The Simple Life?

I've been thinking a lot lately about what we need

and what we don't.

Like kitchen appliances for example.We have a rice cooker/vegetable steamer, waffle maker, George foreman grill, crock pot, blender, magic bullet, and food processor. We also have the tiniest kitchen on the planet, and plenty of pits and pans. We definitely use each of the appliances, but some only on occasion. Some of them do the same jobs, perhaps less efficiently, but the same nonetheless. We are getting rid of some-but which? We NEED Pots and Pans. We use the food processor and waffle maker often. everything else-we could do without.

Another Item I have been thinking about is 2 cars. Do we need them both? With the baby coming, me not working, planning on taking Internet classes, and with the scooter Mike just bought to save money on gas we are seriously considering becoming a one-car family. At first I hated the idea, but slowly I'm beginning to realize how good it might be for us to get rid of a vehicle, a car payment, and the loan.  It would take more planning for sure, but It would probably be worth it. I was worried that if we sell the truck we wont be able to haul things in the back, but then I realized with the hitch on the Subaru we can use our small trailer, and with the roof rack we can get the bicycle or ski racks that we need, and we already have one of those Yakima cargo carriers for the roof.

Of course that depends on if I do or do not go back to work part time in the winter at the times mike will be home, or I land some sort of job where I can bring Hazel with me.

If only scooters were all-weather vehicles.

I'm embracing the Idea of living with less. I do find myself always wanting things, but it's not necessarily MORE things that I want, but the right things. The right furniture for our small home, the right car for where we live, the right high chair that clamps to the counter top and collapses into practical non-existence, the right frying pans that can be used for both baking and cooking. I am silly, and picky at times, but it's for a good reason. If you have the right things, the things you love, the things that multitask, then you need less things overall.

In the past I haven't put much thought into the things I have spent money on. Now a big frustration I have is that everything in my home doesn't have a place. I'm slowly working towards that, but we have had to go through the house repeatedly, cutting out more and more of our belongings. It feels great to let go of things, but we still aren't there yet. I understand much better now what I do and don't want taking up precious space in our home and am evaluating more extensively the things we choose.