[.ca] Complete Idiot Guide Simple Living (ISBN 0028639073)

From Amazon.com:
When you tell your friends you're thinking of ditching your cellphone and cutting up your Visa, they may think you're nuts. Be strong and read the Ten Principles of Simple Living, which include Consume less; Love people, not things; Put people before things; and Live from your vision. The Complete Idiot's Guide to Simple Living is about evaluating your consumer-choked life and learning to live happily with what you need--not what you think you need or just plain want. Cutting back and reconsidering your time, relationships, and especially spending isn't going to be easy. "Simple living is about making choices that put you in the position of being more in control of how you choose to spend your money," says author Georgene Lockwood, "not shunning money altogether." Focusing on what you like to do, rather than on what you have to do (or think you have to do), is a way to simplify. The book is divided into five sections: What is Simple Living?; Your Money IS Your Life; Simple Living Basics: Food, Clothing, Shelter; Family, Friends, and Community; and What if Everybody Did It? The sections are broken down into chapters that question and challenge you to reduce, reuse, and reflect. Convincingly written, this book is very practical and encouraging. "It's for people who want to have more time for relationships and for doing things they really enjoy," says Lockwood. "It's for those who are looking to go beyond simply organizing and decluttering ... to a lifestyle that's more sustainable for the future of this planet and our civilization." --Dana Van Nest

One of my favorite books on the subject:
Even after a decade and more of simple living I love reading books on simple living issues and one thing I like about The Complete Idiots Guide to Simple Living is where the author Georgene Lockwood notes in the section on The 10 Laws of Stuff that: 1. Stuff breeds. The more you have the more you need. 2. The useless stuff crowds out the good stuff. 3. Dust, bugs, rodents and moisture all love stuff. The more the better. 4. Stuff tends to stay where it lands. 5. Stuff expands to fit the space available. The more space the more stuff you think you need. 6. Over time stuff becomes invisible After living with stuff we don't see it. 7. Stuff costs you money more than once. 8. Stuff has a powerful effect on your state of mind. Useless stuff is a burden. It weighs us down. 9. Stuff takes value only when it is used. 10. Stuff doesn't make you happy, you do! She also discusses the issue of quietness. That people who are afraid of quiet often have the most stuff because they need to always be doing something. So if we need noise and activity what is it that we fear? And she offers great advise that when you read it you tend to go DUH ...of course that makes sense...why didn't I think of that. Like instead of six knives whose total cost is thirty dollars, and which won't hold an edge, how about buying one top quality knife that when sharpened holds an edge and is a gem to use? That the less we own the less time we spend cleaning. That when we buy a tool or appliance don't buy one that isn't multi task. As an example I bought a top dollar KitchenAid processor and it gets used all the time. Whereas the variety of cheaper tools that I had to dig thru a drawer to find were more a frustration and rarely used. She notes in Abundance, not Excess that Paring down and living simply doesn't mean being poor. The simple life is abundant; you have everything you truly need and the time to satisfy your true, inner wants. This isn't deprivation! This is true abundance. Excess, clutter and useless stuff are the true deprivers.

terrible - bleh:
browse this book in person rather than buying it online sight unseen. this author has a whacked idea of what simple living means, and in many ways promotes a more complicated life... not relying on modern conveniences for instance, perhaps taking cues from the amish? yeah that really simplifies my life. she seems to think its hip or trendy or something and although she mentions some spiritual and mental/happiness benefits, she never expounds. she's just following some -- or promoting some -- lifestyle to follow the trend. you're a fool if you fall for it and i was a fool for buying this book and further financing her endeavors. she spends a lot of the book talking about her glorious self and her wonderful success at living simply, and her wonderful avante garde community. i guess income from being an author helps her do that, and the irony is her writing is horrible. the !...'s interspersed throughout alone drove me nuts. also i got to know about some of her dear friends as she recommended books that they also wrote. unfortunately in addition to recommending her friends' books, she recommends other sources out of print or no longer up on the internet. great thanks i love supposed wealth of inaccessible information. i thought i would take an open minded approach trying to just X out what i didnt like in the book and then leaving sections that were passable to peruse and contemplate... my pencil got dull fast. and i can't emphasize enough how poorly the book is written and how annoying her infomercial aerobacize-your-life pep-talk style and tone is to me. bleh.

A Vehicle For Change:
"The Idiot's Guide to Simple Living" can be enlightening and/or helpful to those folks who are new to the idea or action(s) of living more simple, more frugally, or enjoying one of the most precious things we have: time. A former techie who went down with the dot.coms in 2001 gave this book to me. Having earned a rather high income during the mid to late 1990s this person has--absolutely nothing to show for it, except debts. Of which, won't be eradicated, or even significantly reduced for several years. As with most Americans today statistically, as their income increases their debts increase (and proportionally as well). The more money one makes the more debt they have. And, most of this debt is for things that depreciate: cars, the latest-gotta-have-electronic gizmos, and other things that show a mundane and unfulfilled life and/or banal socioeconomic status. (As Robert Kiyosaki states so adroitly, there is good debt and bad debt.) Don't buy "stuff." For the nuts and bolts of the book, there is a convenient summary of major topics, that includes two tables of contents. A condensed table of contents as well as a detailed table of contents, for quick referencing. There is also a comprehensive index, and a list of further recommended readings. The information in this guide will be known already for those who've chosen to live simple and for the most part debt-free. For the stereotypical American, whether earning \olow or moderate incomes\c this can be a vehicle to make a change to this attitude much more easier, practical, and yes--enjoyable.

Wonderful guide for beginners:
Simple doesn't mean being deprived. This book is good for anyone who wants to enjoy life and stop chasing after the "American Rat Race Dream." Especially good for those of us that are new to the concept. Right from the get-go the book includes a cut out card for you to keep to be critical of ads on what their trying to say to you, and the principals of simple living. Its not about being deprived, its about values, what's important to you in life and what makes you happy. Its very easy to read and the author presents ideas that you can use or not use. Not every idea will be for everyone, however most of the ideas and tips are useful. The book starts out explaining simple living and what it is. Part 2 talks about money and how to control it, and how to get out of debt! It talks about how less stuff can mean more! Part 3 is about food, clothing, and housing. What you eat is what you are. How to eat well and nutritiously for less. Trends or tyranny. Examining fashion and fads, and how they affect us. It talks about how to buy good clothes that are timeless, and how to take care of them instead of buying fads that go to the dump after 1 season. Then it gives tips on how to take care of them. It also gives housing tips. And alternatives to transportation. The rest of the book talks about family and community, how its more important than acquiring stuff and politics of voluntary simplicity. The book is very easy to understand and she gives resources and where to find them, if a person wants to dig in deeper in a certain subject. I really enjoyed it and learned so much from it, this is a book for beginners about enjoying and getting more out of life. There's more to life than money! :-)

Inspiration with a kick in the bum:
My husband and I bought this book a few years ago. While we haven't entirely practiced everything presented in this book it certainly gave us the inspiration and know-how that we needed to declutter and clean up. We were swimming in stuff and didn't quite know how to fix the problem. We keep this book around and whenever we start to feel out of control or overwhelmed with the daily grind, we pull this book back off the shelf and read a chapter or two. Sometimes we read the same chapters again and again. It has always proven to be a helpful guide to keeping our lives a bit more sane and simple. We recommend it to all of our friends and I recommend it for you.