the tv as background noise), and being more selective about the shows I watch (on TV or online).  


2. Soda Like Britt & Co., we don't buy soda for consumption in the house. I will drink an occasional soda when out at a restaurant but I've really tried to limit my intake, both for health and cost reasons.  I don't really miss it and it saves a lot of money. 


The Rubbermaid Reveal Mop
3. Fancy cleaning products I used to peruse the cleaning aisles looking for the latest new-fangled cleaning products. I was convinced that these products would make cleaning eaiser.  Who wouldn't want that? What I found is that the products that seem to make it easier (toilet wands with pre-soaked cleaner, swiffer-type brooms and mops, pre-moistened glass wipes) are way more expensive, waste more, and clean just as well as the old standbys.  I found a great cleaning mop by Rubbermaid that lets you use a swiffer-type mop with your own choice of cleaner and a washable cleaning cloth. I use rags instead of paper towels.  I buy 409 and Windex in bulk at Costco and use it to clean just about everything.   


4. Bottled Water In my opinion, bottled water has one major purpose: for use in emergencies like hurricanes and natural disasters.  Sure, it's convenient at sporting events and other large-party gatherings but I think that people could make better use of the tap and a pitcher.  It's better for the environment and it tastes just the same.  We are lucky to have great tap water in our community. I just don't buy bottled water for personal use. 


5. Individually packaged snack foods We try to limit this for two reasons. First, if the snack food is in the house, I'll eat it.  Plus, transferring things like chips, pretzels, and even nuts and other snacks from bulk containers into small containers for lunches or meals on the go is better for the environment and better for the pocket book.  I try to buy healthier snacks (nuts, whole grain chips, dried fruit, etc.) and that has helped the waist line immensely.


So that's my list. Have you found some things that you can live without? Are there things you are trying to learn to live without? [My laundry list on that is miles long]. I'd love to hear what's on your list.   



Comments

  1. Every week I used to find 3 things in my home to give away. What an eye opener on how much needless stuff I had. Also, in glancing around my home, I should probably start doing that again. {sigh}

    PS I LOVE not having cable tv!

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  2. I know! The stuff piles up, even when I make regular trips to Goodwill. It's like it breeds. I like learning what I can live without.

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  3. I also read the blog that you're referring to. I had a strong and surprising reaction to it that was in no way positive. I guess that, with so many people in our country doing without because they HAVE TO, I'd feel kind of silly patting myself on the back for what I CHOSE to live without. Especially living in the south, I have to pass a lot of motor homes where people live, because they can't afford anything else, and not because they thought it'd be neat to live in such small quarters and travel around seeing the country. Most of those people will never leave this state. It's the same with only owning two week's worth of clothes, not having cable tv, using cheap toiletries, buying ORGANIC food, rather than processed, etc. It's easy to judge people for feeding their kids processed foods, but if you've only got $400 worth of food stamps to feed a family of five for a month, you buy what you can. When you can NEVER buy your kids books, toys or new clothes, you get tired of ALWAYS having to tell them "no", so you buy them ice creams or candies or whatever you can buy with your food stamps that makes your kids feel like they're getting a treat. Rather than appreciating what all we can live without, maybe we should appreciate that we have a CHOICE. Just a thought. I'm sure that my views are shaped by the fact that I work with families who are incredibly impoverished. I don't tend to view things through a middle class lense. I suppose that that is what kept me from appreciating the blog that Miss Britt created on the subject of doing without. I just couldn't help wondering whether she has ever gone without because she HAD to.

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  4. Wow! The timing of this post and comment is so serendipitous for me since I've been really struggling with my money issues lately and working on a post about it!

    Short answer: yes, Miss Britt has gone without because she had to. :-)

    The bulk of my childhood was spent very poor. Not just food stamp poor, food bank poor. That has, unfortunately, given me a very convoluted relationship with money.

    As an adult, our grocery budget is $150 per week for our family of four. We live on a little less than $48k per year. That is more than a lot of people have, but we aren't rich by any standard. We are trying to embrace the fact that we get to choose what we do with what we have - no matter how little or great those resources are.

    For the record, there is no judgment about what people do with their own resources. I do understand the poverty paradigm and what it means to find joy in even the smallest things - and then have the world tell you that you don't deserve those treats because you're poor. I HATE that and would NEVER say or wish that upon anyone else.

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  5. dropped my cable tv access around spring in an effort to save over $100 a month, but it forced my ass off the couch and into the nicer weather so i don't feel i am doing without. come winter i'll probably find more time for reading or my beloved internet so it still won't feel like i am sacrificing in order to pay the mortgage.
    i don't buy soda because it is TERRIBLE for the human body and i choose to drink water or juices. that choice makes me feel like i am not doing without in order to add more pennies to the mortgage payment.
    i don't buy bottled water on any sort of regular basis because i HATE the waste of those individual bottles. instead i use a 32 ounce (bpa free!) refillable bottle that cost approximately what four little bottles would cost. i've had a few for well over 12 years and use them daily. so again, i don't feel that i am doing without in order to make the mortgage payment.

    i guess basically i am saying i make an effort to train my brain that my actions are what i want. that i would prefer dinner with family or friends in the comfort of a warm, loving home instead of out at the latest raved about restaurant that considers a bite of meat and three baby carrots fancy. guess i am saying that i am happy with the choices that i make and fuck the haters who judge me based on them. kinda goes back to i really don't care what others think of me and the way i live my life.

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  6. We have cut back pretty drastically in the past two years. Food shopping has gotten harder to be cheap about--our grocery bill has gone up about 50% in the past six months! My biggest problem is that we don't have a lot of discretionary income, so if someone needs a new coat, that's the only purchase for the month, and it comes out of our measly fun money. My husband recently encouraged me to plan a two day trip to a friend's wedding in NYC--I booked it and now we've been saddled with a few unexpected bills. Makes me afraid to plan anything fun!

    To keep our expenses down, we make most things from scratch, don't eat out, have cut cable, only own one vehicle, live in a modest home, don't drink anything except water (and milk for one of the kids)...and we try to make sinking funds for anything like home maintenance and car work. I decorate the house with a very small budget (think a can of paint or two per month) and try to just appreciate what I have. We're currently trying to increase our income...not so we can buy more useless stuff, but so we can adequately save for retirement and emergencies. It's quite a challenge these days.

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