Living Simply: Planning Time Off

As you may or may not know, I went back to college this year after raising my family and homeschooling my 3 (now adult) kids. This week is finals week, so I've been busy handing in all the final projects, and studying every day until I finish finals on Monday. What happens after Monday? I have Winter Break. It's 5 weeks. It's 35 days. In the middle of that, there's Christmas, which involves hosting/entertaining family, catching up with friends, doing things I've planned for during that break, lots of cooking and baking, and hopefully getting to do some more stuff that's fun - not JUST what's necessary in the day-to-day. How can I make sure I get in what's important? Get rest before tackling the next semester (where I've added an additional class)? The answer is, I need to be INTENTIONAL. 

To be intentional involves some thought and planning. I don't mean I need to be a slave to a schedule or To Do lists during my "vacation" time. But it does mean to put in the things that serve a purpose, add value to my life and/or others, and be sure I find time to be flexible, restful, at peace. If you have any time off coming up you may want to do the same. It will help you to look back as you start the New Year feeling like you're on track, not coming off the rails. Too many times we take time off only to feel like maybe we wasted it, or shouldn't have taken it off in the first place because now we're full of anxiety from falling behind. Here's what I'm talking about for me. Adjust as needed to fit your own simple living; your own lifestyle and purpose.

1.  Christmas Day - this is the biggest event so it must go into my schedule. There will be 11 of us so I need to plan for the food, beverages, activities, seating, gifts we'll be exchanging, decor (but only what's necessary, not over the top needlessly). We have a beach theme so I've got to break down the menu into baby steps, working backwards:  menu planning, what can be made a day or two in advance, time to cook/bake, grocery shopping, grocery lists, etc. When the day comes, I'll be ready and be able to spend time with everyone - not running around like crazy all stressed out. Also, I purchased tickets for a surprise event all 11 of us can do together, and I'm pretty sure it'll be the first time ANY of us have done it. Can't tell you what it is just yet, but I will after Christmas.

2.  Quest study by Beth Moore - I bought a 6 week study that I've already begun so that by the end of the break, it'll be done. It's something I want to do, for me, and if it turns out really great, I may end up teaching it in my women's small group that I do, or do an additional 6 week study with friends that are interested.

3.  Rest & Fun - I won't necessarily PLAN this on my calendar, but I will keep lots of space open and available. When I want to do something spontaneous, or sleep in, or go to a movie, or meet up with a friend, I'll have the schedule flexibility to do it. I really look forward to sleeping past 7:30. That's my "late, sleep-in" time right now. Hopefully, I can stay in bed til around 8:30 or 9:00 a few times, since the next semester has me out the door by 8:15 five days a week (so up by 7:00 the latest). I am getting older and I do need more rest to have full, long days.

4.  I love to cook, so I want to make time to do more of it during Winter Break. I plan on making Boston Baked Beans, a beef roast with homemade gravy and mashed potatoes, Chicken and Dumplings, and maybe even a cake or two. 

5.  I want to have traditional holiday foods from other places during break. I want Polish Pierogies (also popular in the Ukraine), Mexican Tamales, Italian Cannolis, Scottish Eggs, Canadian Tourtiere (meat pie), Stuffed Cabbage rolls, along with other cuisines I'm anxious to have/cook myself, like something from the Middle East cuisine, German desserts, etc. I absolutely love foods from around the world. 

Here's a few other things that may be on your own list:

1.  Take a drive to somewhere different. If you live in a big city, drive out to the country or the mountains. If you life in a rural area, drive into the city for a day. Take a ride to the beach or ski slopes. 

2.  Take in something new - an opera, a live play, a movie, if you haven't gone to a theater in years, a concert, a ballet, etc.

3.  Pick a day to host friends, or coworkers, or people from an old neighborhood where you used to live, or family, or plan one for each of these. Just enjoy the time with others building new memories.

Living Simply: Wasting $

   Where are you wasting money? Most of us do in little ways we never even think about. Here's a few things to consider to see if you could be saving thousands of dollars a year:

1.  Brand name products - grocery stores, drug store health care & over the counter items, clothing, it all adds up and yet most generic products are made on the exact same conveyor belt as the brand name item. If you check ingredient lists on medicines and groceries, you'll see they're identical almost every time. The markup in advertising you stop paying could be thousands at the end of the year.

