My first travel post

So excited to announce this as this is my first major adventure in regards to travel. I'm currently on a bus to Oakland, California from eastern Oregon. 24 hour trip and totally worth it.

I'm not an experienced traveler. This first experience is good for those of you getting ready for your first trip - an experiment in adventure. You can learn from me what I learned the hard way.

So here's my list of prep tips. You'll see more on the actual trip later.

1. Make a list of everything you need to bring. Right before you leave, check it. We forgot our water bottle.
2. If it freezes where you live and you're leaving for more than a day, shut your water off at the source and drain your pipes.
3. Make a budget. Save ahead of time. Spare change is a miracle. We saved our spare change in a piggy bank for six months. It can out to over $94. On minimum wage, folks.
4. Research costs, places to visit. Food in Cali is 3 times the cost where I live. Disney world is even worse.
5. Pack light. I'll write more about this later, but in short it will save you time, baggage fees and stress.
6. Buses are wonderful places to meet people. So are airports. I'm not a social person but travel is a rare opportunity to expand your horizons. Consider this part of the experience, its certainly memorable.
7. Take pictures of what you eat. And everything else. Phones are great, I didn't bring my nice camera because I didn't need it.
8. Keep a light journal with some highlights you can look back on.
9. Keep receipts, ticket stubs, etc. Screw souvenirs.
10. Leave your house clean. Coming home to a spotless house makes recovery from travel immensely easier.
11. Bring a water bottle with a built in filter. Not only will this save you money, its cleaner than bottled water and a lot of places won't let you bring outside drinks but they will allow reusable bottles.

I hope some of this helps. What did you learn this first time you traveled?

The Cause of Financial Emergencies

Its exhausting living paycheck to paycheck, constantly terrified of what could happen when the funds run out. You try to budget, spend wisely, work hard. But there's never enough. Something always comes up. Pregnancy, eviction, family emergency, job opportunity, snowstorm, food runs out, hospital bill, check returned, dogs hit by a car, etc.

Frequent financial emergencies that drain your savings account are a direct result of too many financial responsibilities. Do you have more pets than you can take care of? Have you been taking care of someone or lending out money? Do you have kids to take care of? A car? A rental or owned home? Debt? A job that requires a payment from you, such as a personal business or trucking?

It sounds awful, but if your budget is balanced, you can't find a way to bring in more income, and you find yourself facing emergency financial moments this is what you have to do: cut your responsibilities or find help with them.

I'm not saying don't feed your kids. But maybe sell that 2014 truck and get yourself a sturdy Chevy that costs you 1/10th the price and is cheaper to fix. And cheaper to insure.

The second step of budgeting is emergency and longterm planning. Your dog needs vaccines? You should have prepared for this.

Now your whole stability is threatened by a preventable event.

But say you're in my situation - where its vaccines or the gas bill? It means you have too many responsibilities. Learn to say no.

I want kids really badly. I'm saying no, not until my husband can work. My car needs repairs. I'm going to make sure the house I'm renting is insulated for the winter first.

You have to prioritize. Because especially when money is tight, it is a finite resource that won't magically multiply. Make sure you have a real emergency cushion - because things can always get worse. Plan ahead for what you can afford. Say no or ask for help for the things you can't.

Getting organized

I spent most of this morning before work crying and freaking out because my to-do list was too big and I was all burned out. And as a result I made myself more stressed and my list did not get smaller or more manageable. This is a daily routine.

I'm a big fan of the "Edit your commitments" series on zen habits. I believe in minimalism. But I'm still finding myself overwhelmed with projects and tasks and work. I can't find time for myself or my family in this chaos.

I've talked about getting organized a lot before. And I've given up a lot.

I'm here to give it another shot. Small steps.

The first step? Work lunch. I spend 3 hours a week combined packing my lunches, sometimes 6. I don't want to buy food (too expensive and unhealthy). So I'm going to pack a weeks worth in one day. The goal: in under 2 hours. Hopefully even one. These lunches are going to be vegan, healthy, and filling. Each one will have a salad, a sweet and an entrée.

