What's a typical day like for you?

[awakenedsoul]

I realized on one of the threads here recently that I assumed everyone here was living very simply. I was shocked to find out that many people are working sixty hours a week! I had the impression that most of the people here were growing food, hanging their laundry on the clothesline, riding their bicycle for errands, keeping chickens, etc...

So, I'm curious. What stage are you at when it comes to simple living? Are you reading about it and planning for the future? Have you been at this a long time? Are you retired? How much money do you need for your personal expenses? (I hope that's not too personal.)

What's a typical day like for you? How has your lifestyle changed?

[early morning]

I think we're a very diverse group! Personally - DH and I are in our middle 50s. He is disabled but has some good days. I work full time at a job I really like (I teach juvenile detainees and juvenile felons). I drive a whopping 75 miles a day, minimum, round trip - more on days when it's my turn to look in on my elderly mother in another town, and am gone between 10-15 hours a day. We have 2 children - one a 30 yo DD who has moved back home and is only working one day a week in the real world. She does stuff on the side, and does much of the work here. We also have a 26 yo son in school, with huge loans and not many prospects, who we help support.... long story. He is struggling but still upright. But - we have chickens, do our own minor home and car repairs, drive paid-for cars, line dry our laundry, cook mostly at home from scratch, shop at Aldi's (or eat crappy dollar menu stuff). We grow some of our food but not much, esp. this year with the lack of rain and high temperatures. I have a side business selling antiques at shows and flea markets. We have almost paid off our home (4 more years!!), which will be a huge help. I will have a small traditional pension and SS, due to changing professions later in life. DH has small 401 K's and will have a small pension, plus SS. He can't add to his 401k's as he his on disability. BUT - unless something changes on the health care front, even with the current plan in effect I don't see how I can ever retire.

I've been frugal most of my life, in some areas, mostly so I could do things in other areas. I'm ok with that trade-off. I have no illusions of being FI at any time, and have never really given that much thought - our aim has always been to live our lives as best we can, and do as much as we can, with what we have. Could we have done better? No doubt. But - I'm ok with that, too! :)

[Kestra]

My current simple living is no kids, no pets, no plants, no house, meaning no commitments or responsibilities. To me that's a lot more simple than being a homesteader. Not that I don't want some of that. We will buy a house soon and then I will do the clothesline, food growing thing. I wish I could bike but it kills my knees. So we share one car and I mostly bus or walk.

I work 30-40 hours a week, only in the office 2 days a week - at home otherwise. Currently my husband works 1 week on, 1 week off as a truck driver. We could both work more, but we'd rather not. Simple to me is more about an attitude of relaxation and freedom, as well as making conscious lifestyle choices. There is a huge variation of lifestyles on these boards. Also age changes a lot of things. We work a lot now because we're in the money accumulation stage. In 10 years I should be down to part time. In 15 years we'll be done working if we want. We're 35 now.

We spend about $40,000/yr, not including taxes, for 2 people in Canada. The only way my lifestyle has changed significantly is when I got married I sold my old house and switched to apartment living. And being married my savings rate dramatically increased, even though I'm living a cushier lifestyle. So early retirement is now a distinct goal and possibility instead of a dream. To retire by 50 and live at least half time in an RV somewhere warmer is our main simple living plan.

[awakenedsoul]

Wow! This is great! I love hearing everyone's situations and their take on simple living. I'm impressed...

[razz]

DH and I are seniors, both retired with no kids at home, living very simply in the country but lots of interests.

[Gardenarian]

I work part-time as a librarian (~20 hours), dh is a musician who gigs and teaches. We have one dd and 2 dogs. We live in a small town in the SF bay area, own our home (mortgage is paid off.) We don't have a lot of land but we try to grow as much food as we can (I recently got my permaculture certificate.) I am writing a weekly gardening almanac for our area (I hope to have it done by September.) We homeschool dd, and plan on continuing to homeschool through high school. We probably spend about $50k per year (over $20k of that is on health insurance. We also have hefty home & earthquake insurance.) We are financially independent, but neither of us is wants to retire (we are in our early 50s.)

What makes us simple lifers - being frugal, reduce/buy used/re-use/recycle, growing and cooking our own food, no television and generally trying to ignore pop culture, doing things ourselves (household maintenance, etc.), living green (we have a graywater system, try to use little electricity/gas, compost), creating our own entertainment, awareness of nature and being fulfilled by simple things - walking by the ocean, hanging out with neighbors, making crafts, watching things grow.

Why we are not simple lifers - we rely too much on our cars. We live in one of the most expensive places in the country. We still buy lots of our food from Trader Joe's and Costco (though we have been trying to rely more on the farmer's market.) We (obviously) use computers - my husband has lots of gadgets. For both of us, technology is part of our work, but the nearly constant access to it makes it a bigger part of my life than I'd like.

[bunnys]

I have found as I have visited various frugal living/simple living sites that there are really 2 simple living camps out there.

The first is the Walden/eastern philosophy/anti-consumerist camp.

The second is the survivalist/Armageddon/emergency preparedness camp.

Oh, just thought of a third. Those who practice a frugal living because they want to save their money so they can spend it on stuff that's really important to them (cars, vacations, technology, etc.)

I think that all three of these groups employ many of the same techniques to get their individual goals met but they have profoundly different interpretations of what Simple Living is.

[bae]

My wife and I "retired" in our mid-30s, over a decade ago. We sold our shares of our businesses, our house in Silicon Valley, pulled up stakes, and moved to a remote rural area, where the cost of living, while high, wasn't nearly so high as California.

We now do public-service work, and devote the bulk of our income and capital to local philanthropic causes. I think we are busier now that we are "retired" than when we worked 60-80 hour weeks.

Our typical day isn't typical at all because of the wide variety of our current activities.

[AmeliaJane]

I am more of a "practical" simple liver than a "philosophical" one, but I enjoy hearing about all the different kinds of folks here. I have a career that I like a lot, in a rather unstable, poorly paid non-profit field. Over the years I have been frugal to get through grad school without debt, through the early career years without debt, through a couple of lay-off/cutback situations, and now to have a really good cushion to prep for the next crisis. I am not fond of stress and worry, and it is more fun and less stressful to live well below my means than to have more stuff and have to worry about taking care of/paying for all of it. However, at this time I'm not interested in early retirement--I want to afford to be able to do my job! So I work 40-45 hours a week, have an eight minute commute (think I've finally figured out some logistics so that I can walk when the weather lets up). I grew up doing garden and farm work. I am not interested in animals, yards, gardens, or anything that requires weeding, watering, mowing, walking, mucking out, or feeding--I am much more about what Amy Dacycyzn(sp?) used to call passive frugality. Buy decent clothes in classic styles, take care of them, keep them forever. Drive a small car, not too many miles a year, and walk or carpool whenever you can. Find cheap amusements (library books, Netflix movies, free online puzzle games, playing with tiny relatives, cooking). Live in a tiny apartment. And so on. I hate driving and parking, so that keeps me from too much shopping, eating out, carousing, etc.

[Tammy]

Things shifted for us about 2 1/2 years ago.

Kids out on their own
I took a much higher paying job
Moved to a large city
downsized to one bedroom apartment

Then a year after that:

Moved to even smaller 650 sq ft apt
Only 2 miles from my work
Only 2 blocks from husbands work
Downsized to one car

We are early 50s, finally able to save significant portion of income for retirement

We like simplicity, but in an urban setting, and with the few things we own being high quality

We like having no yard or house to care for

I work my butt off ... My 8 hour days are sometimes 11 like today, without warning

So Monday thru Friday I work

The rest of the time I do whatever I want ... Almost no commitments

It works for this life stage really well

I don't cook. I hate shopping. I love museums. My husband and I take the jeep camping in the mountains on weekends. We can sleep in it and have a 4 inch foam mattress in it. We have very few possessions in our home but they are things we use and they are high quality. I can retire at age 64 with full pension, in addition to what I'm saving, as long as the state of AZ doesn't implode.

We splurge on vacations to see our kids and our grandson. And eating out. We live pretty cheap otherwise. We still own a condo which our son is using until college is done. Will sell it next year. Can't wait for that. Otherwise we own no property.

[Stella]

In some ways my life doesn't look that different from my grandparents. I am a SAHM and DH is an electrician. We have five kids 8 years old and under. Our older kids run around the neighborhood free-range style in packs of other kids on bikes, build forts in the woods and play with rocks and sticks and balls and climb trees. We cook at home, have a small garden and wear hand-me-down clothes and everyone who is old enough does chores. I like to cook, knit, sew and embroider. DH likes to build things and fix things. We live in a multi-generational household with my Dad.

I have my weekly Girls Night with my friends and my monthly women's potluck and DH has his weekly basketball game and his Knights of Columbus stuff. We have a monthly card night with our friends who live on our street and last month the kids had a camp-out in the backyard. We have church every Sunday, faith formation on Wednesday nights and the church Fall Fest and little girls in First Communion gowns. I'm the queen of good, cheap fun. We have Family movie night one night a week and Family Day on Sunday afternoons. Last Sunday we had a picnic at the beach.

