You can find me over at The Phoenix Mind blog or over at Wings of Flight.

The Phoenix Mind focuses on my student life, science lessons, mental health and re-definition processes.

Wings of Flight is my spiritual hub; my path to Druidry and beyond – including my de-cluttering and simplifying aspects.

Come on over and leave a comment to say you’ve made the switch; don’t forget to update your blogroll links!

In Light,
Rose.

While pondering my personal spending, I thought about how little I offer to pay that extra £1.80 for a friend to catch the bus, or how little I offer to reimburse if they spend money on me. Yet, my attention was brought today to how easily I spend £15-30 on books.

This morning, I saw two offers for e-books (see below), and signed up to both. Even if I don’t get much out of them, I’m supporting people who, like me, want to work doing what they love; who’re trying to make ends meet by following their passion and their heart.

And that is something I fully support.

Love That Room - book to soon be released
Finding your Thing -teleclass & worksheets

And if that isn’t your thing, studies have shown that spending money on others increases your happiness more than spending it on yourself.

What’s your relationship with money like? Are you in debt? How could you give more this week?

~Rose

Mum’s bought two new items since I’ve been at University…
One, is a kind of plug-holder for each of the sinks; which acts as a drain for the plug. It’s a little plastic mini-basin that sits on the wall with sticky-tape and keeps the plug… tidy?
Personally, I hang the plug over the tap… It drains just fine, I find; and doesn’t get in the way.

Secondly, she bought a plastic semi-circle with holes in it, for draining water from a saucepan…  Now; we have a sieve, and a colander, the saucepan lid and a serving spoon with holes in it.. why do we need something else?

“It was cheap.“

“Yes, but that plastic will take centuries to biodegrade… YOU JUST KILLED A POLAR BEAR!!!”

Ahem. Okay, I’m back.
Does anyone have any tips or similar issues about the people they live with? I’ve tried to explain that the media makes us think we need things; I’ve explained the issue of plastic and I’m trying to teach by example: Each time we pass something in the shops; I say “well we don’t need it; we can do this instead, or make our own like this.”

My 20^th birthday occurs in the summer and I’m trying to work out how to ask for non-material items [as it’s hard enough to get rid of over 300 fluffy toys, over 200 perfectly usable pencils [but who would buy them when new ones are 1p each?] and all the junk a teenager is supposed to need] from friends and relatives.

I’m thinking of writing an explicit letter that my mother can pass round to anyone who asks what to get me:
Something along the lines of, “please donate money to __charity x or y__ in my name, or give only book tokens or money [to go towards a meditation retreat in 2011]”.

And yet, I don’t know if she would honour that choice; because she has the above mindset. [Can I just point out that I love my mother; she’s a wonderful woman].

Has anyone had any experiences with this? I know there are some ways of getting around having to do this, as mentioned by Everyday Minimalist, but I don’t speak to my great-aunt or my mum’s old best friend, so can’t implement the tips that effectively.

We’d love it if you could share your tips and stories with us in the comments.
~Rose.

Yesterday morning I began packing, despite feeling like my head was about to explode [I had to sit down a few times and get my breath back]. I spoke in December of how little I was taking home:

“The make-up I use weekly, clothes, my belt and jewellery. Umm.. Uh.. Notes, diary, magazines I’ve yet to read and a text book. My laptop and speakers… vitamin tablets, tarot cards.  My “handbag” items and my cuddly toys”

This time, knowing my mother’s bringing her car, a ford KA [instead of the usual Volvo] and bringing my father with her, I don’t think I can even bring my suitcase. In December, the suitcase sat on the backseat while I sat in the passenger seat and my two cardboard boxes + one carrier bag sat in the boot.

As I will be sitting on the backseat this time, I’m setting myself a challenge of only taking one box of clothes home [and one carrier bag of dirty clothes that I love/know I’ll use].

