STOP/THINK/DO Part One

Are you ready to start a series of steps to move forward and simplify your family life ? Grab a notebook ( one you already have - don't go buying anything!) and write out each step and your thoughts along the way.

Step One: STOP ALL UNNECESSARY SPENDING

When we first started thinking about simplifying our lives 'unnecessary spending' meant the second can of coke when we had meat pies for lunch. Slowly but surely, unnecessary spending became frequent take away food, pay TV, coffees, magazines, alcohol and then over time it moved to include packaged foods etc etc My point is that "unnecessary spending" depends on your personal definition. It is important that you do your maths - rather than say 'it's only $4 for a coffee - no need to be a miser", you realise that $4 a week day is over $1000 a year. I am sure if someone handed you $1000 for a family holiday you wouldn't reject it.

So, have a look at what you are currently spending money on and ask " is this necessary?"


Next we will look deeply into our financial position and face the scary truth of where we are so we can map out where we are heading.

Silly Silly Mistake

I have taken a week's holiday but instead of going away I have been at home catching up and relaxing.

We spent a couple of days picnicking at the river and swimming and skiing.

We had been teaching my nephew how to water ski when hubby suggested that I jump in and ski back to our base, which I did.

When I arrived back at the shore and went to dry myself off I suddenly realised that deep in my pocket ( I happened to be wearing hubby's board shorts) was my mobile phone.... and it was dead!

We pulled it apart to dry it, but......... it's dead.

It was a very old phone, did nothing special but it did the job.

So ..... now I am left with a dilemma. The SIM card works fine so I have been hunting around for an old phone. I went to the dealer and asked if I could buy an old phone that someone has traded but the woman said they go to charity. I would have paid for it and then she could give the money to charity !

So... herein lies the problem.

My options are:

- go without a mobile phone - could be problematic with work, emergencies etc ( although how did I manage prior to 1999 ?)

- buy a new one - don't want to change the deal I have because it gives me great broadband and can't justify hundreds of $$ for features that I won't even use.

- find a hand-me-down and insert my SIM card. Originally someone gave me an old phone but it was 'locked' to another provider.

My first instinct was to just buy a new phone and then I thought, NO. I will apply my frugal principles. I will STOP/THINK/DO. I will put the word out there into the universe and see what happens. Let's just hope the law of attraction works !!!

I will keep you posted.

The Best Birthday Present

I had a lovely birthday on Friday. I turned 35.

Hubby sent flowers to my office. I nearly cried because I would NEVER have expected that.

He also gave me the book 'Choosing Eden' by Adrienne Langman which, if you've had a chance to listen to the podcast from the ABC in my previous post, is about the couple that left Sydney and moved to the country to prepare themselves and their children for the price hike and lifestyle changes that may be associated with the peak oil dilemma. I finished reading it this morning and found it to be an easy ready and very motivating.

The second item in the picture is the DVD of the series that recently aired on the ABC called "Not All Tea and Scones". It is a series about the CWA ( Country Women's Association) in Australia. On the surface it is about women cooking and entering cake baking competitions and serving scones at the Royal Easter Show in Sydney each year.

 The true message, I believe, is about the strength of country women in being the glue that binds families and communities especially in times of drought and economic hardship. It has many recipes featured throughout it and I will let you all know how they go.

The flowers pictured are from my girlfriend. She was out of town for Friday and couldn't join me for dinner that night. When they arrived at my office I sent her a text message that said " they are beautiful and so are you" and she replied " your friendship's worth every petal". ( sigh! )

In the evening I went out for dinner with some friends. These are my " air pot" friends so it was a very rare occurrence to go to a restaurant. We had a great night. N friend even made a home baked white mud cake and I nearly died when the waitress came out singing.

I am so lucky to have such great friends. They are indeed a very precious resource.

Thank you for all the emails I have been receiving. I will do my best to answer as many as I can over the next few days.

Canvas Bags by Tim Minchin

When Disaster Strikes..... It may not be what you think !

I have always loved the idea of 'being prepared' as you know, but I have a certain amount of complacency.

 After all, I tell myself, we don' t live in a hurricane area, nor a flood area and I often think that I should probably be ready in case the small airport we are close to ever has a terrorist attack or we are evacuated because of an explosive threat, but then I get side tracked and it goes back on the ' must do one day ' list.

Now my thinking has changed, and no, I am not burying weapons in the backyard or building bomb shelters. I don't know what the disaster is that I am preparing for which greatly changes the way I prepare.