Wish me luck.

What have you done to organize your life?

The 50% Project

"No matter how much you make or where it comes from, save 50% of everything."

Photo Credit Julie de Waroquier

That right there is the best financial advice I've ever gotten. However, living up to it is harder than it looks. I recently got my first job (part-time, entry-level), and of course, there's the bills. 

Me and my husband still live with his mom, and we want to get our own place. We want to get a car. I'm going to college next year (hopefully). These things cost a lot of money, money I'm not going to find in my small paychecks. 

We can't take out a loan, and even if we could we don't want to.

So instead, I'm doing the 50% Project. It starts today, with my most recent paycheck. And the goal is simple - save 50% of every penny that enters my wallet. Don't let my expenses exceed my means.

Eventually, I'll have enough to open a savings account. And then accomplish those goals I mentioned above. 

So how will the project work? If you want to join in, here's what I'm doing:

1. Put away 50% of all income, whether it's from work or gifts.
2. Make it as difficult as possible to spend the money you're saving, so you're less likely to spend it. This can be putting it in a locked savings account, or just giving it to a more responsible spouse to keep safe. Safety deposit boxes work well, and old fashioned piggy banks are good too.
3. Keep track of how much money is coming in, how much is going out, and where it's going. I do this in a small, portable notebook. I save all my receipts, organized in little envelopes by month.
4. Every once in a while I'll post an update here on the blog of what I've managed to save, and a glance at where my money went, and any suggestions I have or lessons I've learned. 
5. Daily motivating myself by looking at my bank account statement as it grows with every penny saved.
6. Doing Christmas for as little money as I can possibly manage. I'm hand-making gifts, writing letters and mailing photos instead of buying gift cards, using leftover cards from previous years, and making Christmas Eve phone calls to the distant but precious family. I'm only buying gifts for 3 people, and I'm keeping it under $20 each.
7. Staying accountable - I promised my husband that I'm going to stick to this, and now I'm promising you.
8. Stay positive - if I mess up, I'm not going to beat myself up. I'm going to keep moving forward, and so should you.

What do I hope to accomplish with this project?

1. A small savings to help me and my husband accomplish our goals.
2. Develop self-discipline and better money-managing skills.
3. Learn to live minimally.
4. Stay out of debt.
5. Be financially independent of others (not needing to rely on help from family or welfare).

When will the project end?

For me, I'm going to wait to end the project until I reach my goal of $4,000 in a locked savings account. However, if you're participating in this project, too, you can do it until whenever you feel like. If that's for only 1 month as an experiment, or until you have the $400 for your new PlayStation 4, so be it.

But it's Christmas.

I am very aware that it's December, the hardest month for almost anyone to save. But I also believe that it's the perfect time to test this, to try and stretch the limits of our self-control and practice delayed-gratification. For more information on a minimalist Christmas, I highly suggest this post over at Zen Habits. Christmas doesn't have to cost you.

I wish all of you luck with your own financial journeys, thanks for sticking around to read about mine.

Minimalism: Obsessions and Collections

Painting credit camilladerrico. Hello Kitty credit Sanrio.

I love Hello Kitty. A lot. Probably too much. I also have an obsession with Batman, the X-men, and the Avengers. Again, I like these probably a little too much. If my Batman blanket were to dissapear I'd mourn it like a friend.

I'm a minimalist. So whenever I say I collect Hello Kitty stuff I tend to get weird looks. "But you're a minimalist" they say, "you can't have collections!"

Well, that's just not true. The point of minimalism is to prioritize what's important, and get rid of the excess. So the plethora of Hello Kitty plushies, were donated to Goodwill. But the alarm clock, or the T-shirt? It's useful. It can stay.

