Things I Have Learned To Live Without ...and why sometimes it's better

in #simplelife7 years ago (edited)

We all become adjusted to whatever our "norm" is, be it income, ways we do things, products we use, or some such. One person might NEVER imagine giving up their cable television; to others it's a luxury item. And I'm not talking about people from two different regions: these two people could be neighbors.

I've always been poor by American standards, but the past several years I got even poorer, and had to learn to do without things I once thought of as essential. Now after not having them for so long, I have no interest in getting them again, even if I won the lottery tomorrow ...a perspective I might never have experienced were it not forced on me by economics.

So today I give you: 5 things I choose to do without, that poverty taught me are unnecessary.

#1 A Microwave Oven

When my last microwave threatened to explode and so I got rid of it, I felt like I was living in Little House On The Prairie. I'm heating up milk on the stovetop! How quaint! I'm reheating leftovers in the toaster oven in ten minutes instead of in the microwave in one! It's like the slow food movement!

But now, I use a double boiler so often the only problem is running out of clean pots and Pyrex cups, and it's MORE convenient to pop in something to warm and walk away and do things, instead of standing there, impatiently waiting such that one minute feels TOO LONG. I have a cinnamon roll reheating right now. And my food tastes better, too.

I only regularly use two burners and my toaster oven, and I cook from scratch, so I'm tiny house ready. No microwave taking up precious space when my tiny house dreams come true.

#2 A Million Different Cleaning Products For Each Individual Chore

Toilet cleaner, bathtub and tile cleaner, kitchen cleaner, Lysol spray, Lysol wipes, fabric softener, dryer sheets, Dusting spray, air freshener, scouring powder ...you get the idea.

Nowadays I use: vinegar, hydrogen peroxide, and ammonia, mostly. If I need to really scrub, baking soda. If I really am concerned about disinfecting, rubbing alcohol. The end. Only the ammonia goes under the kitchen sink, next to the dish soap. That cabinet used to be full of potions and chemical brews.

#3 Cable TV

I only really had this for a short while when antenna analog TV first died, but I come from a home where TV watching is What You Do All The Time. My parents each have their own TV and simultaneously watch different shows in different rooms for hours every day ...at dueling volumes (my dad needs hearing aids but won't admit it; mom doesn't but can't hear her TV over his). I do have a digital converter now, but honestly I don't think I've watched TV since the last season of Sherlock. How long ago was that? My (small, CRT, with a VCR attached) TV only gets turned on when I want to play Wii Fit. Once it croaks, I won't be replacing it, either. I may buy something to convert the RCA cables of my Wii so I can still play it on my 14 1/2 year old iMac, though.

This is not to say I never watch TV shows, but I'd rather borrow DVDs from the library or pay for a download, watch the show I want to watch, and then turn it off.

Added bonus: I am now so desensitized to commercials that I cringe and stare at them like I'm an anthropologist studying a foreign culture. They're fucking LUDICROUS, you guys. Way more than you may already think they are if you see them on the regular. At xmas, my relatives were all discussing a funny COMMERCIAL they all enjoyed. Not a show. A commercial. When I didn't know what they were talking about, my uncle exclaimed, "Do you even own a TV?!" like that was the most unimaginable thing ever.

#4 A Stocked Pantry

Prepper friends might flip out about this, but since I ate through my pantry because I didn't have money for food and can only afford to buy what I need, I eat a lot simpler and I waste less food. Things don't expire and go bad as often because you stay on top of exactly what you have and see when you need to use it up before it turns.

Would I be happy to get a large stash of a staple, shelf-stable item like tomato sauce? Sure. But I always had this kind of "emergency" stash of things I didn't particularly eat often and sometimes they went bad before I got around to them.

The first thing I notice about other Americans' refrigerators is the door full of sauces. Three different salad dressings, two barbeque sauces, steak sauce, worchestershire, mayo, three mustards, catsup, pickles, olives, kraut, peppers, oh look, more salad dressing, relish... and half those bottles passed their expiration six to twenty-four months ago.

