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As I mentioned in the old forums, I've thought it might be nice to have a place to update each other on life events as well as introduce or reintroduce ourselves. Completely optional, of course! This isn't meant to take the place of any other posts, just to be either ongoing personal journals of our significant events or simply a "bulletin board" to post our latest news. Looking forward to re-gathering our community and seeing some new faces as well, so welcome, and happy posting to all! :)
Hello kib. I am also hoping to "regather" our old community. I enjoyed it so much, being a member since 2003 or so. I am happy so far with the new forum: it looks similar enough to our old one to be "familiar", but different enough to seem "fresh".
Let me introduce myself as Blackdog Lin, the SLN poster previously known as hens4th. It just seemed time for a change. I'm not the same person I was in 2003, I've changed, I've learned, I've grown (I think and hope, anyway). I see the world differently these days. Must be my age. My main SL focus though, as it has always been, is staying out of debt, happy living through frugality, eating well with frugality, and a little bit of caring for Mother Earth thrown in.
The forum looks so funny, with it's dearth of postings. I'm so used to a wealth of posts to read and check in on. We'll get there soon enough, though, eh?
Blackdog Lin, the individual threads no longer show up when you go to "Forums" - you have to actually click on the forum title to see what the threads in it are. I think you'll be surprised how much stuff we've created in two days!!! :welcome:
Like Hens4th, I got tired of being Fluffy and feel it no longer fits, so I renamed myself Jemima after an ancestor who was an artist. I'm not a pro, but I love to paint and plan to do a lot more of it in my retirement, which I hope will be a bit later this year.
I need to post an update and thank all of the successful simple living folks whose posts helped me survive my last year of law practice. I was way, way beyond unhappy. I was desperate and super stressed. You provided comfort and encouragement, probably without even realizing it. Anyway, I am beginning my 4th year as a recovering attorney, and I'm not a bag lady yet! My blood pressure meds have been cut in half, and I'm hoping if I lose a bit of weight this year, I can get off it completely. I am not less busy than I was in practice, but I do many things I enjoy or that are beneficial. I sing with a chorus of other "old ladies," I attend water exercise classes (they have done WONDERS for the knee and hip pain caused by my prior sedentary life), I walk with a friend of mine and attend a Weight Watchers meeting once a week. I also have become a knitting FIEND! I hadn't knitted since college and am really enjoying it. Of course I have no pension (never will) or Social Security yet, but I get some funding for providing In Home Supportive Services for my disabled adult daughter. I have gone from lawyering to caregiving, but being a member of the union allows me to purchase affordable health insurance. We'll see how long this program survives, though in the current political and financial climate. I also host foreign students, for which I am paid by an English language school. This involves a significant amount of work, cooking , cleaning, laundry, driving, etc., but I really enjoy it. I'm just putting off as long as I can accessing my IRAs. I would NEVER have had the courage to walk away from a lucrative but deadly career without the confidence I gained by reading about how people on these forums were living well and happily on much less money. THANK YOU!
Hello. I am Isabella, getting reacquainted with SLForum after being away for a while due to severe health issues and then the death of my son 2 years ago which has been so debillitating that I can still hardly function. I was gobsmacked when I realized the (former) forum had closed, then terribly relieved that it lives on here. I am still living as simply as I can, with much less money than I had before as I have become totally disabled and then lost all but $14,000 when the market crashed. Not enough to pay my ins. premiums and healthcare until I finally became eligible for medicare. So am back in debt after several years of being out of debt and saving/investing-- only to have lost it all. Working on becoming debt-free again. Hoping to reconnect with SLF as in many ways I am starting all over again.
Warm hugs to you Nancibt and Isabella.
Hello, I wanted to introduce myself as I just joined today. I have been looking for a community where I could share my successes and challenges in frugality and simple living as well as hear from others. I get tremendous joy from finding simple and free ways of doing things. I have been made fun of and still get laughed at by family members, but I am learning from my DH to be proud of who I am. I feel great satisfaction when I do things differently than others. For example, instead of buying flowers from the store, I cut leaves from the bushes outside and have fresh greenery indoors. I cut my childrens hair, dye my own hair, polish my own nails, buy used automobiles, homeschool my children, check out movies, books and DVDs from the library, bake my own cakes, bake my own bread, buy clothes from the thrift store, do not subscribe to cable, etc...Because of my frugality, we have paid off our mortgage and have money in the bank. I was looking for a group in my neighborhood to get together with other people like me, but have yet to find one. I am grateful for the internet and the chance to share with people all over the world.
Thank you for letting me introduce myself and I look forward to chatting with you in the forums.
Welcome Chickpea- looking forward to your contributions in many of our discussions. You will find lots of like minded folks here!
A choice that can be done by good minimalist is live without tv, the tv can be addictive, many times we come at home and turn on the tv automatically only for background noise to spend hours and hours to zap between channels. One of the first positive sides without tv is that we find ourselves with a free space in home and with less energetic waste. One of the fears is that you get bored without tv, but rather you gain free time to do many other things, rear a good book, go outside for a walk, to do a hobby , etc... Another positive side is the mental freedom from an object that makes us suffer the information in a passive way to a wealth of information and advertising that come into our homes and encourage us to buy products that don't even need and ongoing fake reality in which we are conform. http://www.minimalistgeneration.com