I've found a rather unique way to personalize my minimalist room with my obsessions. Half my clothes are Marvel or Sanrio. My pencils are kept in a Batman bucket. My loose art is kept in a Hello Kitty organizer. I sleep every night with a Batman and Avengers blanket.

Now, the point of this message is to explain to you how you can keep your collections, in part, without letting them become clutter. There are two options here. Option one is to find your obsession in useful things. For example, if you like Star Wars, perhaps get a Star Wars laptop cover. But the plethora of Star Wars memorabilia in the garage can probably go. The second option is for less general collections, such as paintings or glass dolls or stuffed animals. These you minimize to only what you love the most, then display them. Use them to decorate your home.

Minimalism doesn't have to be blank white walls with blank white sheets and blank white clothes. It can be personalized to your color and vibrancy and passion. The unnecessary isn't what everyone else says is unnecessary - it's what you feel you don't need. The rest you can keep. :)

Being Content With Less

You may have noticed it in passing in some earlier posts, but my family doesn't make a lot of money. To be specific, we, a family of four with only 1 adult, live on 700 or less a month. So as much as I love a life of minimalism, sometimes it's not so much a choice as forced upon me. It's hard to collect a large amount of things when you have trouble paying the electricity bill.

However, this doesn't mean I don't like being a minimalist, or that my home is even very minimalist (we do still have way too much stuff), but there are times when I wish we weren't. When I wish we had more money, so that I could have roller skates, makeup, cable tv, and other such teenagery things. It's hard, not being able to afford even the few things I do want, let alone the things we need.

But then I look around my home, and realize I have everything I need to be happy. I have a roof over my head, a place to sleep, plenty of food to eat. I have internet and PBS. I have an air conditioner and a heater. I have a loving family, tons of friends, and a library card. I have my bible and sketchbook. I have a computer. And then I think why in the world am I upset over a pair of roller skates when there are children starving to death, people at war, and the planet is dying?!

So no, I'm not always happy as a minimalist. But I should be. I want to be content. I'm working on that. The important thing is to keep in mind what you really, truly need to be happy, and what is just superficial, temporary desires.

How do you stay content?

Project Clean House: Part One

Photo Credit pwn 247

The Project
My house is perpetually trashed. With two toddlers, a disabled mother and an extremely busy teen (me) it's hard to get it clean in the first place, let alone keep it that way. But I hate the mess. And if you're like the average American, your home is probably messy too. And you're probably sick of it but not sure what to do about it.

Well, considering we have the same problem I thought I'd take an active part in experimenting with ways to get it and keep it clean. Feel free to pitch in your own advice, experience and tips.

Part One: Minimize
Part one of the project will focus on minimizing the amount of stuff we have to clean in the first place. My home has been travelling down the minimalist path for a year now, and while we're far from the land of enough, we're definitely at least half-way there. So, while our challenge for part one of the Clean House Project might seem radical to some of you, understand for us it is reasonable and that you might want to start somewhat gentler.

For for part one our goals are simple and to the point:

• All flat surfaces cleared
• All floors cleared

This will eliminate all the visual clutter that prevents us from inviting people. In order to accomplish these goals we will be clearing all clutter from these surfaces and either getting rid of them, or finding a home for them.

How do you keep your house clean?

Conscious Waste Project: Week Four

In an effort to reduce my families waste, I'm starting Marvelous Adventures' very first series. The theme of the series is quite simple: Zero Waste. We're focusing right now on what goes in our garbage can - the recycling can will be dealt with another time. Feel free to learn from our mistakes

Week Four

Week Three Results

The Bathroom
I must confess, I nearly gave up on the project this last week. Several times, in fact. Why, you might ask? Because we had some really major setbacks this week and it was depressing. Our trash toll is the highest yet this month and I literally broke into tears when I counted it up. We switched back to disposable diapers because my little brother is allergic to the cloth ones (wtf?!), and we succumbed to several frozen-junk-food binges. However, I know nothing that is worth it is easy, so I'm pushing through. This project is too important to give up on. Let this be a testament that zero-waste isn't always easy, but it's worth it in the end, and eventually it will work out. It'll just take time. Lots, and lots, and lots of time