We live in an awesome community where everyone knows everyone and except for the standard issue neighborhood crazy lady everyone pretty much gets along, although sometimes we're a bit too much in each others business. This community was born as an experiment in landscape design and community building in the 1960s and they seem to have done a good job overall.

We do have a more modern side too. My oldest daughter is into building electronic gizmos and my Dad and husband are Apple geeks. We have a plan for early retirement and we have spent the last several years with DH working only seasonally so he could be home more and we could do some traveling with the kids. We also homeschool. It's a nice life. We like it.

[bae]

That sounds awesome, Stella!

[Zoebird]

I suppose it depends upon definitions.

I currently work about a 60 hr work week, running my own business (which I *love*). I'm working a lot right now to set up aspects of the business that will run themselves by Sept and then again by Feb (two projects). Basically, the extra hours that I'm working now (which pushes me close to 60) are setting up the foundations and framework, then the on-going up-keep should run into the admin hours (about 5 per week total). Good stuff.

My husband works for the business as well, and then is also our primary child carer and point man on the house as well (though we try to split this). So, my husband works for the business Mon-Wed from 9 am until 2 or so; and then on Thurs-Fri he writes (his own work) from 7 am until 12 pm, then on weekends it's only 7 am-9 am. The rest of the time he takes the lead on the grocery shopping, cooking, and general clean up of the kitchen, as well as the laundry (wash and line dry). He also mans the trash and recycling.

I then fold and put the laundry away, do the toy/book/paper/etc tidying, and do the scrubbing of the house -- which doesn't take that long, but it's bathroom and kitchen scrub (including the fridge), washing the floorboards and window sills and such (beware of mold in this wet environment!). My Daily tasks are tidy, bed making, and wiping condensation off the windows in the morning. Then once a week I do the 'deep cleaning" with good old vinegar with orange peels soaked in. :D yay! The whole house scrub takes. . . about an hour to an hour and a half.

We use a combination of walking, bus, and car to transport ourselves. Right now, we drive ourselves into the city and out again, as this is actually cheaper (in both time and money) than taking the bus. It's too far to walk (particularly with the kiddo, and he's a trooper). To get the best price on parking, we park about a 20 minute walk from the office (it's about 10-15 without the kiddo, about 15-25 with him). We would park in the free parking (it's a bit farther out), but that would mean a 30-45 minute walk (depending upon if we're with the kiddo or not). Without the kiddo, it would be the "best option" as we love to walk, but with him, he gets quite upset about half-way along. though, you know, I could throw his bike in the trunk and we'd probably be good to go -- he'd definitely bike to the office from a further parking space. HMMM. Have to think about that, because it would save us $45/week.

The other ways that we live simply?

Probably the main way we do this is through practicing minimalism. We really strive to only keep things that we use regularly (for example, the thanksgiving platter IS used every thanksgiving and I love that damn thing -- so it's not like "every meal" is regular, just, you know, regularly). I try to curb how much we bring in. I keep the wardrobe that I have to a minimum, DS's as best I can, and DH's is minimal as well.

We do travel a lot, eat out occasionally, etc -- but everything is accounted for in the budget, including paying off my student loan debt (the only debt we have) as well as paying ourselves back for our investment of capital in the business.

So, yeah. :D

[Float On]

A typical day?
6:00 a.m. up (sometimes to kayak - 5 min from the house - and sometimes just to get everyone else going) DH is about done in the studio by this time (he's working 3 a.m.-6:30 while it's cooler)
between 7 and 9: get ready, breakfast, pack DH a lunch, sometimes rush out to the studio to pack an order and then back in to print shipping, pets and chicken care, laundry started, kitchen wiped down
9:00 head to town - drop by UPS dock and Post Office if needed
9:30-2:30 (Mon/Tues/Thurs/Fri) work
3:00 and beyond till 11 p.m.: run kids where they need to be, check for sales, pack orders, bookkeeping, housework, gardening, dinner, kayak or other activity, upload items to sell, social media, etc.
11 p.m. most nights bed - Tues night and Friday night are super late and I usually don't get to bed those nights till 2.

[Zoebird]

I guess I didn't answer with my schedule. :)

Monday-Wed:

7 am rise, dress myself and DS (who has already been up for an hour and had breakfast with DH), and then do our nichiren liturgy.
8 am leave the house, drive to the kindy, drive to the parking lot, walk to work. At work by 9:15 or so.
9:15-11:15 work at admin/marketing/etc at the office
11:15-2 classes (depends upon the day)
2-4 private lessons or admin
4-5 decompression time, yoga practice, etc.
5-7 yoga class plus greeting/admin/cleaning the studio.

Thursday

7 am-8 am same as above
8-9:30 am clean (scrub) house
9:30-11:30 am DS and I play (indoors or out, often includes some gardening time or beach time)
11:30-12:30 drive to office, get lunch together, family lunch
1:15-2:00 yoga class
2:00-4:00 admin
4:00-5:00 decompression/yoga practice, etc
5:00-7:00 admin/teaching/cleaning

Friday
7-8 am same as mon
8-10:30 play with DS (or hang out online, etc)
10:30-11:30 transition to office (drive, park, walk, get lunch sorted for DS)
12:15-2 teaching classes
2-3 admin/clean

Evenings and weekends:

M-T -- arrive home around 7:30, get DS in bed (if he isn't already there), do two-four stories, he goes to sleep by 8; tidy; time with DH. usually in bed by 10-10:30
F -- family time from 3 until 7, then 7-8 getting DS in bed (as above), then followed by tidy, time with DH, etc.

Sa/Su -- variable. usually Sa am skype with family members (ILs, my parents). Afternoon for groceries, errands, and a light walk/hike. Sunday, usually a total rest day of some sort -- so what we do can vary from literally hardly getting out of bed (reading, watching cartoons and shows, and all around just resting-- naps and stuff) to going out for a nice drive in the countryside, to a hike, and sometimes doing things with friends.

On Mon-Wed, DS is at kindy (usually) from 8:30-12:40, so DH manages him for his lunch, and until 2. And then he goes to the gym on monday afternoon, and DS is playing at the office while I work. Then, I typically don't work monday evenings, so we all go home together around 4:30. But some Mons I do work that class, so it'll be a later night. On Wed, he's with his girlfriend from 9:00 until 2/3/3:30, and then he'll often be at the office until we leave at 7. Thursdays are the fast-turn around day, I usually don't park in our usual spot, and only park for about 1.5 hrs in a spot close to the office. The DH and DS head home in the afternoon and do their adventures. I usually take the bus home.

It makes for a pretty breezy schedule, but I'm not spending as much time at home as I would like.

In Sept, the Mon, Wed, and Thurs evening classes are going to be taught by other teachers, and the Tues class will be me and one other teacher alternating. Which means that Mon, Wed, Thurs, and Fri, I"ll finish by 3; and then Tues, I'll be working my longest day.

So, I generally work 9:30-7 Mon-Wed, and then 1:00-7 Thurs, and then 12-3 on Fri. Right now, I also put in about 4 hours each day on the weekend, and right now I'm working several weekends. This weekend is a holiday to Taupo; next weekend is the teacher's meeting day (8:30 am until 6 pm for me); the weekend after that is in=house retreat for teachers (9-4 Sat/Sun), then a weekend off, then I'm in Australia to teach for 4 days (Fri-Mon). then the weekend after that, full day with teachers again (8:30-6 pm).

Thus, during July and early august, my average week is 38.5 plus odds and ends nights and weekends; but then you add in the weekend days, and I've got an additional 78.5 hrs per week once I get back from taupo. So, those weeks go from 38.5 to 65-70.

Burnin' the midnight oil, so to speak. BUT, once I hit mid-sept, I'll be working 9:30-3 mon, wed, thurs; 12-3 friday, and then 9:30-7 Tues. One saturday a month at 9.5, and one sunday a month at 4 hrs (same weekend). So the total (amortizing that one weekend) would average 32.75 hrs a week.

[lizii]

I have turned my former life around from getting up around 6am to going bed at 10pm when I was raising my family and going to the office from 9-5 to what I am doing now that I've retired.

Now I sleep from 3am to 3pm, get up to make breakfast, and spend a couple of hours on the computer until my care aide comes at 6pm to make my dinner for me, and spend the rest of the evening reading or on the computer. I need more sleep as I get older, not less which other seniors require.

My family and friends are aware of my strange hours and don't call me until usually 4pm or so.

[Tradd]

Right now my days revolve around work and studying for the October customs brokers exam. I work for a freight forwarder in the import department, handling both the transportation as well as customs clearance and related issues.

I'm usually up between 5-5:30 so I can study for at least an hour before I run off to work. This is fairly new, as studying at the end of a long (10-12 hour) workday wasn't working well with my fried brain. I have to start work at 8, although usually I'm in the office by 7:30.

First thing in the office, after getting some caffeine, is going through my emails from overseas - usually Asia, although some Europe - and sorting them out by customer into my email subfolders, so I can deal with them much easier later. I whip off tracking spreadsheets for a bunch of customers, several of which need them by 9:30 am (one customer on Eastern time, I'm on Central time). I then start attacking the emails - upcoming shipments for my customers to approve, shipping documents from overseas to print out, electronic responses from the Customs system I need to print out and stick in files. I often have container pick up numbers from the railroads in the mornings, so I have to get those to my truckers ASAP, so they can deliver the involved containers. I think I had my recent personal record having to dispatch 15 containers at once one Monday morning.

