I met with my friend Tracy this week, and she asked me this question: If you could spend a year devoted to one idea to implement in your life what would it be? With little hesitation I said that I would live out of need not out of want. Basically, I would simplify my life as much as possible.
I have thought a lot about living simply and how I can do it in my own life, but have failed to consistently practice simplicity.
There are so many ways to simplify- time, money, resources, etc. After more thought it occurred to me that I should just start by implementing a few key rules in how I will simplify for this year. The first thought I came up with after researching about budgeting and living simply (which I will be implementing), is to live off of $20 a week in groceries. Believe it or not there are a lot of websites which give detailed plans on how to do this. Living off of $20 in groceries a week may sound radical to some, but I realize that to others (many) it is not at all! For me I know this will be an amazing goal to accomplish as I have taken a shine to getting coffee...nearly daily...yikes! All this to say I am not writing this to sound radical because I know that many people do this and still others live off even less than this; but for me this is a personal goal that will require a definite level of sacrifice!
So tomorrow starts the revolution! Any suggestions on how to incorporate the food I have already bought?? Hmmm...
Another challenge I want to have is to not buy any clothing for a year.... and if I must then replacing it with a different item in my closet so that I don't accumulate more. As much as possible I try and get everything from the thrift or second hand so as not to create a need for more clothing in a store, but rather taking something that has already been used and redeeming it!
There are certainly other monthly expenditures other than groceries, but I have not yet figured out how I want to approach that. I will need to think through what is reasonable yet sacrificial in other aspects of the budget. For instance, I will need to think through how much to spend on "entertainment", going out to dinner with friends, going to coffee with friends, etc. I certainly don't want to oppress others with a rigid budget that does not allow for me to do these kinds of things!
So far what will directly be changing is bringing my lunch to work
everyday, no more coffee :(
or buying my lunch, on the flip side I will be much more intentional about how I eat, what I buy, and more aware of what I have! I am excited! So if you could commit to one thing for the year, what would it be?