As for the bathroom project in and of itself, we minimized our bathroom and filled almost an entire garbage can with all the chemical-ridden crap molding under our sink. We're working through the last bottle of toothpaste, mouthwash and individual flossers. After that, I'll be making my own. Stay tuned for a homemade, all-natural whitening mouthwash recipe later this month (there will be no man-made chemicals!) And while we didn't switch to a composting toilet (my mom wouldn't budge on this one), our bathroom trash can is unneeded now (I'm very happy to get rid of it! Yay!!).

Project 4
Courage

One of the major obstacles I've ran into the last couple weeks is my lack of a backbone. I haven't had the strength to tell the kids "no, no over-packaged cheese sticks". I haven't had the courage to refuse receipts. I haven't had the courage to tell myself "no, I don't need cocoa puffs". I haven't had the courage to ask "2 Italian loaves, no packaging please" at the bakery or "1 pound of cheese, in my jar please" at the cheese counter. And I need to get over it. So, here's what I'll be focusing on for our very last project:

• Telling the kids no, and offering them zero-waste alternatives when no would be mean(like bulk chocolate-covered pretzels instead of potato chips)
• Refuse receipts. Period.
• Resist junk-food cravings.
• Don't go grocery shopping hungry and stick to my list.
• Ask for bread at the bakery at least once, packaging free.
• Ask for cheese at the cheese counter in my jar, at least once.

Wish me luck.


Last Week's Trash
Total: 2 bags worth

• Leftovers (spaghetti, potato chips, crab salad, yogurt, sandwich, cereal, etc.)
• Food Packaging (raspberries, cream cheese, potato chips, yoplait individual yogurts, cheese sticks wrappers, lasagna, ice cream, milk caps, peanut butter, cornbread, cocoa puffs, cream cheese, popcorn, frozen juice, milk caps, cheese, oregano, tater tots, ice cream sandwich wrappers, bottled water caps, honey, etc.)
• Disposable diapers (I'm not even going to bother to count these...)
• Individual flossers (working through the last few, figured we'd use them instead of just tossing them unused)
• Baby wipes
• Tissues (3/4 the amount we used to go through, though, since I use hankies now)
• Hair gel, toothpaste, air freshener spray, hair spray, shampoo, conditioner, body soap, lotion, cleaning solvents, etc. (this is from minimizing in our bathroom and cleaning closet, all the half-used chemical-ridden products under our sink that we had to dispose of) 
• Ziplocs galore
• Bandaids 
• Fishing supplies packaging (hooks, weights, filet knife, line, and pole)

Improvements Made
On top of the weekly project, little changes are being made as problems are realized and research is done. Our budget for change is incredibly limited, so we tend to make the changes that are cheap and will save us money first.

• Started potty training the toddler (far from fully trained, but hey, it's a start)
• Bought bagels in bulk at Safeway - super yummy bagels, and package free!
• Switched to a refillable sea salt grinder (It's made out of glass, stainless steel and rubber - so it's high quality too)
• My mom switched to using hankies too. The kids are finishing our last box of tissues - now we just have to convert them.
• Gathered and ate some wild-foods (trout, strawberries, dandelion greens)
• Made our own scones using this recipe (instead of buying the buttermilk, you can just use regular milk and some lemon or lime juice - that way you don't have the buttermilk packaging).
• Harvested some food from our organic garden (strawberries and salad greens).
• Switched to digital coupons using Safeway's online system (it adds the coupons directly onto your safeway card) and this website (Saving Star provides coupons for Albertsons, Rite Aid, and several others).

Improvements to Make
These are improvements my family hopes to make in the near future. Go ahead and try a few if you want.