Most of this stuff is done by 11 am or so and I start looking at the files on my desk. Which files need freight payment checks sent off to the ocean carriers, which customs entries I need to do that day, taking into consideration where on the rail from the west coast the containers are or have they even started moving on the rail yet. Customs import duties have to be paid within 10 working days from when the entry is done. We pay duties on behalf for most of our customers, so we don't pull the trigger too soon. Same thing with paying ocean carrier charges. When you're looking at coughing up $15K for a multiple container(4-5 containers) shipment, you pay that as late as you can.These things are standard practice for my industry.

We all pretty much take lunch from 12-1. The small kitchen is small, plus it's noisy with one raucous group playing dominoes and another watching the TV with the sound blaring - as a result, I almost always eat at my desk. I often run out to the Subway 5 minutes away or bring a can of soup, or occasionally leftovers. I don't have too much time to cook these days. I'll surf the net on my smart phone, catching up on personal emails and Facebook, checking these forums or another one I frequent. It's not uncommon to work some during lunch. Or I'll go through some of the chapter review lessons for my exam prep program, which are online Power Point presentations (very helpful).

After lunch, I'm plowing through my files, handling the transportation side and the customs clearances. My customers often respond to new shipment emails in the afternoon, so I go back overseas with their responses, usually approvals, but sometimes not. Will add new shipments to the tracking spreadsheet for that customer. Late afternoon, I'll get the checks I'd cut for the carriers and put them into a UPS pouch to go out or put them out for our local courier that makes the rounds of the airlines at O'Hare, Customs, and the other brokers and freight forwarders. I'll usually work until between 6-7 and then go home, sometimes taking a few files with me.

Of course, this requires major ability to multitask. And it's not uncommon for something to be thrown onto my desk that throws everything else cattywumpus! Like air freight shipments that are already here - origin can be bad with notifying us when something is coming. I usually handle ocean freight, which means you know anywhere from 2-6 weeks ahead of time when it will arrive, depending on lead time. With air freight, the customs has to be done NOW! And that sometimes means scrambling for a trucker to fit the pick up in on the morning or afternoon airport runs, plus making sure the trucker stops by for the airline terminal charges check before going to pick up the cargo.

Since I'm being groomed to be the #2 (aka import supervisor) once I get my brokers license, I'm often getting questions on Customs regs from the other entry writers (folks who process customs entries but aren't licensed brokers) or some sort of computer related question.

We don't have a receptionist, so in the midst of all of this the phone is ringing, and whoever is not on the phone needs to pick it up, as we can't let it go longer than three rings.

If this sounds incredibly stressful, yes, it is. But I really enjoy it, and it's never boring and vastly interesting.

I'm home by 7:30 at the latest. I like doing salads, especially since it's been so hot. Bagged baby spinach, grape tomatoes, maybe feta cheese or a hard boiled egg or two, maybe tuna, topped off with my homemade vinaigrette dressing. I'll study a bit, catch up on stuff online. In bed by 11 at the latest.

On the weekends, I study for hours on end.

Outside of work, I'm pretty involved in my church, although that's been scaled back since I've been studying for the brokers exam (since late last year, as I had a go at April's exam that only 12 out of 1400 people nationally passed!). I've only kept choir, which means practice once, maybe twice, a month. I'm president of a local denominational group, but all my duties (aside from minimal upkeep on our website) have been taken up by others. I don't have the time. I will be SO glad when the October exam is past! It's exactly three months from today. I have no time for any fun reading of any kind, unless I read a bit of something on my phone or iPod right before bed.

I primarily due domestic-type stuff around my small 1BR place on weekends, although I make liberal use of the dishwasher, even though it's just me. It usually gets run every 2-3 days. I've got an in-unit washer and dryer. With this hot, humid weather, I'm doing laundry every day. My car a/c is pretty useless, so I'm hot and sweaty by the time I get home. Thank goodness I'm a minimalist, as it means I can keep up this crazy schedule with my place needing little attention. And it's getting little attention. I've got brokers exam study materials spread out over the place. Given that I have to haul 5,000 pages of *required* reference materials into the exam - gov't tariff book and import regs - you can be sure I've got a LOT of study materials. It's taken over my couch, good thing I still have my Ikea "comfy chair" (cue Monty Python "comfy chair" aka Spanish Inquisition skit). :~)

[mira]

My partner and I are both in our late twenties and live together in a flat that is slowly falling apart. :) We both work 4 days per week and spend our free days doing a variety of things.

Apart from work, I also sit on a committee, volunteer in a kids' Spanish class and I'm in the process of pursuing a professional development qualification. I used to sing in a choir and help out with a local community project, but I've been a bit neglectful lately!

For me, working part-time gives me far more freedom than a huge paycheck, and I'd consider this to be central to 'simple living'. On a day-to-day level, I am a big proponent of reusing things (packaging, paper, plastic...), cooking from scratch with chemical-free foods, making/salvaging before buying, etc. I am 100% sure that this type of attitude is what keeps me from being broke at the end of each month, considering how little I earn. Sure, I'd like to be able to someday afford our own little house in a good area, and we'll have to be earning more before we're ever allowed to get a decent mortgage, but I can't envisage either of us dedicating our lives to chasing money.

[herbgeek]

I'm here not so much for the frugal/simple aspect, but intentional living. I find the mix that is right for me, not what others are doing, or what I see on TV. Sometimes that means I look like everyone else, sometimes that means I look or act differently, depending on the situation. I do have a garden, but its not primarily to save money. I just like really really fresh food. I cook mostly from scratch because I'm a better cook than many of the local restaurants, but I have no objection to going out to eat if the food is better. I try to reduce expenses on areas that don't matter to me to spend on areas that do. I have a cheap Honda Fit because to me its just transportation, but its a new model, because I care about reliability. I have a smallish house (just 2 people- don't need a ton of room) but its on 3 acres because I like room between me and the neighbors. I have never seen Dancing with the Stars or American Idol, but I do have other shows I watch. So I'm not a purist in anything.

I'm unemployed now, so my schedule is variable, but when I'm working, its long hours and long commutes because we live in the boonies and I'm in high tech where long hours are the expected. Its doable, because I have substantial savings, and know I could walk away at any time. Even hard situations are livable when you believe you have a choice about them. Our house and cars are paid for, in addition, which provides a lot of peace of mind.

Although I would like the choice to be working or not to be MY choice and not an employers, it has worked out for the last 5 years or so that one of us was home to take care of life's details. It has been a better life than when we are both working. More sane, more relaxing, more time to concentrate on the important relationships in life. That said, I'd like us both to working for a while to have the money for some major home improvements that need doing. :)

[Float On]

Now I sleep from 3am to 3pm,
My family and friends are aware of my strange hours and don't call me until usually 4pm or so.

We don't call my MIL until 9:30 pm central time, 10:30 her time in SC, for the same reason.
It was very hard for me to get use to DH calling her so late, I was always afraid that 8:30 would be too late to call because I was raised in a farming community and all the older farm families went to bed between 5-8 pm to be up at 4 for milking or other farm duties.

[pinkytoe]

Weekdays up at 5:30a, shower, have leisurely coffee break, make and pack breakfast and lunch (all scratch), dress, take care of three pets, water plants and out the door by 8a. Twenty minutes in traffic to get to work. Leave office at 4ish. Relax at home and then prepare dinner from scratch - done by 7:30. Walk dog. Relax and read. Bed by 10ish. Off on Fridays so day spent cleaning, shopping, gardening etc. Weekends are normally lazy and spontaneous - perhaps a trip to several farmer's markets or brunch. Week is interspersed with neighborhood meetings, attending events or meeting friends for lunch occasionally. A simple good life but looking forward to cutting our work hours and moving to a less-crowded city in a few years.

[Florence]

That sounds awesome, Stella!

+1

[bke]

Dh and I both grew up without a lot of material things. I always had my basic needs covered but dh grew up going to bed hungry. We both spent our 20's spending tons of money on what seemed like luxuries at the time. Good clothes, meals out, lots of booze and parties. I was high maintenence and dh liked to play poker. The bills got paid and then it was fun time.

Around the age of thirty we met, got married, and had our only child. Suddenly we didn't have much extra. I remember buying a 6 pk of beer and it taking us a couple of weeks to drink it because it felt like such an indulgence. We learned fast that every penny counts and I became really good at getting things for less than I could even make them at home many times.

2 years into our marriage we bought a restaurant with our life savings as a down payment and a whole lot of help from a family member who had the credit that we didn't have yet. 2 years ago we remodeled so that we have living quarters at work. We down-sized to one vehicle at that time.

We work about 60 hours a week. Its not uncommon to work 6-7 days a week. Ds has never had paid child care a day in his life. He's always been with one of us and used to come to work with us from about the age of 3 and 1/2. He had a great play area there when he was little-tv, finger paints, play doh, you name it.

