I like the idea that it’s possible to live simply. Sometimes I even get a taste of it when I’m out in the garden or baking bread from scratch.
One of the blogs I read weekly is Simple Savvy (I don’t just read about garbage, you know). Christine, who writes the blog, often interviews other bloggers for their take on living simply, and this week, I’m honored to say, the interview was with yours truly! I’m far from a simple living expert, but it’s interesting how our attempts to live zero waste have led us to a similar lifestyle to those who are focused on other things like simple living, eating local, or avoiding plastic.
You can read the interview on the Simple Savvy blog here.
The Clean Bin Project Blog 
Nice interview!
I first started to explore the simplicity movement about 20 years ago. I read everything I could get my hands on and came to the conclusion that people had wildly different ideas about what constituted a “simple” lifestyle! One woman seemed very focused on laundry. Her main simplification step seemed to be going out and buying all black socks so she wouldn’t have to worry about pairs, and all rose colored sheets. It was also a huge sacrifice for her to cut back to washing the sheets every 2 weeks instead of every week! I know there’s a joke in there somewhere about seeing the world through “rose colored sheets”…
Anyhow, on the other end of the spectrum was a fellow who was raising and slaughtering pigs in his backyard! Holy Moly!
My conclusion was that simplifying was, for me, as much about time as it was about stuff. And that I would consider myself to have “made it there” when I didn’t have to have a job to support myself. I’m proud to say that I reached that goal 3 years ago! Hooray!
So, in my opinion, the best book on the subject was “Your Money or Your Life” by Joe Dominguez. It’s a little bit dated (I chuckle when I think of the fact that he had a line item in his monthly budget for pot & drugs – plus his system for living off of the interest on savings bonds isn’t really practical in these days of 1-2% interest rates) but still it’s a wonderful read and full of insightful ideas to get you to think differently about money.
That was a good interview. Thanks for sharing it, and giving details of the movie release. Best wishes for your travel plans.
Keith