• Switch to handkerchiefs instead of tissues
• Use a reusable pepper corn grinder
• Ask farmer that we get our meat from to have an alternative packaging method besides shrink-wrap
• Toilet-train my little brother
• Grind our own coffee beans
• Get coffee in bulk
• Tackle the junk mail
• Finish the band-aids, switch to gauze and paper tape
• Make our own almond/peanut butter (apparently there's fire retardant in the packaged stuff)
• Make our own desserts/treats instead of the prepackaged stuff (candy bars, jell-o, cake, etc.)
• Make our own pasta (not available in bulk here)
• Switch to refillable pens (we're still working our way through the plastic dollar store ones)
• Find a replacement for freezer bags?
• Get raw milk in glass jars from local dairy
• Switched to a reusable sea salt grinder (we can get sea salt in bulk)
• Switch to an electric razor
• Buy toilet paper in the paper packaging instead of plastic
• Make our own yogurt
• Buy cheese and deli meat in jars at the counter
• Buy floss in the little packs, instead of individual flossers - a lot less plastic. 
• Buy bulk beans, rice and grains
• Switch to loose-leaf tea
• Can our own pickles (not available in bulk, but we cannot live without them)
• Can/freeze our own spaghetti sauce (again, cannot live without. Spaghetti is a weekly staple that is not subject to change)
• Make my own almond milk
• Get honey in bulk (local health store carries it)

Previous Posts in the Series:
Week One: No Wasted Leftovers
Week Two: Less Packaging
Week Three: The Bathroom
 
What's your zero-waste journey like?

Conscious Waste Project: Week Three

In an effort to reduce my families waste, I'm starting Marvelous Adventures' very first series. The theme of the series is quite simple: Zero Waste. We're focusing right now on what goes in our garbage can - the recycling can will be dealt with another time. Feel free to learn from our mistakes

Week Three

Week One Results

Less Packaging
Unlike predicted this was really, really difficult. I realized about the third day in that cutting food packaging meant more than just avoiding it - we had to change our eating habits, too, and deal with the plethora of packaged food in our over stuffed pantries. Breaking my mom of microwave popcorn happened over night, though and I lessened the amount of packaging brought in to the house by making stuff myself. There was some packaging from the "making it myself" ingredients (the seal on the cinnamon and vanilla extract, for example), however it is significantly less than the packaging of the pre-made products in terms of size.

But this is definitely going to take longer than a week to completely deal with. I'm guessing it would take about a month to completely clean the packaging out of our kitchen and shift our eating habits. 

Project 3
The Bathroom
Once food waste and food packaging are taken out of the equation, the majority of our trash comes from personal hygiene products. You know, deoderant, disposable razors, Q-tips, toothbrushes, etc.There's a whole bunch of it, and the majority of it we don't need to be bothering with. For example, Q tips are so not good for you. Here's what strategies we'll be using to tackle this waste:

• Minimize the bathroom, so that we only have to deal with zero-wasting the bare necessities (no more Q-tips, bandaids, etc.)
• Find sustainable alternatives to disposables ( i.e. glass cup instead of dixie cups)
• Buy in bulk, or at least in large, minimally packaged quantities what we can't live without
• When items needs replaced, replace with eco-friendly alternatives (real loofah instead of the plastic ones, organic or homemade conditioner)

Last Week's Trash
Total: 3/4 bag
I think this was our worst week in the entire project... Oh well. We made some good fundamental changes.

• Leftovers (1/2 egg, 1 bowl of cereal, crab salad sandwich, 1 piece of gum, )
• Food Packaging (microwave popcorn,8 seasoning jar seals, cinnamon container,  tear strip on frozen juice can, Parmesan cheese, sweet peas bag, red potato bag, baby carrots bag, butter wrappers, crescent roll can, fruit stickers, star burst wrapper, tea box wrapper, bottled water cap, 5 milk caps, 2 plastic produce bags (ran out of cloth ones), green onion bag, olive oil wrapper, tortilla chips bag, dried mango, pistachios, shredded cheese, oreos, chicken, pork chops)
• Individual flossers (why did we buy these?)
• Tissues
• Some bits of tape
• Babywipes
• Ziplocs
• Dentists goody bag 
• 2 deoderant sticks (partially used, but too icky to use ever again)
• 1 bottle of conditioner, found myself allergic too it after the third use (local woman's shelter wouldn't take it since it's been opened)
• 2 disposable razors found while cleaning the bathroom
• Clorox wipes (container recycled) 
• Prescription bag and bottle
• Plastic packaging for a set of pens
• Dry erase marker packaging