I coupon, hit sales, rebate, etc to get what we want/need on a regular basis to allow us to reduce our debt and slowly reach FI3. Dh can repair clothing, rigs alot of things to work, wastes nothing, and is learing new skills all the time. He's learned many basic skills like plumbing and electrical which saves us. Basically I keep the spending down and he makes sure what we do own lasts as long as possible.

Outsiders would say that we are odd. We spend as little as possible, abhorr interest payments, and do things like the remodeling project and buying cars for cash. I buy things like gatorade in bulk (over 60 of them last week) because I know we want/need it working it this heat and it was dirt cheap. I saved us $60 over normal prices. But then we might go out as spend more money than some one else on a nice meal. Dh cuts my hair but I bought an expensive ring this past winter.

We don't really have friends. We deal with the public all day at work and cherish our privacy and peace and quiet in our personal lives. We are enjoying a fenced in yard with a patio and little pool this summer. Ds is in many many ways treated as an equal in this household. We work together, play together and support each other. He gets a say in almost every decision and we hide nothing from him. We only get about 4 days a year off together so evenings are all about family time.

Life is chaotic and financially we seem to take three steps forward and two steps back but we're a team and little by little we're going to reach retirement. Hopefully by the time I reach 50.

[Mrs-M]

DH and I, are in our later 40's, DH, works Monday to Friday (day office job), and I, stay-at-home. Up until a couple of months ago, we still had six kids at home, we are now down to five, and with an age gap of single digits to high double, it makes for interesting times around our house.

With lots of hugs and kisses, comes an occasional strict outstretched wagging finger, and that's to be expected with a family of eight, and although not one of my kids has ever seen daycare, an occasional babysitter (or two) have graced our home over the years, but only in a pinch.

I'm what I like to think of as the typical doting 60's housewife/homemaker, investing all my time to ensuring home-comforts for everyone. Frugality and simplicity is the order of the day. Meals are prepared from scratch, the home kept as immaculately clean as possible, and seldom is there a day where I can't be found doing traditional domestic things such as ironing, clothesline drying, and gardening, and when days reward me with a lighter load, I can be found out back relaxing on my favourite cloth-wound lawn-chaise (warmer months).

Twice yearly I reserve a lot-of-time, around my schedule to do canning, and organizing and maintaining are two of my very favourite domestic things, as is a sparkling clean home with a savory meal in the oven. These are my days, and I wouldn't give it up for anything.

[Stella]

That sounds awesome, Stella!

Thanks bae and Florence! I like it. Bae I love hearing about your community on your island. It sounds lovely!

I am really enjoying reading everyone's descriptions. It's fun to read about everyone's life.

[awakenedsoul]

Wow! These responses are fantastic! Thank you for taking the time to describe your routine. It's so eye opening for me. Everyone is so different. The common thread I see is that people are self disciplined and reaching their goals. Here's a typical day for me:

Up at 4:00 or 5:00 a.m. for coffee, journaling, and breakfast. I feed the dogs homemade dog biscuits and the chicken laying mash with scraps from the veggie garden. Breakfast is usually homemade granola, fruit from the orchard, and some almonds bought in bulk at Cosco.

6:00 a.m. I walk the dogs or run them on the Walkydog alongside my bicycle. I usually run into a few other neighbors who walk in the mornings and stop and chat with them.

7:00 a.m. I bake bread, tortillas, or make something for dinner and get it in the oven. I do my laundry with homemade washing powder and hang it on the clothesline to dry.

8:00 a.m. I work in the garden. I water, prune, feed the plants compost tea, and pull the weeds. It's very therapeutic and calming. I love the energy I absorb from all the plants. It feels like a Japanese tea garden.


10:00 a.m. I eat an early lunch, usually leftovers from dinner. I cook and bake everything from scratch, so I spend a lot of time cooking. I check my email and a couple of forums that I like on simple living. (like this one.)

The rest of the day I spend on housework, repairs, de cluttering, etc. I take some time to read on my shady porch in my cottage garden. It's very cool and relaxing out there. I feed the birds and fill the birdbath. The old fashioned flowers attract lots of butterflies, bees and ladybugs. A few times a week I have a chat with my mom and sometimes dad on the phone. I also spend an hour or two per day crocheting. I make my own blankets, scarves, and soft furnishings for my home. Once a week I take a knitting class. I meet with a group of women at the library every Sunday for a fiber arts group. We each bring our projects, chat, help each other, and enjoy the creativity. They're really nice people, and very talented!

I make my own cleaners from scratch, and plan to start making soap soon. I collect manure from my neighbor's horses and compost it. I give her homegrown organic fruits and vegetables as a thank you. I do my own tree trimming, sweep the roof, clean my gutters, mend my clothes, and shop at thrift stores. I love all these activities. They have greatly reduced my expenses. I do yoga, pilates, or PT exercises most nights before bed. If I didn't, my body would have aches and pains. I eat organically and try to buy mostly from farmers. (I am a member of a local co op.) I do shop once a month at Costco, too. I stockpile to save money and so I don't run out of things. Simple living has made me more organized and efficient. With this lifestyle, I'm able to pay my bills ahead of time, so my life is pretty stress free.

I hope to hear from more of you. I'm learning so much!

[Kat]

So fun reading everyone's responses! Here is a typical day for me:

Wake up at 4 or 5 am--get DH off to work and then work (I am an online college instructor) until baby wakes at 7
7 am--baby wakes, get us both dressed and then its downstairs to play
8 am--breakfast and morning chores
9 am--more play and book reading
10--nap time for the baby (I work some more)
10: 30 baby wakes up, morning snack
11-12 play until lunch
12 lunchtime, more chores for me
1 baby naps, I work
2 baby wakes--afternoon snack then walk
3 arrive home and play some more until DH comes home
4 DH comes home, I get supper ready
5 suppertime for us
6 suppertime for baby
7 bath and bedtime routine for baby
8 DH works out; I work
9 hang out with the hubs
10 DH goes to bed; I work for a couple of more hours if needed (usually is needed Tues-Thurs)
12 read Bible and go to bed

Before anyone comments, yes, I am aware I only get 4-5 hours of sleep a night. It is worth it to me to be able to work from home and stay with my baby. :-)

[flowerseverywhere]

up by seven for a nice hot cup of coffee.
every day is different, today we did quite a bit of housecleaning then off to the community garden, tonight to see the Symphony and fireworks.
since we don't work we spend our days reading, doing our hobbies and are the on call caretakers for MIL and grandkids. Both of us volunteer at the red cross and library.
biking takes up a lot of my time when the weather is good enough as we only have one old car so do all my errands and visiting that way, about eight months of the year. We try to grow as much of our food as we can, and use the solar cooker. Little meat, lots of homemade food. Almost never eat out.
I make intricate quilts, DH makes wooden boats. He cuts up strips of cedar and makes gorgeous kayaks and canoes. We do all our own house maintenance.
We have great friends and a great life.
The best thing about being FI and not having to work is that when my friends and family need something (making a run to pick up a kid or taken to an appt-) we can do it. We are very lucky,

[goldensmom]

Up at 5 AM.
Dogs out, dogs in, feed dogs, dogs out, dogs in and out throughout the day.
Husband off to work at 5:45. Hygiene routine.
Coffee and Bible time on the deck watching the farm wake up and deciding what to make for dinner.
A small amount of housework, then outdoor chores.
Farm business and errands.
Begin to prepare dinner between 3-4:00.
Husband home at 5:00 and dinner sometime soon thereafter.
After dinner clean up we do whatever until bedtime.
This is a flexible schedule.

[cdttmm]

Wake up any time between 5am and 7am -- depends on when I went to bed, whether my partner is home or away, and if I have anything unusual going on that day.
Let the dogs out and feed them, then feed the cats.
Make and drink some green tea and either read for a bit or start checking emails and social media for work. I work from home so this can pretty much go on for several hours, but during that time I'll also eat breakfast, clean the kitchen, start a load of laundry if necessary, let the dogs out and in about 14 times, vacuum (with 3 dogs this is often a daily task!), and generally try to keep the house from devolving into a state of chaos.
Somewhere around 11am or Noon I'll eat lunch. And shortly after that I'll take a break from my job and go outside to spend an hour or two stacking firewood, gardening, checking the beehives, mowing the lawn, filtering waste vegetable oil for the car, organizing the garage, or whatever other outdoor tasks need to get done.
After that I'll spend another few hours at the computer working or on conference calls. Almost everyone in the company works remotely and we have people spread from Paris to Vancouver so I'm just basically available 16 hours a day, 7 days a week, so that I can respond to issues as needed. It sounds more demanding than it is. I retired in 2010 at age 36, but got connected to an online media start up in late 2011 and decided to return to work given that I could basically write my own ticket.
In the early evenings I'll either spend more time gardening or doing other stuff around our property, we live on 20 acres so there is never a shortage of stuff to be done. Then I'll either go trail running or go to the gym for Tae Kwon Do. Dinner is late, usually around 9pm, and then either I'll read and go to sleep or if my partner is home we'll watch TV for an hour before going to bed.
My partner works in NYC so is there half the week and home half the week. We both tried early retirement, but he only lasted a few months before getting involved with an urban agriculture start up in NYC. Sometimes we talk about how our lives would be much simpler if we had both just stayed retired, but in reality we both just love putting our talents to good use. We owned our own business previously, hence the decision to join start ups (with equity deals) rather than do the corporate thing. Most people we know think we have really weird lives.

