Saturday, June 26, 2010

what would you do without

With the recent storms blowing through, and with many in our area losing power for an extended period of time, I wondered what I would do without given the choice. Tv isn't a huge deal for me at the moment, trying to give that thing less of my time, internet is a keeper, fridge, micro and freezer. Going without lights wasn't the worse thing in the world, I think I could do that. But if I had to do without electric lights I think I would get the kind of kerosene lamps that the Amish use, much brighter than my oil lamps.
Sometimes our lives get so clutter with stuff. Doesn't seem to matter if it is electronics, or things. It is one of the things that I think the amish do right, less clutter, less stuff, less stress in a lot of ways.
We are working on cleaning up clutter, Mike's open house helped the outside, need to tackle the inside now.
Down size stuff will hopefully down size stress.

5 comments:

  1. Mary~ This is thought provoking. Indeed the storms made me think too. We have had the most interesting weather the past week. Personally I feel they have conincided with some happens in my little world, but, nevertheless, to answer your question..
    I could do without a lot of Stuff. Give me Shelter, food, Loved ones (including my furry Loves), God, and I could do without the rest. I am very attached to my stuff...vehicle, internet, collections, but when it boils down to it... We (me) do have too much clutter.

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  2. Well said Janis. I don't know if you know this or not, but we farm for a living, or well we did. Still do some, but we have rented out most of the ground to friends of ours to farm. It just is too tough to make it work with a small amount of acres. It is a good way of life, but not a good living financially. Rick and I don't want for much, have a roof over our head, meat in the freezer, great family, and most of the time we manage just fine with what we have. It is extra unexpected things that hurt us, 4 kidney stone surgeries in the span of about 6-7 years, each with a $5k deductible, braces for two of the girls, wanted dearly to get them fixed, but it is putting us on the edge with the added cost. We don't borrow money anymore, we don't use credit cards, no car payments, just the mort on the house, and the medical bills. We manage alright, a little breathing room would be great though.
    One thing we are going to try to live without is cable tv, it is being turned off on July first, there are things I like and will miss, but it is such a time killer, and we can save a good $50 a month. And we are looking for ways to cut waste, electricity, food etc.

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  3. I just need my family everything else just seems to be time killers.

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  4. yeah I'd second TP, got to have that!!

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