Improvements Made
On top of the weekly project, little changes are being made as problems are realized and research is done. Our budget for change is incredibly limited, so we tend to make the changes that are cheap and will save us money first.

• Got rid of our plastic dishes
• Switched to glass jars instead of Tupperware
• Quit using cupcake liners (if every US citizen did this, we'd keep 15.5 million pounds of paper out of landfills. In case you were curious.)
• Make our own muffins, without the mix
• Recycled the last of the plastic grocery bags at Walmart
• Quit pre-sliced cheese 
• Made our own graham crackers (we go through a whole family-size box of these a week, now I make them myself!)
• Make our own popcorn on the stove, instead of using the microwave kind
• Minimized the bathroom: Got rid of the disposable face wipe-pad-thingies (Mum never uses them anyways, and a soft microfiber washcloth works better), got rid of the Q-tips!, composted fingernail clippings, and donated the tiny travel toothpaste things to the Woman's Shelter.
• Started making chai tea from scratch (tastes better than the packaged stuff), and can be done mostl
• Switched to using the tooth powder, instead of the tube stuff. I used the jar the Q-tips were kept in. Sooo much cheaper than Toms (all natural) toothpaste. And, this is 100% natural.
• Switch to handkerchiefs instead of tissues (just me, the rest of the family isn't quite jumping on this bandwagon yet)
• Successfully refused my first library receipt (this was very, very embarrassing but my librarian was super nice) 
• Using a low-flow showerhead
• Put a brick in our toilet bowl (reduces the amount of water used per flush) 
• Made our own sandwich bread (will be buying this bulk from the farmers market from now on, way too time consuming)

Improvements to Make
These are improvements my family hopes to make in the near future. Go ahead and try a few if you want.

• Switch to handkerchiefs instead of tissues
• Use a reusable pepper corn grinder
• Ask farmer that we get our meat from to have an alternative packaging method besides shrink-wrap
• Toilet-train my little brother
• Grind our own coffee beans
• Get coffee in bulk
• Tackle the junk mail
• Finish the band-aids, switch to gauze and paper tape
• Make our own almond/peanut butter (apparently there's fire retardant in the packaged stuff)
• Make our own desserts/treats instead of the prepackaged stuff (candy bars, jell-o, cake, etc.)
• Make our own pasta (not available in bulk here)
• Switch to refillable pens (we're still working our way through the plastic dollar store ones)
• Find a replacement for freezer bags?
• Get raw milk in glass jars from local dairy
• Switched to a reusable sea salt grinder (we can get sea salt in bulk)
• Switch to an electric razor
• Buy toilet paper in the paper packaging instead of plastic
• Make our own yogurt
• Buy cheese and deli meat in jars at the counter
• Buy floss in the little packs, instead of individual flossers - a lot less plastic. 
• Buy bulk beans, rice and grains
• Switch to loose-leaf tea
• Can our own pickles (not available in bulk, but we cannot live without them)
• Can/freeze our own spaghetti sauce

Previous Posts in the Series:
Week One: No Wasted Leftovers
Week Two: Less Packaging
 
What's your zero-waste journey like?

A Minimalist Experiment

A few weeks ago, due to a family emergency, I had three hours to pack and then nine people would cram in one car for an 8 hour drive to Portland. Needless to say, it was a challenge. It also posed the perfect chance to try a minimalist experiment inspired by Zen Habit's post on Teaching Kids to Pack Ultralight.