So my final luggage consists of:

• One box [h11xw8.5xd10”] of shrapnel – books, make-up, knickknacks/photos, Cds, first aid kit, jewellery, stationary.
• One box of clean clothes [favourite tops, shirt for formal evening, winter clothing I won’t need next term]
• A carrier bag of dirty clothes I’ll need at home/winter clothes.
• My handbag
• Laptop/bag/speakers
• 6 folders of lecture notes/papers/course folders/handouts + as I’m writing a review this holiday, my last review which got a high mark.
• Towelling robe/Coat/Hoodie/dressing gown/cuddly toys

What could you live without for a while? Next time you go on holiday; pack your bags and then look around your house. What could you live without?

~Rose.

But I’ve been a bit silly and let my body get run down without giving it time to rest, fruit  and vegetables or enough sleep. So I’ll likely be having a shower and going to bed once I get home.

To update my January goal, I’ve been getting up at 7am every morning since last week [Friday], and had to cut it down to 6am for this Thursday. I felt like I was getting better quality sleep and actually woke up feeling more refreshed after 6.5-7 hours of sleep than I would with 8-9.

This provides two reminders:  no matter what your goals are, self-care is highly important. I may want to get up early; but if I know I’m getting a bit ill, I need to go to bed earlier so my body gets the extra rest needed to heal.

Secondly, though all I feel like eating is processed biscuits and chocolate; my body needs fresh fruit and vegetables at this time. I need to provide enough nutrients for it to heal and rest-time for it to work in.

If you only simplify one thing in your life; simplify your self-care with some form of motto:

My health comes first.

Without your health, how are you going to be able to help people/do your job well/earn money to support your family etc. Our health, in my opinion, is the back-bone of society even more-so than money.

Visit these links for simple diet ideas and for why health is so important.

Take care,

Rose.

I’ve written about this before and about the situation of being an English University student. I take out a loan of around £6,500 a year for university (around £3,200) and a “maintenance loan” (meant to cover food, but only just covers rent). Over the three years of my degree, that will add up to around £20,000 of debt.

I’ve never had a money-earning job. I don’t have a credit card, I don’t pay for any monthly magazine subscriptions. My weekly budget of £20-25 covers a fortnightly shop, presents, seeing friends and experiencing spirituality.

I’m not careless with money, but there is little I can do about the debt until I have full accumulated it. After my three years, it’s likely I’ll work [mainly voluntary I think] for a couple of years and then go on to Postgraduate study where, you guessed it, I can get in more debt. It seems somewhat pointless to try and pay off some of the original £20,000 when I’ll need to save up money to actually find a place to live after study.

Everyone’s plans are different, everyone’s situation is different. What’s your financial situation like? How to do you deal with the trials and tribulations of debt and spending?

When was the last time you took control of your finances? Can you imagine just putting 5% more of your earnings into debt repayment and how wonderful it will feel to see that debt slowly but surely decrease? I love reading the blog over at A Piece of Wood, because it gives me hope and inspiration that I’ll be able to tackle my debt and see it decrease.

How could you simplify your debt this month? Do you have a budget? Have you shopped around for the best rates in banks and building societies? Have you any particular goals set in realistic time (eg. pay off £100 of debt in a month)

~Rose.

How could you simplify your meals?

~Rose

Zen Habits

Minimal Student

Man vs Debt

Simple Organised Life

Small Notebook

Take Care.
~Rose

I’ve got so many posts I could put up this afternoon… so many close-to-finished posts…

But they’re not ready.

And I’m not one to produce half-finished work and hand it in. Well, not with my blog.

So today’s post is a simple gratitude list.

Have a wonderful weekend and I hope to be sharing some awesome content with you next week.

