I’ve lived a simple, what most people call a simple, life for close to fifty years now. I have become an anachronism. Separating wants from needs has become so ingrained, I cringe looking at shopping carts in the stores.
This is the second post on this topic. The first is on Telling Wants From Needs from last week.
Food
I am addicted to eating as are all the people I know. The smart homesteader will plan a garden to supply food all year. This isn’t as simple as it sounds for lots of reasons.
There are some foods easy to grow that I just don’t like. Green beans come to mind. The only reason for me to grow green beans is to sell them. What do I do with the ones that don’t sell?
I grow crops we will and do eat. Yard long beans can be used like green beans and I like the flavor. And I put up the extra peppers, squash (Frozen summer squash is a great soup base.) and tomatoes to use next winter.
One of the things not done here is eating out. I cook. That doesn’t mean I never use frozen meals, but they are rare. Take out buffet can have vegetables added and make meals for more than one day.
Skipping most snack foods and sodas has side benefits. One is saving money. The other is better health.
For me caffeine, most white flour and sugar are not options. Weaning away from these food drugs, and they are drugs, does have withdrawal challenges. For around two weeks not even you will want to know you. You will feel terrible and grouch at everything. If you stick it out, things do get better.
I used to read book about pioneers and wonder how they could get by on five pounds of sugar for a year. I opened a bag last November. Half of it is still in the canister. Cakes, cookies and other desserts are not on the menu except for special occasions.
Side benefits of this are having less tarter on the teeth, fewer calories to burn off and finding food actually tastes good. Mentioning those fewer calories matters as a person gets older. Your metabolism slows down meaning you need less food. And those extra pounds get a lot harder to shed.
Clothes
When I was teaching, students were so concerned with their clothes. Sometimes they seemed more concerned with their clothes than with their education. They were more focused on rating what other people were wearing than on what they were putting into their minds.
And ten years down the road, those clothes mean nothing. The education is what opens doors to your life.
My goats are not worried about my clothes. They don’t care if I show up in jeans or shorts or fancy slacks as long as they get to eat. My chickens are the same.
Jeans last me about three months before I’ve worn holes in the knees. Those holes may be the fashion in some places, not here. Thrift store, here I come. Out come the scissors and cut the legs to length.
These won’t do for town, so I do have a town wardrobe. But this is simple. Most of the clothes have lasted for years. Forget the latest fashions. They are only a way to get you to spend more money.
I guess it’s time to close for this week. Separating wants from needs seems to cover more territory than I anticipated. Which is strange as it is so normal for me. Continued next week.