The experiment? To pack for a whole week, with only a small duffel bag.

What I packed:

• 3 shirts (one tank top, one t-shirt, one long sleeve)
• 2 pairs of jeans
• A belt
• My bible and notebook
• My sketchbook
• 1 book
• Toiletries in a tiny makeup case
• My i-pod (it's smaller than my phone)
• My phone
• My camera

What I learned:

• Make sure all your clothes fit. One of my jeans were too tight and didn't fit. I ended up with only one pair of pants for the entire trip which became problematic when I spilled Chinese food on them.
• I didn't need my sketchbook - copy paper or my notebook work perfectly fine, and I didn't draw anything anyways.
• Bring a packed lunch so that you don't resort to fast-food.
• Don't forget your phone charger. Bringing a phone without a charger is useless.
• The car ride was a lot more comfortable with less stuff.
• I didn't need my i-pod - I had a more fun talking to people instead of listening to music.
• It was easy to pack up quickly and get going earlier with less stuff to cram in the car.
• I didn't have to carry a huge bag around town

Overall, I loved this. I can't wait to do it again. Despite the few problems I came across (my pants not fitting, for one), I highly suggest doing this. Just, take into account the lessons I learned so that you don't have to repeat them.

Do you travel light?

Taking Things One At a Time

One task at a time, no multitasking.
One business venture at a time.
One conversation at a time.
One new habit at a time.
One library book.
One internet window open at a time.
One sentence at a time. The whole book doesn't have to be written tonight.
One pushup at a time. Don't stress about doing a full workout routine 3-5 days a week. Just do one pushup, right now.
One problem at a time.
One day at a time. Tomorrow can wait. Don't worry about tomorrow.
One moment at a time. Be present. The only tangible piece of time is right now.

The last couple days I've been running around, pulling my hair out. I've been stressed beyond belief, and I had absolutely no idea why. I talked to my mom about it, and she did one of those super-mother-psychic-abilities things and suggested I was overextending myself.

And you know what? She's absolutely right. I'm a workaholic, and on top of that I'm one of those people with a billion and one good ideas and goes after all the ideas at once.

I've also started a new diet, trying to exercise, eat right, cut junk food, etc. I'm working three different "jobs" right now, running a blog, caring for my family (my mom's disabled so I do most of it), maintaining a 4.0 in high school, managing my social life, and starting a bazillion and one new projects.

I need to slow down. I've simplified my home, for the most part. I've simplified school. Now I need to simplify my life. Because there's just too much on my mind, in my head, too much existential stuff weighing me down.

You're probably overextended too. Do you feel exhausted all the time? Are you tired, are you stressed, are you scared? But you don't know why?

Now that we've cleared the physical clutter, it's time to clear the rest.

• Stop multitasking
• Cut down to one project (be it a story, art, a quilt, or some other idea)
• Simplify your commitments. Don't spend your time in activities or at appointments that don't give you something truly valuable (money only counts if you're desperate).
• Stop your big, complicated diet with all those rules. Choose one, small element (like drinking more water) and just work on that.
• Stop making promises, don't overextend yourself. 
• Schedule yourself some down time. I've got a spa day scheduled for next Sunday.
• Change one habit at a time.
• Cook small, lovely meals instead of a three-course-dinner.
• Focus on one business venture at a time.

Once you've mastered one thing, then you can move on to the next one. But don't worry about the next one, focus on your present project. Be present in the moment. The rest can wait.

75% Less Garbage

As I was taking the garbage can out to the curb this morning, I looked in and had a wonderful surprise. The can was only about 25% full. It was a huge surprise, compared to normal. Normally, our can is overflowing. It was an incredibly pleasant surprise.

I love the idea of zero-waste. But my family is still working on minimalism - we'd never paid that much attention to actually practicing a zero-waste lifestyle. However, it seems our attempts at minimalism have even affected our garbage.

So when I got back inside I sat down and started thinking about what had caused this huge reduction in our waste. And thinking back, it's pretty simple.