[ctg492]

I am a dreamer when it comes to simple living. I am fortunate to do pretty much whatever I want to do each day. I make choices that I consider are to live simply, do my part for the environment, be kind to others and such. We made some radical choices to downsize life 6 years ago. Though it did not work for my husband. It changed forever how I view what I want, can do and can not change. I am not changing the world with my choices, but I can daily change my own universe for the better.

[AmeliaJane]

Hmmm, let's see...

Weekdays--6:30 AM, get up, start coffee, have shower
7-8:15 AM--drink coffee, catch up with blogs etc on the Internet. Sometimes I will watch something on television that aired the previous evening (I use streaming instead of cable, and new episodes usually get posted to the streaming services overnight.)
8:15-9 AM--get dressed, make breakfast and lunch, put on makeup, commute to work (about a 10-minute drive).
9-5:30 PM--work, commute home. I have a pretty varied work day, including meetings, desk work, trainings, writing, etc.
5:30-6:30 PM--get home, change clothes, drink sparkling water, answer personal email, read new items on blog reader, perhaps play a computer game
6:30-11:00--make or warm up dinner, watch television or DVDs, read, work on various projects, cook, minor apartment chores (straightening, cleaning up kitchen)

I used to have a game night one evening a week which broke up when several members had job transfers. I really need to replace that--I'm an introvert but need regular social contact with non-coworkers. Saturdays, the routine is: get up, go to farmer's market before it gets too hot, come home and put away food, go to library, enjoy coffee and a snack at the cafe next to the library with new books, grocery, gas station. Come home, put away groceries and perhaps do some basic prep work (cutting up melons, for instance), laundry, vacuum, any other cleaning. Sometimes there are other errands that involve a trip to Target or a specialty store. I will often get something at the grocery like sushi to have for dinner on Saturday. I try to see my family in the area once a week, and it is usually one weekend day--sometimes for special things like a museum or zoo visit, sometimes playground and lunch, sometimes church together and brunch afterward. Sunday is most often church, sometimes a matinee movie, usually a big cooking project. I will often save something special to watch on television on Sunday nights as a transition to the work-week.

[Mighty Frugal]

Hmmm, let's see...

Weekdays--6:30 AM, get up, start coffee, have shower
7-8:15 AM--drink coffee, catch up with blogs etc on the Internet. Sometimes I will watch something on television that aired the previous evening (I use streaming instead of cable, and new episodes usually get posted to the streaming services overnight.)
8:15-9 AM--get dressed, make breakfast and lunch, put on makeup, commute to work (about a 10-minute drive).
9-5:30 PM--work, commute home. I have a pretty varied work day, including meetings, desk work, trainings, writing, etc.
5:30-6:30 PM--get home, change clothes, drink sparkling water, answer personal email, read new items on blog reader, perhaps play a computer game
6:30-11:00--make or warm up dinner, watch television or DVDs, read, work on various projects, cook, minor apartment chores (straightening, cleaning up kitchen)

I used to have a game night one evening a week which broke up when several members had job transfers. I really need to replace that--I'm an introvert but need regular social contact with non-coworkers. Saturdays, the routine is: get up, go to farmer's market before it gets too hot, come home and put away food, go to library, enjoy coffee and a snack at the cafe next to the library with new books, grocery, gas station. Come home, put away groceries and perhaps do some basic prep work (cutting up melons, for instance), laundry, vacuum, any other cleaning. Sometimes there are other errands that involve a trip to Target or a specialty store. I will often get something at the grocery like sushi to have for dinner on Saturday. I try to see my family in the area once a week, and it is usually one weekend day--sometimes for special things like a museum or zoo visit, sometimes playground and lunch, sometimes church together and brunch afterward. Sunday is most often church, sometimes a matinee movie, usually a big cooking project. I will often save something special to watch on television on Sunday nights as a transition to the work-week.

What a lovely life you have! A balance of work and pleasure and quiet enjoyment.

[Mighty Frugal]

Summer holidays are different so I will list what my typical day is like 10 months of the year
7am-get up and get kids up
7am-8:30am-make breakfast for boys, pack lunches for boys and me, tidy kitchen, get clothes for the 3 of us, drink 2 coffees, get ready for work, walk boys to school
9am-drive to work-20 minutes
9:30-5:30-work
6pm-home. Prep lunches for next day-I make my salad and put in the kid's snacks, etc
6:30-eat dinner (boys eat dinner earlier with dh or with their former caregiver) I take this time to sit with eldest while he does his homework
6:45-8:30-play games with kids-perhaps go to park or for bike ride, play board game in our basement, make them a snack, talk to dh, watch 'Good Luck Charlie' which is on at 7:30-the whole family
8:30-read bedtime story, lie down with child for about 10 minutes-dh and I switch kids every day
8:45-10pm-talk with dh, watch TV, surf the net
10-10:30-read a magazine in bed-go to sleep

Once a month I have a 'Supper Club' and go to dinner at a local restaurant (walking distance) with 3 other moms in my neighbourhood
Once a month I go to a 'craft night' at a neighbour's house (a few doors down) with 4 other moms. We have wine and snacks and knit and gab
Every weekend I visit my parents in the 'burbs with the kids. Dh sometimes comes. I also try to go out for tea or lunch with my BFF who lives there. And I sit around my mom's kitchen table with 1 or 2 of my sisters and we talk and drink loads of coffee
Other weekend day is reserved for family fun. We'll go on an outing. Maybe bowling, matinee movie, bike ride, parks, etc
Once in a blue moon dh and I have a date night Saturday night. We also sometimes drop kids off at my parents and go for lunch-maybe bi-monthly

[lmerullo]

Here's the ideal schedule, but as you know, adjustments are made almost daily due to life.

6 am - get up, coffee, internet time, shower, dress for work
8 - 5 Monday to Friday - work
5:30 - 8 PM - M & T - household chores, etc.
7 - 10 Weds - Family rollerskating - we are trying to teach our grandson to skate, he's 7.
Thursday - Weekly visit to my recently widowed mom - pay her bills, small home maintenance items, etc. She's so lonely, and wishes we had more time to visit.
Friday after work, it's pick up two grandchildren for the weekend. Adult DS who has come back home has shared custody of his dd - so his time is Friday night to Monday morning daycare drop off. (Does the mom not see how much time we get? I giggle, it's heavily in our favor and I am ok with that). The other grandchild is the grandson mentioned above, he just comes along for the ride!
Saturday and Sunday - Full on kid time. Summers are spent at a local RV park that has a special thing where you leave the rv there all week, and sleep over the weekends for a flat rate. Bike riding, swimming, fishing, outdoor movies and music.

We have had to add and remove several things from the schedule. Tuesdays have just added in a family run on the beach, sponsored by the parks department. We dropped a weekly bike night, as we just have so much going on. Hope to pick it up again soon. We enjoy riding our motorcycles, and can only find the time to do so about once a month.

[Spartana]

I realized on one of the threads here recently that I assumed everyone here was living very simply. I was shocked to find out that many people are working sixty hours a week! I had the impression that most of the people here were growing food, hanging their laundry on the clothesline, riding their bicycle for errands, keeping chickens, etc...

So, I'm curious. What stage are you at when it comes to simple living? Are you reading about it and planning for the future? Have you been at this a long time? Are you retired? How much money do you need for your personal expenses? (I hope that's not too personal.)

What's a typical day like for you? How has your lifestyle changed?

OMG - I am as far away from growing my own food, hanging my laudry and raising chicken as you can get. I retired when I was 42 due to living simply and frugally. I live in a small condo in the citified burbs of SoCal by the beach with my little rat-dog. I get up early, throw on some workout clothes, walk the dog, bring dog home, grab a coffee and bagel , run at the park or beach near my house for a couple of hours, hit the library to go online, go to the beach for a bike ride, play beach volleyball for a bit, do some chores while out (my greatest goal in life is to have absolutly no chores to do - someday...someday!), usually will go to the gym in the late afternoon/early evening, then home to take the dog out for a longggggg walk/run, come home exhausted and plop down in front of the TV for an hour or 2 before or read then a shower and bed. On weekends I go hiking or mountain biking, kayaking, trail running (my real true love and passion), whatever..with friends and some socializing at night. I wash my minimal clothes in a washer and dryer, I don't cook, don't do anything that smacks of "work", just spend most days playing hard - also do some volunteer work at the VA hospital for a homeless Vets program. In between I do some travel - usually long camping road trips of a month or more where I pretty much do those things I already listed but in new and exciting locations. Spend almost no money (food is my biggest expensive) and most of my activities are free. I don't do crafts or have any hobbies except my sports and recreational things - which are mostly free - and am a minimalist who has very few things and even wants less. Eat a mostly raw foods diet on the run - lots of sandwiches!! - and rarely eat at home - just grab a bunch of stuff to take with me for the day since I usually don't go home until I'm done for the day. Would love to ride my bike more but traffic is bad so just stay on off-road trails. I am definetly not a Back-to-the-land person and simple living for me is all about living small, reducing my environmental footprint, and being free to do what I want everyday. My expenses are very low - usually around $500/month for everything except rent which is also low. I don't track my expenses anymore but i take $500 out of the ATM each month and put it in a drawer and use that for everything (food, gas, pet food, etc...) and it's usually enough. I'm an all-cash person so try to make that last each month. When I travel I do spend more but not too much since I usually camp when I can.

