Choosing a simple life means being intentional about what we do with our time and money. Living simply can improve your life, but simple living doesn’t just happen, it needs to be actively chosen.
Living a simple life is an attractive idea to many people in our post-pandemic world. The past two years taught us how necessary real, in-person social interaction is. They also taught us that modern society as we know us is not there for our benefit, but to benefit from us.
While it would be lovely to reset our lives and choose to “opt-in” to only things we deem are wholesome and encourage positive growth, reality is we all arrived in 2023 with baggage. Not one of us has a clean slate with which to start a simple life. This means we must choose the simple life if we want to have one.
In moving to our land, our family consciously opted-out of many modern social norms. We hope that these choices will allow us to focus our time on what is really important, rather than the most attention-grabbing entertainment in the moment. Our spark for starting a family culture of opting out came from chapter nine of Marcus Grodi’s Life from our Land. You can read more about his book here.
Choosing a simple life was part of our family dynamic long before land and a homestead came into our lives. We lived in small apartments and shared one car for the first five years (and three babies) of our marriage to pay off student debt. At the time we didn’t realize these decisions were shaping who we, and our children, would become. We just hated debt.
Now choosing the simple life is something we are getting back to. I’m going to share four ways that our family chooses the simple life daily. These do not necessarily make our lives easier or more comfortable, but they do make life simpler.
Four Ways We Choose a Simple Life
We Drive Old Cars
We are not passionate about driving old cars, but we are very passionate about being debt-free. Our cars because we are able to pay for them entirely in cash. If we don’t have the cash to buy a newer model, we just keep driving the one we have.
I am a firm believer in God’s providence. When our family grew to big for the Honda Accord I purchased in college, an amazing deal on a minivan fell into our laps. When that same Honda finally gave out five years later a friend inherited a second vehicle and sold it to us at a very good price. Our vehicles are tools, not ends in themselves. If they safely get us where we need to be they are enough for us.
We Wear The Same Clothes
Wearing a uniform is something lauded in business magnates and billionaires, but frowned upon in regular people. I think this is absurd and, as a modern culture, spend far too much time and money on clothing. While it is important to be clean and presentable, this does not mean constantly refreshing one’s closet.
My husband has more or less always worn a “uniform” of chinos and a button down or polo. I was slower to get on board. I liked the idea of options and patterns and different outfits for different occasions. After giving birth to our fourth baby and finally fitting back into my pre-pregnancy clothes I realized I didn’t like wearing the majority of them. Everyday I would reach for the same grey v-neck and jeans. The only thing that changed was my cardigan.
This was a pivotal moment for me. I purged my closet in an afternoon and got rid of far more than I kept (bringing it to our local food pantry helped alleviate my guilt). I purchased six identical grey v-necks to replace what I gave away and haven’t looked back.
What I’m wearing day-to-day hasn’t changed. My attitude and acceptance of a simple wardrobe are what is different now. I have no stress over what to wear. Weekdays I always know what I’m going to wear, and on Sundays I have The Church Outfit. A single outfit I wear every week. I feel beautiful in it, it’s modest, and I never have to decide what shoes to pair with it.
We Use Our Phones Until They Break
Sometimes choosing a simple life means using what we already have. I know there are minimalists out there who don’t own mobile phones. I’m not one of them. I enjoy being able to call and text friends, and a GPS is currently a must for me.
We can choose a simple life by not upgrading our phones every year, and only buying phones we can afford to purchase with cash. Over the years, this generally means I’m using Motorola’s economy version of a phone. Once the functionality stops, then it’s time to try and repair it before replacing it.
We Downsized Our Home
The most drastic way we chose a simple life was downsizing our home. On paper our new home is only 200 ft² smaller than our previous house. The big difference in the basement. We lost an entire unfinished basement that wasn’t included in the square footage. Our old basement housed all of our storage, a bathroom, the kids’ playroom, and a workshop/sewing room. Our new basement is finished and is the bedroom and playroom for all of our kids.
Going from a four bedroom house to a two bedroom one and loosing most of our storage space made me really evaluate what we own. We have no nooks and crannies to stick things in. It’s been a huge adjustment. Choosing the simple life by downsizing forces us all to only keep what we really treasure and use. It’s cut way down on clutter and temptation “maybe I’ll use it someday”.
How Do You Choose a Simple Life?
I’ve told you about four of the ways my family and I choose a simple life. Do you aim to live a simple life as well? I would love to hear ways you opt-out of modern culture and slow down below in the comments!
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