• We started using cloth bags at the grocery store (when we forget them, we use paper bags)
• We bought more fresh food in cloth produce bags, instead of overpackaged junk
• We switched from disposable diapers to cloth diapers (this saves us about $100-$200 a month)
• We stopped using ziplock bags and switched to glass spaghetti jars to put our leftovers in
• We put our used coffee grounds in our indoor plants - it makes great fertilizer!

I think, if we were allowed to compost where we live, we'd only fill up about 10% of our garbage can. Wouldn't that be wonderful?

Today's challenge is simple. Pick one small change you can do in your home to produce less waste. You'd be surprised how big of a difference it can make. If you don't know what to do, try one of these:

• Compost!
• Switch to cloth grocery and produce bags
• By more fresh food instead of packaged foods
• Switch to cloth diapers instead of disposable, underwear instead of pullups (they potty train faster this way, too)
• Keep leftovers and pack lunches in stainless steel or glass containers
• Stop drinking bottled water - reusable water bottles are soooo much better
• Switch to a digital version of your newspapers and magazines
• Buy bulk soaps and toiletries, and get them in reusable or recycled packaging if you can
• Shop at your farmer's/holiday market!!
• Use cloth napkins instead of paper ones
• Towels and washclothes instead of paper towels and clorox wipes

What have you done to reduce your families waste?

Further Reading:
The Zero Waste Home: Tips
Zero Waste America
EcoCycle Zero Waste at Home Guide
EcoCycle Compost Guide

What's Really Important

This week I found out my family might end up homeless again. Once I got over the initial terror, I went through the normal routine of thinking about what I needed to pack in case we had to leave in a rush. For a family of four, this means I only have room for one suitcase.

Realizing I had to fit what I need to survive, and what's really important to me, in a single suitcase was a big wake-up call.

Me and my family have slowly been purging our belongings, taking a tiny step each day to minimalism. Since this month last year I've purged over 70% of my belongings. But I still have way too much to fit in a suitcase.

When I entered my room this morning and looked at my shelves, full of stuff just yesterday I had felt was too precious to even consider getting rid of, I realized how worthless most of it was.

Slowly, almost in a meditative process, I pulled things off the shelves and put them in a get-rid-of box one at a time.

Manga? Gone. Books? Keep a few, toss the rest. CDs? Poof. Magazines? Gone. Makeup and Accessories? Almost completely gone. Art supplies? Wiped out. Fabric scraps? Gone. Bulk fabric? Substantially lessened.

I can now list my personal belongings, and it's just a little more than one hundred things. This is the biggest purge I've ever done at once, and I feel completely set free, as if I could pick up and leave at any moment without anything holding me back. I am no longer tied down by material objects. And I love it.Going to college like this is going to be very easy.

My 100(ish) Belongings:

• 22 pieces of clothing
• 1 small box of makeup and jewelry
• 1 Cellphone
• Computer
• 1 Bible
• 4 notebooks
• PSP
• Camera
• Ukulele
• 2 small boxes of art supplies (markers, paints, ink, pencils, etc.)
• Wallet
• I-pod
• 43 Books
• 1 photo album
• Sleeping Bag
• Atari piggy bank (what can I say? I'm a nerd)
• 2 boxes of magic cards (again: nerd)
• Knife
• 1 bag (bag has library books in it, nothing else. I use this when traveling)
• 5 sketchbooks
• 6 binders of writing
• 1 portfolio of drawings
• 4 pairs of shoes (Sneakers, flip flops, high-heeled sandals, and green flats)
• 3 CD's
• 1 CD booklet 
• 1 tackle box
• 1 fishing pole

Total: 109

I'm not quite down to a single suitcase yet, but I am really, really close. I managed to move a few things digital, which helped. I keep my schedule on my phone, and I use my phone's alarm as my alarm clock for example.

Look at your belongings as if you could fill only one suitcase - what would you take with you? What's really important? What isn't?