Living Simpler in January

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It’s the beginning of a brand new year, time to reflect on the years past and to set new goals for the year ahead. Life is ever moving faster so there has never been a better time to start to slow things down.

Living Simpler in January

Living Simpler in January

At the end of every year, my husband and I make goals for the upcoming year. We might decide which big projects we are going to tackle, what we want to add to our homestead, goals for work or parenting, or anything else that seems like something we should be working on. I don’t like to call them “resolutions” because to us it’s more than that. It’s setting achievable, actionable goals and deadlines for the year.

This year we have several goals for our homestead…we are planning to finish the garden, fence the front yard, and add in a large number of berry bushes. But our biggest goal for the year might seem a little odd to you if you regularly read this blog.

Our goal for 2018 is to slow down.

Through the blog, it might seem as though we take things slowly, and overall, we do live a simple life compared to most. But adding in another child, beginning homeschooling, growing our family business, plus multiple health issues for several members of our family has thrown us for a loop.

My schedule is full, my days are busy, we aren’t at home as much as I would hope we would be. There is too much chaos and little space to take a breather.

So we’ve declared 2018 our year of slowing down. Each month we plan on evaluating how the previous month has gone and then we will put into place new ideas for slowing things down throughout the year.

I’ve been asked so many times if I plan on writing another book and the answer is yes. And the topic is this, slower living in a modern world. You can follow our family’s journey and I hope to share plenty of actionable tips on how you might be able to do the same. While I’m writing the book this year, each month I will share a post like this one to give an update on how we are doing and to give you tips and ideas on how you can make each month simpler as well. Quite frankly, life is too short for us to keep spinning faster and faster towards the end. I want to enjoy my life while I’m here, I want to enjoy my children, I want to make an impact on my family and my community. I can’t do that if my world is moving 100 miles per hour.

So let’s get started, right here, right now!

Eat from the Pantry Stockpile. January is a great time to eat up and clean out. Get more ideas and basic menu plans here and here. If you don’t already have a good stockpile, this might be a good month to begin building it. Learn how to do that with just $5 per week here. I have another new post coming next week on this topic and be sure and follow me on Instagram to see examples of our “pantry meals”!

Redefine your budget. New year, new budget. Take time to look over your budget this month and see if there are any areas you can cut back or save. If you are already living on next to nothing, read my tips here on how you can still live simply even when life isn’t treating you fairly.

Get a penpal. Maybe this just seems like one extra thing to do, but writing a letter and receiving a letter in the mail can bring such joy! Feel free to ask for a penpal in our LHL Facebook group or if you don’t have anyone to write to, drop me a line. My address is here. If you need some stationary be sure and check out my hubby’s beautifully designed notecards. Don’t forget to send out your thank you cards for Christmas as well. Maybe take the time to write an extra special note to the recipient before you send them out.

Make 2 freezer meals. That’s at least 2 meals you can make in advance and pull out when you need them. I think I will probably make some Freezer Meatloaf and some BBQ Meatballs, but with some of my ground chicken instead of beef.

Unsubscribe from junk emails that come in. You have way more important things to do than clean out your inbox. This month, when each email comes in that you no longer want to read, go in and click the unsubscribe button. I’m going to work hard on this one, especially advertising emails from stores.

Clean out the kids’ toys. Chances are, they got plenty of new things for Christmas. Time to sit down with them and have them pick out only the things they really want or are really playing with. Less toy clutter always = happier mom! Read more about Reducing Gift Clutter.

Set up a meal planning “cheat sheet”. You can see mine at the bottom of this post. Basically, each day of the week has a theme, so when I’m planning out the meals for the month, it makes life SO much easier. By the way, if you need some meal plan inspiration, here is a whole month of meals for January.

Begin the year’s Gardening Journal and order seeds. If you order your garden seeds online, you might find that many of the best seeds sell out by February. I like to put my order in during January to ensure that I get what I’m wanting. January is also the perfect month to start on my Gardening and Preserving Journal.

Do you think that you can accomplish these tasks this month? I think that each of them will be a great way to start the year out fresh! I’m so looking forward to this year of slower living for our family and I hope that you will be following along.

Also, if you don’t already have a copy of my ebook, 31 Days to Simpler Living or if you bought a copy but haven’t taken the time to work on it yet, I highly recommend doing it during the month of January. It will make you feel so accomplished and ready to start the year off right.

What are your goals and plans for the month of January?

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30 Comments

  1. These are such great ideas to start the year off! I often prepare freezer meals ahead of time. Saves so much time. Your penpal idea reminds me of when I was in junior high. I had penpals from 3 different continents. Met some great people. I think I will get back into that, and my kids too!

    1. I had several penpals when I was growing up too and I loved it! It’s so fun to get to know someone else and to anticipate a fun letter in the mail.

