MANY GUIDES

The Minimalist

This was an interesting pod cast/talk show. These two men talked about living more simply while at the same time making jokes about it. They also had a guest which they interview on living a simpler life. I found some of her ideas interesting and felt that others had taken her to the extreme end of living a simpler life. In this podcast they speak of things that they have stopped buying. Their guess has eliminated the purchase of paper towels, plastic bottles and clothing. One of the hosts stated that he has stopped buying dress shoes and suits but the funniest was he no longer buys Oreo’s. A few things mentioned by the second host was that he has stopped buying coupon items. This I agree with and have been guilty of well, the purchase of items just because I can get it cheaper. It was an entertaining show filled with tidbits of useful suggestions on how to minimalize the imprint that your life makes.

Slow Your Home

The McCallery’s discuss how to slow living in a fast-based world. In this podcast they sent out questions and revolved the show around the answers that came in. Some of the topics of the questions were mental wellness, stop being addicted to your phone, and working toward big goals slowly. These folks have had a series of podcast revolving around minimalism and simplicity in their lives and sharing that with others. In general, this podcast is something of a self-help group where ideas and support is given and received to those who have adopted the slow approach to life by slowing down, opting out and just saying no.

Tiny House Living

This is the latest rage sweeping the country. People downsizing to the bare minimum to simplify their lives or to be able to afford a place that does not tie them down as they just being life as an adult. I am amazed by these shows and what can be done to allow maximum use of space in small living quarters. These folks could be considered minimalist as they tend to leave a very small imprint on the environment.

The Last Frontier

This is a television series which features a family living off the grid. Electricity is provided by either solar energy or a generator. They grow their own vegetables and hunt for their food of which they give thanks to the animal that gave its life to sustain theirs. Although they do leave an imprint with the use of 4-wheelers, snowmobiles and log splitters it would be minimal in comparison to living on the grid. They are self-sufficient individuals who thrive in areas that would remain uninhabited without people like them.

Simple Living Global

This is deemed a website for Humanity. My first thought when I browsed this site was this should be a course in our Humanities program. Perhaps this site should be sub-labeled the people’s right to know. It has addressed many issues that we often find in today’s headlines. Alcohol and drugs, increasing health issues of diabetes, asthma and cancer, global wellness and heart disease. Again, this appears to be a self-help area of information. “We can all sit around and blame anything and everyone or we can make a choice to change our priority in life and swap perfect life for real life”.

No Sidebar – Design a Simple Life

This site is a blueprint to a simpler life. Again, we are introduced to the concept of chasing slow. This is something that I need to do. My life is busy, and it has been that way for so long that I am not sure I know of any other way of doing things. When school is out or there is a break between one class ending and another beginning, I am like a caged animal in need of something to do. As one section states, “busyness sets in …and it has worked its way into my schedule, my mind, and my capacity to do simple things”. This site talks about minimalism and the fine line between being a minimalist and perfectionist. It also suggests a book, which could be worth looking into, “Chasing Slow” by, Erin Liechner. I picked one line which stood out to me and needs to be added to my life: “You can design a life of less-more. More of what you love, less of what you don’t.

Money is Not Important

This site was a bit confusing to me. It has a subtitle, Until There’s Not Enough. In reviewing this website I found it difficult to make the connection within the site to minimalism. They do address a man wrongly convicted of murder who spent 30 years on death row finally being found not guilty. To add insult to injury Louisiana has refused to compensate him for the years spent behind bars. There are many people in today’s society that live from paycheck to paycheck because of overindulgence. Reducing some of their bills by living a simpler life could ease the stress that comes with the struggle of not having enough money to meet one’s obligations. I have done this with cable tv. The cost was soaring to a point where it was about to cost us over 200 dollars monthly for something that we only watch a select few channels. We disconnected and went with internet-based programing. Our cost was reduced by more than half and we still have the programs that we enjoy watching. Although we cannot live without money, we can certainly reduce our lives without sacrifice creating the need for less of it.

Midway Simplicity

Opening this link went to a Facebook page. It does not contain a lot of information but states that is your guide to simplify your life and make spacy for what matters. It also contains the address for a website which does not allow for connection. I have typed the website manually and unfortunately it directs you to a security website that it wants you to add to your computer, something that I am not willing to do. Returning to the Facebook page it contains information on Zen your life. The links contained on this page do not seem to work and I would consider this page to be of little use in obtaining any useful information on living a simplified life. He does have some organizational photos to assist one in uncluttering an area.

Financial Integrity

This link takes you to a wiki page on financial integrity. It offers practical tips on how to manage your money to get out of debt of plan for the future. This would be a good tool in simplifying one’s life. Reducing debt provided you exhibit restraint after would allow one to live in a simpler lifestyle. Buying less would reduce the footprint that is being left by those that spend all they have on items that at the time are not needed.

The New Road Map Foundation

This site is a continuation of Financial Integrity. It provides you with what its mission vision values are, the history of the company and its vision for a new century. Below is their mission, vision and values statements as found on their website. I would recommend this site for anyone looking to improve their financial position which could lead to living a simpler life.

MISSION STATEMENT The New Road Map Foundation supports people in transforming their relationship with money, and aligning their financial choices with their values

VISION STATEMENT Through our work, The New Road Map Foundation envisions more and more people transforming their relationship with money. As a result of that transformation, we envision people freeing up their life energy in order to have a sense of “enough-ness,” living more sustainable lifestyles, creating community, and participating in further personal and cultural transformation.

VALUES STATEMENT As an organization, the New Road Map Foundation values

Service and Contribution: directing our energies to benefit each other and society as a whole; through means that are grounded in

Practicality: addressing the day-to-day basic needs of individuals; with tools that increase

Financial Intelligence: the knowledge and understanding of basic monetary and economic concepts to enable productive decision-making; in order to foster

Financial Integrity: sound personal and organizational financial situations that enable the achievement of stated goals; and achieve

Financial Independence: freeing the relationship with money from issues around security, identity, power, etc. and creating a personal economics that enables the pursuit and achievement of fulfillment. We strive for

Sustainability: creating systemic conditions for the best long-term outcomes for our organization, the individuals affected by it, the societies we operate within, and our shared global ecology; and recognize that achieving this depends upon

Personal transformation: growing awareness and capacity for addressing the complexities of an interdependent life.