SIMPLE LIVING - on a scale from 1-10 Where would you rate yourself?

[kara speltz]

I've been having a wonderful conversation with a new email friend about simple living and thought it might engender some interest here on the forum.

We were discussing on how relative simple living is. That is, if I compare my "lifestyle" of simple living with Catholic Worker folks, I'm living high on the hog. If I compare it with the vast majority of people I'm scrimping by. So I described myself as a "4" on the scale with 1 as "voluntary poverty" and 10 as "the American Way of life" (AWF for short).

Most folks in the Catholic Worker movement don't even have health insurance, and I can't even imagine that. I gave a 7 week workshop at my parish on "$ and spirituality." It was fascinating to listen to the different levels of simple living folks were striving for. And all of it is essential and good. Two years ago when I moved into subsidized housing, I was able to get rid of my car, and that felt like a really big step.

So I'm curious as to how others might rate themselves. Care to jump in?

Kara

[BenL]

Kara,

I/we aren't doing nearly as well as you are at simple living. I'd say about a 2-1/2. I find two of the most difficult parts are letting go of attachments to things and learning to trust in God for the essentials, yes, but for abundance as well. I'm learning that my ideas of what comprises "abundant life" are quite different than the gospel's.

Thanks for raising this challenging topic.

[Jennifer5]

I've been having a wonderful conversation with a new email friend about simple living and thought it might engender some interest here on the forum.

We were discussing on how relative simple living is. That is, if I compare my "lifestyle" of simple living with Catholic Worker folks, I'm living high on the hog. If I compare it with the vast majority of people I'm scrimping by. So I described myself as a "4" on the scale with 1 as "voluntary poverty" and 10 as "the American Way of life" (AWF for short).

Most folks in the Catholic Worker movement don't even have health insurance, and I can't even imagine that. I gave a 7 week workshop at my parish on "$ and spirituality." It was fascinating to listen to the different levels of simple living folks were striving for. And all of it is essential and good. Two years ago when I moved into subsidized housing, I was able to get rid of my car, and that felt like a really big step.

So I'm curious as to how others might rate themselves. Care to jump in?

Kara
I love how passionate you appear to be about simple living. I think you were the one that started the thread before, which continued to get bumped for a long time. In fact, I'm really glad that you posted this I had just considered bumping the old one again.

For my family, I cannot put it on a scale yet... I'd have to think about it. The thing is, we are not materialistic people, but what we do have is very nice. We live beyond our means, because we choose to buy organic. I'll get back to you on the 1-10 portion of the question.

[christa08]

The thing is, we are not materialistic people, but what we do have is very nice.

This is how it is for my husband and I. We're pretty fortunate that he is in the military and we haven't been affected too much by the economy. We have a new-ish car, cable & internet, new-ish computers, phones, we keep the fridge and pantry full, we have the luxury of being able to go out with friends to dinner here and there, plus we're not in debt. I'd say we're probably around 7.

[dsdrane]

It's all so relative.

I'm inclined to put us somewhere in the middle...like a 5.

Day-to-day life is centered firmly within the confines of Evanston. Dash works in Evanston; I used to; all the shops we go to are in Evanston; the gym is in Evanston, etc. We do drive everywhere, however...something I look forward to changing, come nicer weather.

One big thing keeping spending in check is the massive student debt we both carry. Add that to the apartment we bought last Fall, and there's precious little left over.

We cook at home and eat healthily (but probably spend more on food than we need to. We do try to balance out grocery-store staples vs. Whole Foods "luxuries".)

One big luxury, of course, is booze. English gin and California/French/Italian wine equal one big, fat carbon footprint.

One little victory was switching from bottled water to aluminum bottles we fill at home. And we recycle like mad people. Small steps, but they help assuage some of the guilt.

I guess the biggest change is always trying to be conscious of how we live, so that, even if we "sin" (say with a bottle of wine shipped here from some foreign land), we know we're sinning...and try to make up for it in other ways.

:o:rolleyes:

[kara speltz]

Perhaps an additional question might be where would you like to be on that scale. I would like to be a 2, maybe a 2.5. I don't have the strength (nor the community) that so many Catholic Workers have to live on almost nothing. But I would like to get better at it.

One other thing, simple living has nothing to do with guilt. Each of us has a different calling around these kinds of issues. It's about awareness that we are approximately 12% of the population consuming 62% of the world's resources, and leaving 1/3 of the world with only 3% of the resources. Those figures are staggering. So, it's more about being aware that consumerism plays a major role in creating wars.

[Jennifer5]

Perhaps an additional question might be where would you like to be on that scale. I would like to be a 2, maybe a 2.5. I don't have the strength (nor the community) that so many Catholic Workers have to live on almost nothing. But I would like to get better at it.

One other thing, simple living has nothing to do with guilt. Each of us has a different calling around these kinds of issues. It's about awareness that we are approximately 12% of the population consuming 62% of the world's resources, and leaving 1/3 of the world with only 3% of the resources. Those figures are staggering. So, it's more about being aware that consumerism plays a major role in creating wars.

I think I will go with Christa, I'll put us at a 7. Just because all-in-all, we do not long for anything, we have everything that we need.

I'd like to be a lot lower, maybe 5 or 4 or 3.... I don't know. It is very possible when the time comes to live alone that that will happen. :cool:

[christa08]

Perhaps an additional question might be where would you like to be on that scale. I would like to be a 2, maybe a 2.5. I don't have the strength (nor the community) that so many Catholic Workers have to live on almost nothing. But I would like to get better at it.

One other thing, simple living has nothing to do with guilt. Each of us has a different calling around these kinds of issues. It's about awareness that we are approximately 12% of the population consuming 62% of the world's resources, and leaving 1/3 of the world with only 3% of the resources. Those figures are staggering. So, it's more about being aware that consumerism plays a major role in creating wars.

I probably wouldn't want to go below 4 or 5. I keep in touch with all of my friends through the internet, I love to play computer games, I love my shows on Thursday night, I love texting my friends, these are things I wouldn't want to give up. I would LOVE to live in the middle of a big city and get rid of our cars and walk everywhere. That's not possible because of my husband's job. :( I try to do the little things to help preserve energy like unplugging things when I'm not using them, etc. I do want to go a lot more green in the future when we own our own home. I also want to get in a better habit of recycling.

[tdogg]

My wife and I are about to explore the concept of simple living more in depth in the near future, as we both face 10% pay cuts via mandated furloughs. The battle is still on, but frankly, I'm extremely stressed by it all. I don't have 10% left over to give up.

Which makes your thread very timely Kara. We are nowhere near the middle of your scale. I had planned on retiring at age 59 with 30 years in with the state, which would give me a pretty good monthly income. But now, esp in light of the activism work I'm doing, 55 is looking better and better. If I can get the bills and debt paid off, and scale down our extras, I think we can live comfortably somewhere in the middle or just below.

A goal and only a few years to get there. At least I have enough years to have full medical at retirement. A lot to think about and plan for. I'll be contemplating the concept more now. Thanks for bringing this up again Kara.

[Jennifer5]

Kara, do you have any advice when it comes to this? How can I live more simply?