Clutter, high maintenance, lack of time, not enough space, and debt. One solution to these problems: simplify! Simplifying my life has been an obsession of mine for a good part of the last decade, as it has allowed me to devote more time on my passions and less time on things like infrastructure.
When I returned from visiting friends in family in California this holiday season, I noticed the living room carpet and the stairs had no less than four places that had what appeared to be regurgitated cat food. Although Oreo and Tiger just looked at me innocently when questioned, I do suspect they had a little kitty party while I was gone and one of them gorged a bit too much on the Natural Balance Ultra Premium cat food that the nice neighborhood catsitter put in shiny bowls for them. Or maybe they overdosed on catnip. Or maybe they just get stressed out like Tori’s cats when she goes on vacation. I will never know for sure.
Whatever the case, I decided it was a good idea to clean this up especially before a particular cutie came over to my house. Calling the carpet cleaners seemed to be a little overkill (not to mention they already cleaned my carpets a year ago) so instead I resorted to something else: the wet/dry vacuum, commonly referred to as a Shop-Vac™. Continue reading »
I used to keep my car clean by quickly swiping it with the California Car Duster or one of its numerous knockoffs in between car washings on my driveway. Nowadays, I rarely wield a shaggy duster or a hose and bucket anymore. But it’s not because I became lazier than Garfield or don’t appreciate having a sparkling clean, shiny car that you could “almost eat off of” anymore.
Well, actually the former might have a sliver of truth to it, but I also like to think I got smart! Here’s how I wash my car in one minute for $1 (or less) per month. Continue reading »
Recently I reviewed the “Simplify Your Life” page I wrote in 2002. I was pleased to see that those tips are still mostly relevant to life five years later and that I have indeed been practicing most of them during the last half-decade.
The only tip I had to revise extensively was in regards to a cell phone. Continue reading »
We live in a frenetic, consumeristic world inundated with advertising that can get overwhelming at times. Too often we find ourselves having or wanting too much stuff, often resulting in more clutter and less time (due to working harder and longer to acquire or maintain those things) and fewer dollars to do things we truly would rather being doing.
A way to solve this problem, therefore, is to simplify our lives, which is not living in poverty or deprivation, but focusing on doing and acquiring only things that are most important to us. Often it also means reducing or eliminating certain things we have in order to prevent wallowing in disorganization, debt, time-consuming maintenance, etc. Continue reading »
