Live A Simple Life & Be Happy !

Do you remember watching a programme I think was called: The Good life "years ago on tv ? The funny ways they would save money every week !

Tom and Barbara Good's dream is to live completely self-sufficiently. This means, among other things, raising their own vegetables and animals for food. Trouble is, they live in the suburbs. Their very conservative neighbors, the Leadbetters, look on, horrified, at this bold experiment especially when they get a goat & a cockerel !

Barbara Good

Barbara is a normal, middle-class housewife when the series begins. While she sometimes wilts under Tom's determined and dominant nature, her sharp tongue puts her on an equal footing. She is the heart of the enterprise, while Tom's engineering brain designs and builds what they need. She yearns for lifestyle and luxuries but her own determination to succeed, with Tom's single-minded persuasion, keeps her going.

Tom Good

Tom works as a draughtsman, a job he dislikes. He feels his life is meaningless, nothing more than work and consumption. Becoming self-sufficient is his idea, but Barbara, after concerns, supports him. Tom is determined to succeed at self-sufficiency, and is mostly cheerful about his new lifestyle. Tom is obstinate and pigheaded, often to Barbara's detriment or irritation. During the few times that he is pessimistic, Barbara becomes the optimist.

It was made in 1975 & was one of my favourite programs!

They grew their own vegies & had chickens, made their own clothes etc!

How many of us wish for a simple life- free of stress because of money worries and not enough time together as a family.

If you are just starting out then you can save yourself a lot of stress before you get going !

 Sit down together and talk - really talk without your mobile phone on !

Work out what is most important to you as a couple ,

How many children do you  hope to have and when ?

Are you hoping Mum can be a stay at home mum & avoid the stress of day care and so on ?

Are you happy with a smaller house so you have less out goings- less cleaning & work to do ?

Will you grow vegies & have chickens so you can have fresh food ?

Will you ride bikes to save on money for petrol & have cheap fun exercise together ?

Are you into camping where you can enjoy stress free relaxing holidays every year ?

Are you content with having cheaper furniture even 2nd hand so as not to go into debt ?

One way to avoid stress is in the way you do your food shopping .

If you are the type that goes to the supermarket every day you will find it less stressful if you can make it once a week & do bulk shopping .

Find out when meat gets marked down in your local supermarket & shop then if possible & you will save a lot of time and money!

It works out cheaper as well so your saving money.

Buy items when they are on special like bulk sausages ,then seperate them into freezer bags for each meal.

Buy

Flour

sugar

cans

toilet paper

shampoo- conditioner- soap- tampons etc in bulk when on special so you don't run out .

Drink more water & save on buying softdrinks which put on weight.

Make your own desserts- jam - and meals instead of buying prepackaged foods.

 So many young ones expect to have everything straight away rather than waiting then they end up in a lot of debt & a stressful life .

You can avoid this by learning to be content with a smaller house , buying preloved furniture and so on.

If you have money saved up for more expensive items & that is your priority fair enough.

I would rather have more money for travel than own expensive furniture myself.

1. Identify what’s most important to you and your partner  in your life
2. Eliminate everything else that isn't neccessary in your life
3. Make sure you have time to be together as a couple/family to have fun TOGETHER
4. Be happy , kind , positive and friendly ! Smile every day.
5. Follow your goals in life & have passion in life & living
6. Make it a habit to get up early enough to have time to have breakfast together & not be in a rush everyday.
7. Pack your lunch if you work so you don't have to worry about buying it.
8. Declutter your life ( I need to do this ) clothes , excess things you do not need- sell them or give them to an op shop.
9. Sort out your time - maybe you need to watch less tv, less time on the internet or mobile phone and so on.
10. Drive slowly , enjoy the drive and avoid getting so angry all the time

To poke a wood fire is more solid enjoyment than almost anything else in the world. ~Charles Dudley Warner

Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated. ~Confucius

To find the universal elements enough; to find the air and the water exhilarating; to be refreshed by a morning walk or an evening saunter... to be thrilled by the stars at night; to be elated over a bird's nest or a wildflower in spring - these are some of the rewards of the simple life. ~John Burroughs

People love chopping wood. In this activity one immediately sees results. ~Albert Einstein

Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. ~Leonardo DaVinci

I go about looking at horses and cattle. They eat grass, make love, work when they have to, bear their young. I am sick with envy of them. ~Sherwood Anderson

You have succeeded in life when all you really want is only what you really need. ~Vernon Howard