Living (happily!) with less

Couldn’t resist sharing this great essay on living simply from The Christian Science Monitor. It’s by my friend and freelance writing colleague Kris Bordessa. She and her family lived in Hawaii for three years and happily embraced the easy-going, less materialistic culture they found in the islands. They’ve just returned to what many of us consider the altar of materialism: California. Read it here.

I’m kind of intrigued by a simple living advocate she mentions: Dave Bruno created something called the 100 Thing Challenge. His goal is to cut his possession back to just 100 items by the end of the year. Could you do it?

Frugal is cool again

Any of you remember the voluntary simplicity movement that was HUGE maybe 10 years ago? Well, it’s coming back. All this doom-and-gloom recession news apparently has people thinking twice about their spending habits. While I’m not happy about the economic news, I’m sort of happy that folks have an opportunity to really consider their money choices carefully. I know I am.

I love the title of this article– “Is Frugal the New Black?” Read it here.

And I appreciate this writer’s ability to see the “silver lining” in the economic slowdown: “10 reasons to love a recession.”