ETA: I'm divorced with no kids, have a small govmint/military pension and health insurance, and no debt.

[Tammy]

Spartana's life is hopefully my future. I'm about halfway there ... Just not retired yet. But I really love the type of minimalism that is possible in an urban setting.

[Spartana]

Spartana's life is hopefully my future. I'm about halfway there ... Just not retired yet. But I really love the type of minimalism that is possible in an urban setting.

Jonathan Allen (a member on the old SLN boards) wrote a book called "Simple Living in the City" or something like that (I may be in there but not sure as I haven't read it yet - sorry Jonathan!). He was going to cover alot of the issues that make urban simple living so appealing. Things like being car free, no need to commute to distant jobs, able to use public transit or walk and bike everywhere, most stores and community needs (hospitals, libraries, etc...) close by, most jobs close by, lower costs (and environmental impact) for utilities to heat/cool a small space, a small parcel of land able to house many people by building up rather than out instead of just providing space for a single family home (with it's usually large grass lawn that needs lots of water, fertilizer, and mowing), buying locally produced food from farmers markets as more environmentslly friendly than owning your own large spread of land and growing your own, sharing such things as washer and dryers, with other apt dwellers (and less need to manufacture those things for each individual), roof top and balcony gardens, having less urban/suburban sprawl of mcmansions and their large yards (mostly grass) and leaving open space for...well...open space for recreation, farming, wilderness, animals, and to reduce pollution overall. Having utilities and use of natural resouces in one limited city area rather then spread out all over the place to provide water, electric, gas and sewers for a sprawled out suburban world. Not only saving green space from development, but being able to provide on-grid services at greatly reduced costs. Urban dwelling can be not only easier on the individual from a easy day to day minimalistic point of view, but on the environment as well.

[ApatheticNoMore]

weekdays:
8-9 wake up fiddle on the internet a little, get ready for work, maybe pack some food for lunch and breakfast (or if not I will swing by the store on my way to work)
9-10 commute to work
10-12:30 or so work in my cubical
12:30-1 lunch
1-6:30 work in my cubical - try to take a brief break outside sometime in the afternoon
6:30-7:30 commute home from work
trying to stop by a park near home and just relax a bit after work while days are still long
make something for dinner
evenings fiddle around the internet more (yea I know :)), take walks, cook for the next days sometimes, read, do chores, it differs
12 pm - bedtime

Weekends I usually try to do something with people and also spend time just doing nothing.

[lhamo]

My typical weekday:

4:30 am wake up (usually to alarm, though in summer I often wake on my own), shower, dress, have a cup of strong coffee while updating finances and checking overnight posts here. Sometimes check email, including work email if I have something urgent going on

5:30ish head out to catch the bus

6:45 ish, get to the office, fix breakfast/tea and eat while checking work-related news

7:00-3:00 typical work schedule, usually take an hour off for lunch around 11:30

3:00-5:30ish, taxi home, sometimes doing errands on the way, most days I work out from 4-5 or so, check in with DH and kids

5:30-6:00 dinner, helper cleans house, does laundry, cooks dinner and washes up between 3-6 (yes, expat life does have its perks...)

6:00-9:00 time with family or doing my own stuff, supervise kids homework for 1-2 hours during school year. Several times a week take the kids out for bike riding, skating, soccer or swimming

9:00-10:00ish prep for bed and read

10:00 sleep


On weekends I don't get up so early, but am usually up by 7 or so. Catch up on computer time, make breakfast, work out and do the weekly shopping on Saturday morning. Work out on Sunday morning. Rest of time is family or personal time for the most part -- usually go out to eat once or twice a weekend, and sometimes do some family errands. Usually in bed by 11:00 if not earlier.

Our life isn't simple in many ways, as we have two working parents, but it works for us.

[cattledog]

My days have done a complete 180. A year ago, this is what my day looked like:

Up at 6:00 am. Drink coffee, take a shower, take care of dog, wake up DD and get her dressed and ready to go. Try to remember to grab my lunch, DD’s bag, etc. Usually I started the morning yelling at DD to get her coat and hat on. Hit the road by 7 for hour-long commute to job/daycare. Dropped DD off at daycare. Some days were OK, other days she would be screaming. Tried to make it into the office by 8:00 am, rarely succeeded.

Work until 5:30 or 5:45. Often had to race to DD’s daycare before the closing time. Got home around 6:30, sometimes later if traffic was bad. DD was cranky after a long day, and so was I. I’d throw something together for dinner and the DH would bathe DD and we’d try to get her in bed by 8:00. When she was in bed, I’d have to log into work remotely and check on jobs, emails from people in different time zones, etc. Some days I would have to work a couple hours at night on a project. I tried to be in bed before 11, but usually went to sleep at 11:30. I didn’t sleep enough.

I got tired of this routine quickly. I did this for three years though because DH’s job was shaky and I was paid very well. I finally pulled the plug this year. Now my days are totally different. I wake up when DD wakes up. Usually around 7 or so. I make DH and DD breakfast. After DH leaves, DD and I will usually take our dog for a walk around the neighborhood. A couple days a week, she has activities in the AM.

I make all my meals from scratch and will keep the house up. I’m not much of a housekeeper. Usually, I would have DH do most of it since I cooked/shopped. I hate doing it, but I usually just try to get it out of the way when DD is playing or napping.

I’m not sure what I’ll do about my career. I worked in tech/finance and now I’m in my 40’s. I don’t think I’ll pick up where I left off, especially because I don’t plan to go back anytime soon (DD still has a few years until full-time school). I’ve pretty much abandoned a 20-yr. career. I don’t regret it, but if I find I have to go back for whatever reason. I’m not sure what I will do.

[Rogar]

I took an early retirement about 4 years ago so have some flexibility. My morning schedule depends on the season since I try to get outdoor exercise most every day. In the summertime I try to be out of the house after a quick shower and breakfast by 0630 or 0700 to beat the heat for a bike ride or hike. I am trying to grow some of my own food, cook healthy meals, and run local errands by bicycle which chews up some time during the day especially in the summer. My resolution this year was to volunteer at least a day a week and have done pretty well with this and in the winter I was up to 3 days a week. It is mostly outdoor wildlife programs, so I can usually combine exercise with the volunteer work and get two birds with one stone.

About half of the days I can get a short nap in the early afternoon, but have found that more than 10 or 15 minutes makes me groggy for the rest of the afternoon. Afternoons are mostly for home and yard chores and I usually have one or more home improvement projects going. Right now I'm trying to convert some lawn to low water use landscaping. I have an unwritten rule of no TV before 5 PM but am not a TV fan anyway and spend a lot of evenings reading, Netflix, or visiting with friends. Throw in some road trips and the days seem to fill up.

[try2bfrugal]

This thread made me realize I am really quite a slacker these days. But the good news it has made me change my ways. So this is my day for today.

Today my husband and I walked the dog in the morning while it was still cool. One of our kids is traveling, so I checked his debit card account to see what he is up to and if he needed a cash infusion. I had breakfast of a steamed chicken, mixed veggies and hard boiled egg whites from food I made in a big batch yesterday. I have a big stack of games and other clutter to donate at the animal rescue thrift shop that helps support the rescue group where we got our dog. DH will clean the house today while I do errands, get groceries and cook up food to last us through the next few days. For groceries I will go to a local supermarket that has good sale prices on organic food, lots of locally grown produce, and I'll see what the price is on their grass fed beef. For other groceries I will shop the loss leaders and bargains at various stores on my errand route. I have a new recipe for banana bread to try out that uses honey instead of sugar. For the other food I will make probably make yams and roasted pork in the crock pot.

We have a pleasant, wooded backyard with lots of birds and squirrels. Later in the afternoon we will sit outside, chat and have tea or sherry on the patio. After that we will do something like ride our bikes or take the dog for another walk. Dinner will be already cooked up and ready - the banana bread and crock pot foods.

We work at home but today is not one of our work days. In the evening we will either work anyway to catch up or maybe see a movie using Costco discount cards.

[awakenedsoul]

Wow! I love hearing about everyone's daily life. It just fascinates me. It's interesting how when you change one aspect of your lifestyle, other things shift. Seems to me like everyone really has a high level of self awareness. The llttle things really do matter. I like hearing how people who work full time still apply simple living techniques. I'm impressed with how many people are retired, too!

[Mrs-M]

These are so much fun!

[larknm]

I get up between 6:30 and 7:30, do these Ayurvedic things for my health, and feed my parrot.

I get out of the house in about an hour to run my dogs, two together, then the other two together in the nearby dogpark. In summer I have to do this early because it gets hot for them and me once the sun is up--we live in high desert. Fortunately the dog park is 5 minutes from our house.