This week I am grateful for:

- green tea at 2am

- general junk food

- my body, for putting up with little sleep + junk food

- my partner, who’s had a pretty low week too, yet it still patient and understanding with me

- a roof over my head

- my day off to sit and re-group

- the bus system

- my friend Anthony, who knew something was up and hugged me the moment I sat next to him: who listened. Who made the commitment to see me this weekend to chat&chill, though he has other things he could be doing

- the people who accepted my workshadowing application <3

- Maria, for doing a lovely workshop with us

- Karasu, for leading meditation again this week

- the ocean; for being so close when I need it

What are you grateful for this week?

As a facet of simplicity, minimalism is largely misunderstood and can be a wonderful way of inviting simplicity into your physical space. Today, Jessica of Minimal Student talks about her experiences of minimalism.

Minimalism

Minimalism. The word has so many ‘new-age’ connotations attached to it that when people outside what I like to call the ‘minimalism/simplicity sphere’ hear it they immediately think of somebody living in a hut in a forest without a phone, computer or television. Or they think of bare and boring houses with cheap furniture and everything hidden away.

I’ve found from what little experience I have that when I say ‘no thanks’ to buying more clothes or carrying more luggage on trips in front of people I tend to get puzzled looks.

‘But it’s so cheap! Why not buy it?’
‘Don’t you want to take that with you just in case?’
‘Don’t get rid of that! What if you need it one day?’

When people walk into my bedroom they’re a little shocked by the simple lack of stuff. My wardrobe is only half full, I don’t have papers all over my desk or knick-knacks on my bedside table. All I own is just my guitar, laptop, some clothes and a few books. Everything else, including my furniture and bike, is rented. Some would say that my room looks cold and impersonal . Actually, I think it’s the very opposite.

Minimalists only buy what is essential. This means that almost everything they DO have was subjected to intense scrutiny before purchase. Each item has to pass all of the questions: ‘Do I need it or do I just want it? How often will I use it? Is it worth it?’ With a little perspective and willpower, not very many items pass the minimalist tests.

So, you see, instead of being another ‘throw-away’ or ‘why not’ purchase, each item is actually carefully chosen by minimalists, to make sure that they have enough love and time to care for it. Believe it or not, for every item you own, you pay for it in some way, whether it is by the bigger house you rent to store it, or the time you spend cleaning, maintaining or fixing it. If you have fewer things, you have fewer costs. If you have fewer costs, you have more freedom.

It’s so simple and seems to obvious, and yet too many people clutter up their lives with unnecessary things. Think about the millions of home with basements, attics, lofts and sheds full of boxes, crates and tubs of things that they haven’t touched in years. If these people had a fire, most of that stuff wouldn’t be worth grabbing. If they wanted to move house, or start an adventure, the only way they could do it is by dropping everything that they don’t need and hit the road. If they don’t need something that much, then why not ditch it now?

I’m not saying that everyone should be ready to go backpacking in Australia tomorrow. What I’m saying is that minimalism allows a person to not be weighed down by all of the material things they own, or want to own. Instead of spending one’s life earning more money so that they can buy more stuff why not just buy what they need and use the money to help other people. Instead of working eight hours a day to pay for the second car or a larger house to store all their stuff, they could use that time to nurture meaningful relationships with their partners, getting closer with family or making life long friends. They can pursue their passions, broaden their horizons or just spend time sitting back, relaxing and enjoying life.

So, those people that thought minimalism is living away in a hut, they got it half right. Perhaps not the hut part, but definitely the part where you can get away from the stresses and expectations of life. Minimalism is about living life how you want, to the fullest, because, after all, the person with the most toys isn’t the winner, it’s the person who has the most fun with them that wins.

Today’s guest post was written by Jessica of Minimal Student, a blog about how to get the most out of university life.
If you enjoyed this post, you might like to see her posts on Zen and Minimalism, Happiness as a Minimalist or tips on Saving Money.

In relation to her suggestion that we not work so much just to earn money for “stuff”, I wanted to share this lovely story.

We’d love to hear your views on this topic; please leave comment.

~Rose.

Image Credit: kadanwa