Everything we have done to live simple started with a few small steps.  We didn’t do everything at once and only introduced something new one step at a time. Along the way we have made some mistakes, learned a few new things and even went back and tried things a second time, but all-in-all it has enhanced the way we live.

Ten years ago we knew our lives had started to run us and we didn’t like how it felt.  We had lost our roots and started to let the fast-paced world around us take over.  We knew that in order to take back control we had to make some changes.  We had to jump off that highly consumer driven train and remind ourselves that we did know how to take care of ourselves and were determined to do so.

God gave us two working hands and sometimes we forgot we had them.  We had relied on every gadget and man-made instrument for so long we had fallen into that never-ending consumer driven world around us.

Here are just a few things we did to jump off the consumer driven train:

1. Got rid of the dishwasher.  We gained an extra cupboard.
2. Got rid of cable. Saved $79 a month.
3. Got rid of all credit cards. We are 1 year away from being debt free except for our mortgage.
4. Planted a garden. We don’t digest chemicals and pesticides.
5. Stopped using the dryer. We saved .45 cents for each load we line dried.
6. We wash clothes in cold water. It costs on average .04 cents to wash in cold vs .68 cents to wash a load on hot and warm rinse.
7. We raise chickens and hubby hunts. We don’t buy meat or eggs.
8. We use a broom. We saved electricity and got exercise.
9. Switched to homemade cleaners. We live healthy, chemical free lives and saved about $500 a year.
10. We stopped using paper products (except for toilet paper). We saved about $300 a year.

These are just a few things we did to jump start our living simple life.  For a complete list, check out these posts for more great ideas.

• Steps for living a simple self-sufficient lifestyle…Part #1
• Steps for living a simple self-sufficient lifestyle…Part #2