11:00 I work for an hour with a psychoanalytic patient in NYC, by phone, four days a week.

12:00 eat and do any errands and use the computer

Take my bird somewhere to get her out of the house plus interacting with other people or she gets too nervous and pulls out her feathers.

3:00 My husband gets home from work and we take a nap and read the paper together.

6:00 I take our two youngest dogs for another run at the dogpark; our dogs are large and need a lot of exercise. Then fix or clean up after dogs' dinner and fix mine and our bird's.

My husband and I watch Netflix whenever we have a show from them. We go to bed between 8:30 and 10--my health is fragile and his work wears him out. I usually am awake an hour or two in the night, when I read books.

As you can see, I'm mostly retired; he works part-time and will probably retire fully in a year and a half.

We're working to pay down our mortgage; just got most of it refinanced, and our second mortgage we're trying to pay off within a year. We'll never be without a mortgage, but then it will be down to $900, which hopefully either of us can afford if the other dies first. I am 70, he's 68 and we will live on social security.

We go to maybe one movie or other paid entertainment (like standing room at the opera) a month, eat out less often than that at an inexpensive place, don't travel, buy few products, use clothesline and dishdrainer and eat frugally. Our main expense is our animals, who are our family and friends. As they die, we will not get new ones. The bird will outlives us, the others maybe two of them will.

After we've paid off our second mortgage, we will add to our emergency fund and then maybe get to travel some. There are many beautiful places in New Mexico, where we live, and nearby in Utah. We want to see them, but if we can't, we enjoy ourselves together--kindness and humor go a long way.

[AmeliaJane]

I used to read another forum where people would take turns posting what they ate for 3-4 days. That sounds boring, but I found it fascinating to hear about other people's cooking and eating habits. Eventually it turned into more of a "performance" where people would cook or go to restaurants especially for their food reports. That was interesting in a different way but I admit I liked the peeks into everyday life best. I guess since simple living is for many of us about living deliberately instead of on automatic pilot, it's fun to talk about these little things we have put thought into.

[catccc]

I know I'm posting late, but I thought I'd join in, anyway.

I work full time (40 hours/week) and DH stays home with our two young children (3.5 & 1 y/o). He also works on his beekeeping business. I hope to retire early thru frugal living and developing homesteading skills, as well as possibly relying on farming income. Once we have a farm, that is. Before becoming a stay-at-home-dad, DH managed a veggie CSA operation.

On a typical weekday, I head out to work shortly after 7 am and get back shortly before 5. That's an 8 hour workday with an hour lunch and a 25 minute (one way) commute.

Often when I get home, DH will run out to do some bee stuff (since it is the season for it right now), but is usually back around 6. We eat dinner and play with the kids, and get kids ready to sleep and in bed around 8. (Okay, really, maybe closer to 8:30 or 8:45 many nights. We are working on it...)

Then we clean up- DH does dishes, I pick up and do laundry. Laundry is every day since our youngest still uses diapers; just for #1s, as she is "poo-trained." But I don't like for wet diapers to sit around more than a day, anyway. Hopefully she will be potty trained in a few months... By the time we are done with our chores, it is usually around 10 pm. We'll each usually get online and return emails, etc, and then it is 10:30. We might watch a movie or tv show (HDMI to TV, as we have no pay TV services), and then typically go to bed around midnight.

I would love to get to bed earlier, but DH and I both feel like we need to take advantage of the time after the kids are in bed to actually get anything done!

[Mrs-M]

Originally posted by Catccc.
Laundry is every day since our youngest still uses diapersDo you launder diapers every single day? When diapers were still being used in our house, I laundered every second/third day. Even after daytime diapers were shed, and night-time diapers continued, every second/third day.

[bunnys]

I am a teacher. As we're currently out, I have a VERY SLOW and undemanding schedule. I usually wake up @ around 7A and make coffee and start watching cable news by streaming it on the internet. This process takes about 1.5 hours. Then doggie and I go to the park for a walk that lasts at least 1.5 hours and sometimes up to 3.

In the afternoons, I try and do something constructive although I am rarely able to accomplish anything productive in the house--I hate cleaning.

Often I'll do errands in the afternoon or visit friends.

In the evening it's more news or stream something else on the internet (but it's usually news. I am a vegan and make nearly everything I eat so this is time consuming.

During the school year, I wake up @ 5:30 to do my coffee thing. I work from 7:15 to 2:30 then I do the walk thing--fast as it's so long I'm chasing the sun in December and January.

Occasionally, I'll audition for a play and if I get cast I'll have rehearsals every evening from about 7-9 until the play opens. But I did 3 plays last year and got exhausted from it and so haven't done a play since last fall. I plan on auditioning again in August and September because I really like doing that.

During school, I do all my errands and any housework (remember my goal is to avoid as much of that as possible) on the weekends.

I agree, it is fun to read about this stuff.

[Polliwog]

I am retirement age but I still work. I'm a paralegal by profession but since I moved closer to family, I now manage the family buildings - 3 of them - a total of 78 apartments and commercial businesses. I actually love to work as long as it doesn't get too overwhelming, which sometimes it does.

Anyway, I get up around 8:00am, make coffee and toast for breakfast, shower, make bed, make a lunch and head out usually by 10:00 or so. (The good news about working for family is that I set my own hours). I try to leave the office by 5:00 and head home, about a 10 minute or less commute.

I look at my snail mail, change clothes and start dinner I look out onto a golf course and lots of trees from my kitchen and dining room windows. It is beautiful at this time of year, although hot. I posted before that I suspended my satellite service for t.v. so everything has changed for me. I take my time to make a nice dinner with lots of fresh vegetables and fruit, maybe a little meat or pasta. I no longer eat a lot of sweets after dinner and I stopped drinking milk (which I love) and I have lost weight because of it. I also sleep better.

After dinner and cleaning up the dishes, I settle down with laptop to check on these forums, Facebook (to see what my adult children are posting) and then I might knit and listen to Pandora radio on my I-phone. I have a nice chair in my bedroom so it is very relaxing. The last thing I do is read on my Nook before lights out somewhere around 11:30pm.

I also spend time with my grandchildren who live nearby (7 and 4); or I visit my dad who is in assisted living.

I pretty much love my life now because I don't have any real pressures. I'm 68 and in good health. I have enough money to take care of myself. Life is good!

[Tussiemussies]

Glad for you Polliwog, your life sounds really nice and fulfilling.:)

[catccc]

Do you launder diapers every single day? When diapers were still being used in our house, I laundered every second/third day. Even after daytime diapers were shed, and night-time diapers continued, every second/third day.

I wash diapers along with other laundry daily most of the time, maybe I skip a day once a week or so. I just do a rinse cycle on the diapers first, figure most of the pee is out, and throw in the rest of the laundry in with the diapers. We probably have enough diapers to last 2-3 days, but I just prefer to do a little each day and make it more routine, plus we have limited hanging space. So I just do a load every night that will fit on our drying rack.

When our 1st DD was down to only nighttime diapers, we'd just hand rinse it and throw it in w/ the rest of the wash, and maybe do laundry every other day.

With our older daughter, it was every other day diaper laundry and regular laundry on the non-diaper washing days. We were living in a tiny apt. and had 'portable' washing machine that hooked up to the sink- pretty limited capacity. We had lots of "regular" laundry to do because at the time I was a SAHM and DH did farm work. Farm work = clothes that need to be washed often. And sometimes the farm clothes had stuff on them that I did not want to wash with diapers, so it was segregated back then...

[Mrs-M]

What a great reading thread this is!!!

Catccc. Thanks for touching on your wash-method. :)

Hindsight is 20/20, but what I should have done Re: night-time diapers in our home, was hand-wash them instead of pailing them. It was a RPITA (royal pain in the you know what) to have two/three diapers always sitting in the pail. I could have easily hand-washed each night-time diaper (by hand) in my laundry room tub/sink, then hung to dry, eliminating the paling step, and/or, trying to pull together enough whites (panties/underwear/socks) to start a wash-load.

The things we think of "after the fact"! LOL!

[dado potato]

I have been out of the paid workforce for about 12 years. I live with my dear wife in a nice house in the Northern Highlands of Wisconsin. A typical day includes tending the garden (what the deer allow), picking blueberries, swimming in a nearby lake, catching bluegills, eating well (arugula, fresh fish, blueberry pie!), loafing, going to bed with the windows open and listening to the wolves howl (where there are deer...)

[awakenedsoul]

I didn't realize this thread was back up and running! It's so interesting to hear about everyone's daily life and routine. Thanks for posting. I had a lazy day today. Got up at 4:20 a.m. Had my coffee on the porch. Wrote in my journal, and then ran the dogs alongside my bicycle. (One at a time.) Came home and had breakfast:fruit from the orchard and our local organic co op, almonds, homemade french bread with butter, and some home brewed yogi tea. Did a few rows of knitting. Watered the vegetable beds and cottage garden. Harvested some vegetables. Had a nice chat with my knitting teacher on the phone. Read my library book while stretched out on my couch. Made a zucchini cake with my garden produce. Browsed through my emails and this forum. Life is good!