My fridge door looks like this:
IMG_20180116_152958.jpg
eggs, butter
enchilada sauce°, catsup, syrup, barbeque sauce°, cherry juice concentrate
yogurt, peppers, mayo (near expiration), Worchestershire sauce, mustard, pickles
cat food, sour cream (past expiration but been using up), probiotics, yeast
° means homemade from scratch

I didn't look at expiration dates, btw, I just know offhand. Because I'm considering, when cooking or grocery shopping, that I should make tacos before the sour cream goes or egg salad for the mayo. It's so much more manageable this way! I will never go back to the buffet option pantry again.

#5 (with a caveat) A Smartphone

I was an early adopter to smart phones. I got some of the first proto-smartphones available (hello, TMobile Sidekicks!). When I graduated to an Android touchscreen, I very quickly discovered how addicting it had become to have the internet in my pocket (not to mention how absurdly expensive data plans had gotten). When that phone broke, I bought a simpler phone still with a full keyboard (I hate typing on touchscreens, which I do all the time now because my only internet capable device is a Kindle Fire, but I hate more typing on a 0-9 phone pad, which I do again too because my current carrier does not support that full-keyboard phone). My current phone is as simple as my very first cell phone ever - pre-flip phones.

I've been pretty happy with this choice. Even with a Kindle I spend more time online than I should some days. I don't talk or text as much as I used to (being a depressive, opinionated recluse loses you a lot of friends). I don't need a more complicated phone.

The only caveat is that now society presumes everyone has a smart phone, and you can't do certain things without one! Want to save money with coupons on your groceries? Download our app! Want to pay for your groceries with the safest method, secure from swipe readers? Use Apple Pay! Want to call an Über? You need a smartphone. Want to raise money for the animal shelter while you walk? Etc.

So while I'm happy without one, I get the feeling society is going to rope me back in on this last one in order to survive in the world.

Oh, and if you're wondering? Things I WOULD get if I could?

A laptop (broke years ago), a car (never had one), and a comfortable, brand new bed (I sleep on a broken, secondhand couch).

What are some things you discovered you don't need that makes people in your society look at you like you have two heads? Let me know I'm not the only one!

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Great post! It's amazing what we learn when we have to go without. For me that mostly surrounds electricity usage (I've had my power out without expecting it on two occasions for a month+ duration) and since moving offgrid I've learned to monitor my consumption. I haven't even watched cable in like 7 years. Nor used a microwave in 5. And I learned to clean with vinegar or just water. Keeping the pantry stocked is a must though when you live out of town and don't drive. And I only own a cell phone for business reasons but I suspect I'll be getting rid of it soon! I've learned to live without clean laundry for some time which is rough but getting closer to having that back in my life! I hope you get those things you would get if you could!!

I hope you get the laundry situation sorted!!

I love this post. We haven’t had cable for 4 years and have never looked back. Could definitely do without the microwave, but at this point it works and doubles as the stove exhaust. We love emptying the pantry and fridge (or close to it) now and then. Hmmm. Smartphone. This might be my favorite part because it would be the hardest for me, but what you write makes sense. Just as I tell friends to try getting rid of cable, I would probably say the same about the phone if I took the plunge. Thanks for the inspiration.

Thank you for your comment! It is interesting what we come to depend on, isn't it?

I really enjoyed reading your post. Ever since I was young I have always marveled at the luxuries of what those in what some perceive as third world countries have, a strong sense of community, deep faith, and value in a day of true hard work....among many other things. Luxury in this day and age amounts to frivolous unnecessary falsities.
It's great reading of the things you have laid aside and your reflection of how your life has been bettered for it.