2.  DIY - are you paying someone to do things you could do yourself? Pool cleaning? Lawn care? Groceries delivery service? Dry cleaning? Drop off laundry service? Housekeeping? Basic home repairs/car repairs? I know sometimes life has you too busy to do some of these things yourself, but consider if you can cut any of these to save money.

3.  Wasting food - only buy what you've already PLANNED on cooking/baking, do food prep once a week (cutting veggies/fruit, making pasta & rice, for later in the week) so you can toss together a lunch, bowl, casserole, omelette, salad, etc. Also, did you know the ACTUAL shelf life of many foods are well past the label dates? Don't automatically toss out perfectly good shelf-stable or refrigerator condiments just because of the date. Check with free online databases to find out the actual shelf life of unopened products, especially canned and shelf-stable items.

4.  Cable/Satellite TV - are you paying hundreds a month for cable when you rarely are home or have time to watch it? If so, try a much cheaper alternative like Netflix or Hulu. Most TV shows are available online and you could be paying under $100/month instead of twice that and still have fast internet.

5.  Pay Cash - there's something about physically handing over dollar bills that helps us grasp what we're spending. If that's not possible, use your debit card. Avoid credit cards if possible. If you can't afford it, then wait until you can or don't buy it.

6.  Insulate - live in a drafty home? There's plenty of window seal kits out there for cheap money that simply involves taping plastic around the whole frame and using a hair dryer to smooth it out. It can cut costs tremendously. Also in summer, get sun screens, light-blocking shades, or reflective rolls of window/slider covering to keep heat in/out and cold in/out in their proper season. Also don't overlook the old fashioned doorstop that covers the big crack under outer/attic/basement doors.

7.  Online game purchases - I'm talking about when you're playing a facebook game and you can "buy extra lives" for an amount of money - or extra items to get to the next level. I'm sorry (not sorry) but this is stupid. You're going to trade hard-earned money for imaginary things that don't really exist? Just don't. Keep your money.

8.  Carry a reusable cup - save money on coffee, iced drinks, etc. by refilling a cup at home and eliminate the need for so many water bottles, buying coffee/drinks outside of your home.

9.  Multiple grocery trips - when you stop to pick up a few things several times a week, those multiple trips may seem like you aren't spending much, but at the end of the month, you'll probably find you spent more than you would've just planning a once a week trip instead - yes, a planned trip.

10.  Cleaning products - either make your own for pennies, or buy them at the dollar store, and you don't need a separate cleaner for every little job. Online recipes to make your own are everywhere. I spent $12 and made my own laundry cleaner for the next 2 years, and it only took about 15 minutes to make, it worked better than what I had been using. Homemade cleaners are great for everyday cleaning, including kitchens, baths, stove tops, floors, windows, and laundry.

Living Simply: Ways to simplify life

Today is a day to just (hopefully) add value to your life. Here's a few tips to help make your life a little more simple - and a lot more intentional:

1.  Be thankful - remind yourself that you're blessed, you may not have what you "want", you may not even have a few things you "need" and times are tough, but what DO you have? Can you see? Do you have at least one friend or family member you talk to? Do you have the luxury of sleeping indoors? (Many do not.) Did you eat today? (Many did not.). If you have more than one person in your life, have heat, sleep on a bed, ate more than once yesterday, you can read, you have a job, there's so many things to be thankful for and others are not so lucky. Be thankful.

2.  Do something out of the ordinary - stop in and visit a friend or family member, have a meal in that cute little place you've wondered about, go see a movie even if no one else is interested in going, cancel plans to go to that "thing" you didn't want to go to and just give yourself permission to stay home. Visit a museum, go to church, or see someplace that interests you.

3.  Cook/Bake something - it's the holidays - it's the best time to find festive holiday recipes.

4.  Take on a DIY project, whether it's something simple to make for your home or for a gift, enjoy working with your hands on something new.

5.  Donate what you aren't using - blankets, coats & boots, clothes, dishes, books, etc.

6.  Meditate/Pray/Center yourself - take some time to just be still, let your thoughts go, let go of the stress, just enjoy being still even if it's just a few minutes amidst chaos.

7.  Get some exercise - whether it's a routine at home from YouTube, or a trip to the gym, a weekend hike, or just a daily walk - get some fresh air.

8.  Get some rest - give yourself the time to rest, get to bed earlier when you can, sleep a bit later if you need to, and take a nap if you can and need to. You won't get much done (or done right) if you're exhausted and sick.

Take time to simplify your life. Just because everyone around you is moving 100 miles and hour doesn't mean you do.