[ljevtich]

I'll join in too, even though I am late.
We have no kids, nor a house, and we are full time RVers, living and working in National Parks.
So my schedule changes a bit, and it is not a typical 9-5 job, but something that I love doing 6 months of the year. I work 5-4-9s which means I work 5 days on, 2 days off, then 4 days on, 3 days off. Nine hour days.

So what that means is I normally work 8-5:30 most days, except when I have a Sunset Program, then I work from 10 am - 7:30 pm.

A typical day when I work 8-5:30:
Get up at 6:30 am, put on the hot water for tea and coffee (for DH). Open up the laptop, to get the internet going on my computer. Set up my tea to brew.
Make breakfast: we do hearty shakes made of mixed water and dried milk, oatmeal, oat bran, dried fruit, flax seeds, almonds, and then fresh fruit of oranges, apples, bananas, and frozen berries. Try to have it blended around 7 am and then wake up DH (if that doesn't wake him up first ;)
He gets awake, which takes a little while, while I am drinking the shake and tea. He then makes his coffee (a french press system as we do not have a coffee maker as there is no point!) and drinks it while he wakes up.
Once I have finished my breakfast (while looking on the computer, checking financials (I tend to buy bonds if the market is doing well) otherwise I play an online game called free farm game or check spaceweather.com, check the weather, and check what is going on in the sky that day.
By 7:30 am I am getting dressed in my uniform while DH makes my lunch for the day. Usually a couple of slices of ham or cheese, some tostados (hard corn tortillas) and some almonds or walnuts, chocolate piece and dried & fresh apples. Round out with a homemade gatorade and at least a Liter of water.
around 7:45/7:50 He then sets up my scooter (motorbike) with my hat box and lunch in the boot, while I get on my helmet, boots, jacket and gloves and head out the door. I get a kiss goodbye and then I head out. Either I am going to the office or to the visitor center so either a 3 mile or a less than 1 mile commute.
At work:
~ 30 -60 minutes of cleaning a museum or visitor center, then get on a computer to check email
give a program of 30 to 60 minutes, then swear in Junior Rangers, answer questions, walk back to office. Work on computer or do some writing up of a program, a training class, a night sky newsletter or health newsletter.
30 minutes of lunch
go back out with the public to talk about the animals in the park, or about the sun spots on the sun that day using a scope maybe give an impromptu program.
Head back to the office and give a short 20 minute program. Answer questions and swear in Junior Rangers.
Around 4:30-4:45 go to the museum to clean set up for cleaning the museum, then when the museum closes at 5 do the major cleaning, for ~ 15 more minutes. Head back to office, finish up stuff on computer, and head out at 5:30 pm

That is my day usually at work. My DH works 2.5 days - on Full Days on Wednesday and Saturday, half day on Friday. He works at the Visitor Center as a sales associate for the Grand Canyon Association. His day is from 9:30-6:30, with an hour for lunch, and two 20 minute breaks. On the half day, he works 11-3 with no breaks.

Once we get home, we surf, read online news, look at Facebook and post, or go onto forums. We have been working on our resumes because we are looking for a new opportunity this winter, instead of volunteering at Lake Mead. We shall see if that happens or not.
Then we usually have a shake and popcorn for dinner or sometimes a crockpot dinner (beans and rice with pork, veggies, etc.)
We then watch TV like catccc

...We might watch a movie or tv show (HDMI to TV, as we have no pay TV services)
We usually go to bed around 11 pm or so.

During the days off we may go hiking or camping or go into the village and work out. We have found that this year has been very wet, with thunderstorms and rain, right around the time that we are going out and about. So it might mean more time on the computer, me working on our website and DH working on pictures taken during our adventures.

Like this morning, I got up late, watching the hummingbirds, writing this post, working on our resumes, struggling with the internet (gave up pretty much!) and we will not have breakfast until noon (We are the Official Founding Members of the Crack Of Noon Club!)

If you notice - there are not too many chores. I hate to clean, and thankfully, in a RV there is very little. a swipe or two of the bathroom sink, mirror, and a scrub or two of the tub. DH does the laundry every two weeks or so, and I put away the clothes. Making shakes is easy, and clean up is easier still. I have a few herbs outside, that the elk do not seem to like, and they get watered from all this rain.

If we are lucky, we might go into the village today or we might not. Not sure, the day has yet begin for us.

[BayouGirl]

What a great thread. It's fascinating to hear the everyday details of everyone. It gives a much better picture of the person behind the screen name. I've enjoyed reading all of the responses.

My days vary by the season. I spend half of my time in the big city with my 92 year old gram as her caretaker. We just stay home and hang out. She just needs someone there to be home with her because of her age and her health. She still gets up and does some cooking and such. Mostly we just kick back and relax for about 3 weeks then I go home to my home in the boonies for a few weeks while another family member stays with her. The time I spend in the city only makes me love my home life even more!!

Home is a 20 acre place where our nearest neighbors are half a mile away (BayouBoy's parents). Our property all runs together with property owned by his parents and 3 brothers, although only we and the parents live on it. Beyond that is more family owned property, protected woodland areas and other undeveloped properties. So we have so much privacy and wilderness around us.

BayouBoy is an early riser and he goes off to feed the cows (5 of them), his horse, the cowdogs and the pig. Then he is off to go do whatever he has planned whether it is a making hay, hunting alligators, harvesting pecans, fixing the tractor, working cows for his friends, doing a home repair for cash for someone, etc.

As for me, I am a nightowl who loves to stay up all night and then go to sleep after watching a sunrise. So there is no telling what time my day may begin or end. I usually get up, make me a cold coke (my vice) and then go to feed the population of my "kitty city" which is currently about 7 cats. Most are rescues or strays who showed up and as long as they follow the rules, they can stay. The rules are no fighting and you have to get spayed or neutered. We have lots of room on the property with sheds and outbuildings for them to sleep.

Then I get around to doing the domestic stuff like laundry, housework and making a gallon of tea each day cuz BayouBoy loves his iced tea. I check online to see if there are any article or rewrites I feel like doing. (I work online writing website content and article rewrites.) It gives me spending money to buy things online. Sometimes I go and work with BayouBoy too.

This past month was alligator season so it meant I was up at dawn with BayouBoy going into the woods to the water where he has tags to hunt gators. I go along to film it, take pictures, for ballast and for companionship. (I uploaded some of the pic in an album here, it is beautiful out there!). He spends the day baiting the hooks and catching the gators that have taken the bait while I take pics. Then we go sell them, eat at the small diner in town and go home to relax.

Up next is pecan season where we all gather and harvest pecan. BayouBoy and his brother clear the ground around the trees with their tractors then run the pickers around the trees then bring the pecans to the hopper where they go through a blower with throws out the bad pecans and debris (well most of it) and what is left comes down a conveyor belt. Then we ( me, Mawmaw, Pawpaw, kids, grandkids, friends, whoever is on the crew that day) stand on either side of the conveyor belt and pick out the bad pecans, dirt clumps and occasional shotgun shells, frogs, snakes and other unexpected things. Then the remaining pecans go up into a bag that hold about 2000 lbs of pecans. We use the money we make harvesting pecans for Christmas. We harvest pecans on our property and others property also. Mawmaw usually brings us food or we gather at her house to eat and get back to picking.

If it's hurricane season (we just experienced hurricane Issac) then we may be doing a roof. Friends and family need roof and we know how to do them. BayouBoy, me and his brother make a great team of roofers who can get the job done! I'm the gofer and shingle slinger. I'm not afraid of heights and get up there and place the shingles and they come behind me and nail them.

No matter the season, dinner is often a crowd scene at our house because one of our DS has a girlfriend who is an awesome cook and they come over and cook. They all take turns cooking (BayouBoy, BB jr, and his gf love to cook, yayyy!!) and I am the happy dishwasher. The GF has 3 little children so it is a bit crowded as all 7 of us gather around the table in our small 600 sq ft house. We may not live in an area where we can order food and have it delivered but we have kids who come and cook for us and that beats restaurant food any day. They are thrilled to be able to cook and not have to clean, I'm thrilled not to have to cook. it's a win for everyone!

But at anytime, day or night, in any weather, the pager could go off (we are first responders) and BayouBoy and I are scrambling to get dressed, pull on boots and jump in the truck and speed to the fire station to get the firetruck or rescue unit. It could be a fire, a vehicle accident, a medical call or it could even turn out to be nothing much at all. It could be a false alarm or it might be a call that we are out on for hours. We live in a small town so often there is nothing going in for long periods of time.

And so our life goes......

[citrine]

I am a massage therapist with my own studio, hubby to be is a service manager at a local garage and puts in 50 hrs a week. I wake up by 7am, have coffee with him and then drive him to work. Then is laundry, cleaning litter boxes, dishes, and making the bed. By 9am is second cup of coffee and reading forums/blogs. Monday to Wednesday are slow days in terms of client appointments so I do a lot of my cooking, baking, and crafting then. Thursday to Sunday are pretty hectic with at least 2-3 appointments a day, errands, and pickup/dropoff and hanging out with dear step son to be. We also do a lot of furniture refinishing then since he refuses to let me use his saws without his supervision.