  2. Happy New year Marissa!
    Our goals are: 1/ to find additional income to balance the budget (already done for Jan and Feb!), 2/ replace the bathtub and do the structural/support work needed around the tub (the house is from 1862) before we fall through the tub (without using credit), 3/ a) not use credit cards, and b) reduce debt by a certain amount, 4/ which is really number one, see family more. The “kids” live in Toronto, Victoria BC, Kingston, and Ohio: we live in Niagara Falls.
    Best wishes to you, your family, and all your readers!
    Toni

    1. I’m a city girl living in rural Arkansas. Can’t bend down to garden so I’m going to use pots. How do you grow potatoes

      1. We’ve always planted them right in the ground but my husband plans on planting them in some kind of “growing container” this year. I will be updating the blog with his results!

  3. I am planning to make at least seven freezer meals each month, for the next month, so I will have one week each month where I will not be going to the store. It will give me a little relief from cooking for a week and since there is only two of us I usually freeze leftovers. I have spaghetti, chili, ham/beans and veggie beef soup in there at the moment. I want to have more time to crochet, read, etc. without feeling guilty.

  4. Yes, slower living!! I myself am a single senior and live a pretty slow life. Actually, I must have been born that way because I have always seemed to accomplish less in more time than almost any of the folks I know. Perhaps a (big?) part of it is also being a perfectionist. I often wish I could just do it “good enough” and move on. Well, we are all who we are and coming to terms with that is a part of getting older (which doesn’t mean I won’t always have self-improvement as an ongoing goal). Lots to unlearn from the past and new learning skills to build on for the future.

    So, big digression. Two things to say: First, it saddens me to watch the culture in this country to go faster and faster. We’re losing so much relationship time with friends and family which enriches our lives enormously and help us remember that we are part of something larger than ourselves. I can’t help but wonder what kind of world we could have if we believed we are each other’s keepers and practiced more loving kindness. My heart would sing for joy, and hope is always with me that one of these days it’s possible for us to move in that direction. How is it possible though if people don’t slow down and learn again what being in relation with each other is? Sometimes despair gets the better of me and I cry (but not often!)

    Second, cleaning out the pantry is a brilliant idea! I recently moved into a much smaller home and was a bit appalled at the food there was. So that’s for sure a huge goal of mine. To use up what’s there and only buy what I need. What a load off my shoulders that will be. Wahoo!

    I love your blog, Melissa, and though i’ve never participated, admire you and the thoughtfulness you put into your life . . . feeding your family, living on such a tight budget and, among other qualities, working on slowing down with your husband. You go girl!!

    With loving appreciation,
    Barbara

  5. Oh Merissa,
    So many of the things you had listed our family is doing this month-how exciting. We too are adding a new member to our family and wanting to slow things down for me is a must right now. Our trips to the grocery store have all but stopped (minus milk, fresh produce and a few cravings) which is great since our pocket book thanks us as does our slowly emptying freezer and pantry. Looking forward to all your posts on your new book-great book idea and I can’t wait to read it!

    1. That’s exciting that your family will be doing many of these things as well! I can’t wait to check in with everyone again next month to see how we are all doing 🙂

  6. Hello my name is Gary M Moore I just started following u on Instagram and it just so happens I am going my email and unscribinge some that I don’t look at happy new year from my family to yours

  7. I’m always looking for ways to simplify our life even more. I do find menu planning and preparing extra meals for the freezer to be such a huge part of that too. I often make two casseroles at a time; one to eat and one to freeze.

  8. I can appreciate that goal. For a variety of reasons DH and I had a simpler Christmas and all around holiday season and it was probably one of the best we’ve had in years. We still had family time, but we enjoyed it more because we weren’t as crazed with all the preparations we’d done in previous year. We prioritized and enjoyed what we chose to do.

  9. Slow Family Living book has great ideas about: Is this working for us?, Slow Sports — two families with parents and children all playing baseball, basketball in a park every Friday (instead of Team sports). Also, the half full weekend. Treating family time like a good book. Camp out at home or Slow Summer Camp. Community service family style. The Family Billboard and a lot of other fun, lovely ideas.

  10. I am 65 and now retired. I live in rural Arkansas and want to grow more food. I have grown onions tomatoes bell peppers and lettuce. I am a picky eater so limited what I like. I would love to grow green beans and potatoes. Any ideas.

  11. Love the blog and so for the new year I had decided to use and organize my food storage room . I cook from scratch and use from my food storage daily I love the idea of having some freezer meals ready for at least once or twice a week. I have a garden and my biggest goal is to slow down and stay on my land and just do my gardening and canning in the summer I also have several quilts to finish. I just turned 65 January 5th and have been retired since an accident in 2016 so I have no excuses to just do my thing. Staying focused is the best goal I can make.