The biggest disaster we all face is personal. It could be that the breadwinner becomes ill and is no longer able to support the family, it could be a dramatic change is your small business, it could be that family member becomes ill and requires a full time carer. Sometimes you could never have seen the 'disaster' coming.

Hubby and I were talking about this recently with the horse flu virus that has invaded our state.

 It has meant that all racing has been shut down and no horses are to be transported.

I didn't think too much of it at first, but it had now stretched on and the flow on affects must be terrible. What if you were the man who worked behind the bar at racing events, what if you bake bread for the canteen, what if your charity group runs the coffee stand at the local pony club. The flow on effects are enormous.

My point is..... we never know when disaster will strike, so we always need to be ready. Disaster may be on a large scale like a flood, hurricane, power outage or it could be on a personal level, like losing your job. It may be an instantaneous event or it may be a slow steady change.

Rhonda from Down to Earth recently wrote about the ABC interview she heard on the subject of peak oil http://www.abc.net.au/rn/lifematters/stories/2007/2028694.htm If you tune in, the story starts about half way through this audio programme.

We may not notice the changes too much at first. As they say, drop a frog into boiling water and it will jump out. Drop a frog into cold water and slowly increase the temperature and it stays there, oblivious to the danger, until it is cooked. The moral is be responsive to gradual change.

But wait...... what if I'm wrong ! What if peak oil is a myth, what if climate change is a myth.... what if I make all these positive changes for nothing ? LOL If I'm wrong, we have made our selves healthier wealthier and wiser for nothing ! ( read sarcasm) The reality is that you are a winner, whichever way it goes.

So, on a practical level, how do we make these changes. After all, not all of us are lucky enough to retire to the coast on acreage with just ourselves and our partner (like the lady in the ABC story). Some of us have to still educate our children, pay off houses, work to put food on the table and build a future. So we need practical advice.

Stay tuned.... and send this site address to your friends and family so that we can create a network of support, for simple ideas that families can implement easily.

TV Free

As I have said before we don't watch commercial TV at all. Never. We are ABC watchers and occasionally we will watch SBS if there is something special on.

Since last Friday we have switched the TV off once the kids have watched the ABC kids shows after school. I don't mind them watching these, especially the science show and BTN ( Behind the News). Our 9 year old loves this.

When you switch off the TV your shoulders drop and you breath a sigh of relief - try it and see. Then the calmness sets in. The Tranquility. Ahhhh Serenity !

When you have the TV off the time goes really slowly, maybe because it's not broken down into half hour segments. We read, the kids colour in and build lego, and surprise surprise ....we talk !

Try it. You may just like the serenity. I am up to night number seven - I think I am hooked on the peace and the early nights. I will watch it again, most likely, but as a treat and planned relaxation and enjoyment, not as a mindless exercise. I like having the extra time too much

RE-CAP Eco - Challenge

It's now around three months since we had our family meeting and set down our ideas for our own family eco-challenge. Here is a summary of what we originally wrote down and how we are going.

1. Energy

a) Turn off lights when not in use DOING
b) turn off appliances at the wall - SOME - could improve here
c) Have shorter showers - DOING
d) install energy efficient light bulbs DONE THROUGH WHOLE HOUSE
e) use re-chargeable batteries - not doing this - but minimised use of battery operated things

2. Water

a) shorter showers and water saving showerheads - got flow inhibitors
b) catch cold water when waiting for hot to come through – use this to fill water bottle and kettle - DOING
c) wash up in the small sink DOING
d) flush when necessary DOING ( giggle)
e) install water tanks - not done yet - on list after current reno finished

3. Transport

a) Ride bikes to school and work - H and kids ride to school - I haven't started riding to work yet as still too dark on way home
b) Limit trips to town – by planning and grouping trips DOING
c) Get Dad to ride motorbike to town for smaller items/ errands DOING
d) Walk DOING
e) Find cheaper fuel, drive more economically DOING

4. Garbage

a) Compost Food Scraps DOING
b) Stop Getting Plastic Bags DOING ( although still have trouble with smaller bags from time to time)
c) Buy items with less packaging TRYING - this one is REALLY hard

5. Consumption

a) Don’t buy unnecessary things DOING - we have cut right back !
b) Work on a cash budget LOVE DOING THIS
c) Use things sparingly- DOING - e.g. less toothpaste on the brush etc
d) Do instead of buy – make it yourself. DOING - lots of cooking.

Overall I think that we are really progressing well as a family. The considerable drop in water usage reflects the changes we are making.

There is always room for improvement. I would still LOVE to be able to ride to work. I will have to do a test run to see if I can make the 7.5 km and how long it will take me.