10 Ways to Make Simple Living a Reality

Living a simple life is something I’ve always dreamed of. My dream of simple living started after I had kids.

I never experienced needing so many things to function. Kids are a blessing but with that blessing comes a lot of stuff.I was blessed by having twin girls for my first pregnancy.  This meant I had to have double everything.

Two car seats, two cribs, two high chairs, two walkers and the list goes on and on. I quickly realized that learning how to live a simple life was going to come later in life.

I’m happy to report that 15 years later, I’m getting closer to my goal of simple living. Focusing on what matters most is important to me. Living a simple life does not mean you clear everything out in your house and live with nothing.

How do you Live a Simple Life?

Living a simple life means you look at all areas of your life and make a decision to simplify them.  I do this by analyzing my finances, home life, and my health. 

You should take your time and analyze each area.  There is no simple formula for living. It’s a slow process that should be well thought out.

Simple Living Tips

Like I mentioned above, there is no simple formula for living. Everyone’s life is different so I’m going to share my favorite simple living tips.

Living a simple life comes down to choices. I’ve chosen to follow my dream of simple living and I’ve found some great way to simplify things in this season of my life.  

Hopefully, these simple living tips will inspire you to start on your journey of living simply.

1. Eliminate Trash

Trash is one of the biggest obstacles in my home. My kids collect so many knickknacks. They are usually items that only interest them for a few months.  This turns into a big issue because things start cluttering up in their rooms.

It doesn’t bother them but it drives me crazy.  Every couple of months I make them do a deep cleaning in their bedrooms and closets.

It’s amazing how much trash they find. We don’t throw everything away. If it’s something that can be donated we will donate it.

I make a habit to clean trash out of the house on a weekly basis. If we don’t use something anymore, I put it in the trash or the donation box. This process clears out the house of unnecessary items and gives me a feeling of living simply.

2. Simplify Your Clothes

I have lots of decisions to make every day and choosing what clothes to wear is one of them. Simplifying your clothes makes it so much easier to get dressed every day.

Grabbing a pair of jeans and a t-shirt doesn’t take much thought. It brings me one step closer to that simple lifestyle I’m dreaming of.

3. Do the Dishes Every Night

We are a family of five with teenagers so we use a lot of dishes. During the week, my kids take turns doing the dishes which is super helpful. I do the dishes on the weekends to give them a break.

I used to let the dishes pile up until the next morning but then I realized I didn’t like waking up to dishes in the sink. Doing the dishes every night has helped my mornings be more simple.

4. Eat at Home

Learning how to live frugally led me to eat at home more often. It started out with the saving money aspect but there are so many more benefits to eating at home.

It’s healthier and more convenient for us especially because we like sitting at the dinner table every night as a family. We value family time and this is one of the best ways to get all of us together to discuss our day.

It also allows me to include each family member’s suggestion in our meal plan each week.  I’m sure you can imagine that they each have a favorite meal.

5.  Clean your Fridge and Pantry Weekly

I’ve incorporated cleaning my fridge and pantry into my grocery shopping day. I’ve found it to be less stressful this way. Simple living is all about making things easier and less stressful.

Since I’m already adding food from my grocery store trip to the fridge and pantry, it just makes sense to clean them at the same time. It takes me less time to do it this way.

6. Organize your Finances 

I used to spend hours paying bills and keeping track of my monthly budget. After analyzing this area, I decided to automate as many bills as possible.  

Automating my bills has made paying bills much more simple and less time-consuming.

I also decided to switch to a free online budget tool to keep track of my budget each month. I used to use printable budget templates but they were holding me back from my simple living dream.

7. Try Not to Spend Money

Spending money is something we have to do to survive. The problem with spending money on mindless things is you end up with more stuff.  This totally defeats me in learning how to live a simple life.

Saving money is a great perk to trying not to spend money. I try to go all week without spending money. The exceptions to this each week are grocery shopping or getting gas.

It’s such a great feeling to save money and have less. We even try to save money by going on cheap date nights. We still have the same amount of fun.

8. Pay Attention to your Purchases

Before I learned how to save money, I never really paid attention to my purchases. I would just walk into a store and buy what I needed. It never occurred to me that I could get a better deal.

Learning to be a good steward of money has accomplished many things in my life. It’s taught me to be grateful for everything I have and not take things for granted. We live on one income and are so blessed.

I spent a lot of time learning how to coupon and I still use them today.

9. Simplify your Goals Monthly

I’m probably one of the most goal-oriented people.  Goals make me feel like I’ve accomplished something.  Setting goals monthly is a great habit.

Once your goals are set, make sure to evaluate them monthly. This will give you the opportunity to check the goals you’ve completed and then reevaluate the goals you are still working on. Simple living is all about making your life easier.

10. Protect your Family Time

Family is the most important thing to me besides my love for Jesus. Protecting family time is difficult because there are so many activities and get-togethers.

I’ve had to learn to just say “no”. We need to have family time first and then we can say “yes” to outside activities.  Learning the value of family is something we are teaching our kids.

A great way to enjoy family time is to make storytelling a family tradition.

Do You Have Any Simple Living Tips?

These are 10 things that have helped me get close to my dream of simple living. These simple living tips can vary for each person. I’d love to hear how you are living a simple life.