7 Reasons We Love a Simple Home

Simplicity is a journey.  It’s figuring out what you really need and challenging it with what you want and what society tells you you should want.  It’s not easy, is it?

My German class was discussing lost wallets and lost stuff today.  I always like these conversations because I’m hearing stories from people from Africa, South America, Russia, the Philippines… Today it was pretty obvious that no matter where we live, we’re all battling with the need for more & the struggle with what we have.

So today, what if we just talked about the simple things in our homes?  These are very much the little things that we overlook.  But they’re also the things that make a simple home so beautiful.

1. The food we cook is better than food at restaurants.

For the past couple of years, I have been making a huge effort to learn how to cook.  We love how eating at home saves us money and keeps mystery foods (like nasty MSG) out of our bodies.  And most exciting of all: the food we cook at home tastes better than the food at most restaurants.

2. Our utility bills stay low.

Line drying our clothes really does wonders for our electric bill.  As it turns out, having only a shower (we have no room for a bathtub) also keeps our water bill down because we’re grabbing thick blankets and cups of tea in the winter instead of taking frequent baths.

3. We can soak and cook our own beans.

Instead of buying canned black beans and chickpeas (a big part of our vegetarian diet), we buy dried beans.  We soak and cook a whole bag of beans and divide them into smaller containers to store in the freezer.

4. Disposable dishes, silverware, and napkins don’t exist in our house.

I hate the thought of unnecessary waste.

Plus cloth napkins can easily fit into a load of laundry.  Fun fabrics make cloth napkins fun to use.  It isn’t a huge burden to carry a metal fork back and forth to school with me, either.  Truth is, I hardly notice it on the walk home.

5. Stuff stopped owning us.

We’re supposed to own stuff.  Sometimes people can get too carried away with fancy cars and beautiful homes and small airplanes and boats and…  All of a sudden, they have to go to work every day to pay off all of those bills.  I just don’t want to do that.  I would rather have less and not feel like I must work and work and work.

6.  We help the environment.

Yep – less stuff means less production.  Fewer resources are used.  Less stuff winds up in the trash.  And the next thing you know, you’re BFF is Mother Earth.  Just know that if you’re buying less, you’re doing just as good (I’d guess perhaps far better) than someone who might be purchasing large and green every day.

7.  Cleaning is faster.

When we don’t have as many things in our home, it’s much faster to go around the house picking stuff up.  My all time favorite part is dusting and vacuuming.  Fewer items to pause and dust.  Fewer objects to move and work around while vacuuming.

I’m sure you have found many of the same things in my list.  Which ones?  Or which ones would you say, “No way!” to?  And most important of all – what simple things would you add to your list?

Just for fun, here’s a post you might love: 5 Reasons We Love Living Small.