I think that lack of sense of community is a big one in the west, and the cause of many ills. Of course, the corporatocracy likes it that way: people shop to try and fill the void, and the poor don't unite and rise up and demand justice. I've read that it's a very different thing to be poor in a wealthy nation vs. being poor in a poor nation. Like, at least in a poor nation you're not alone or feeling alone in your poverty, and in a wealthy nation you see all the wealth and think, "What's wrong with ME?" Of course you're not alone in a wealthy nation, either, especially the States, but it sure can feel that way! And homeless people are constantly having their scant few possessions destroyed by police and told to "move along" when there is nowhere for them to go and rest, whereas in poor countries there are slums where at least you could make your makeshift shelter and not have the police destroy it all (unless they are planning for the olympics or something, as we've seen). Even the UN inspector commented on how cruel the US was to homeless people. But I'm going off on a tangent, lol.

Yeah, there are so many things I could say about all of that. I could use up all of my bandwidth just going off on the bullshit we are force fed in this country by the corporate dictatorship. But all in all I really do think that more often than not we are richer beings when we have less material burdens. Unfortunately our programming in this the US makes it hard to figure out what that really looks like.

Love this! I love reading all of the comments too, realizing that there are more people that realize simplicity is better. No microwave for 15 years now, no cable for 12. Most cleaning products are homemade but I do need to up my game with laundry soap and a few other things. I have slowky been ditching all of the excess from my fridge.....so much room for improvement, thank you for the reminder <3

Thank you for your comment! I was getting good at making nearly all my body care items, and then I got diagnosed with gobs of allergies, and was allergic to most of them! I'm allergic to most of what's in the store, too, but ya know. So I am working on that part again too.

Good post indeed! We don't own or haven't ever owned a toaster, a microwave, a smart phone, a car that was newer than 10 years old, a pack-n-play, a clothes dryer, a television, a furnace, a coffee-maker, dishwasher, hmmm... I'm sure I could think of some more things... Hey its great. I might get a clothes dryer though ;) for rainy days...

Wow! Do you use wood heat?
And fair warning, it always cracks me up because I don't have kids and I never came across "pack n play" meaning "portable playpen" until I joined NextDoor (local social media, lots of neighbors giving away/selling/sharing items) and saw moms constantly asking to borrow one. It wasn't until someone posted a photo of one for sale in a bag labeled "Graco" that I realized OH IT'S A PLAYPEN. In the LGBT community (hi, friendly neighborhood queer here) it means something very different. 😂 Very, very different. Trans men and lesbians might buy one.
Now imagine my grossed out confusion over posts like:
"Does anyone have a pack n play I can borrow for the weekend?"
😱😱😱
Cross cultural lesson complete!

We do heat with wood, yes...

Oh my!

This post really resonated with me. We do our best to strike a balance between a minimalist lifestyle and creature comforts. A lot of the purges we have made are for health reasons. Like getting rid of our microwave. We to choose to not consume commercial television programs. You know why they call them programs? Because they program your mind haha. With the advent of streaming services there really is no reason imo to consume commercial tv anymore. We also utilize our local library for renting DVDs and I'm amazed that more people don't.

As for the things that you would get if you could.... I think the concept was introduced to me by Jim Rohn. But basically, the philosophy states that if you are unhappy or not 100% pleased with the physical things that you have, get rid of them. It is only by creating a void and a vacuum that you can then attract the things you do want into your life. Has to do with a law of physics...don't ask me which one though lol. Cheers, you're on the right path :)

I agree. Most North Americans now shop mindlessly. At lunch, after work, during work, on line in bed at night. Shop, shop, shop. I think I got caught up in this at some point. In the last 3 years we have done an early retirement, downsized our home, moved 3 provinces away, got rid of half our things and our attitude on what we need. We cook from scratch and enjoy the things we do have. We are much happier, healthier and we are at peace.

Yeah, my home will never be some zen minimalist magazine cover, nor would I want it to be, but I am working to make it more manageable. If you know The Spoon Theory, I am a low-spoon person so too much stuff is overwhelming. One of the reasons I want a tiny house is because it would be more what I could handle!
The second bit is metaphysics, not physics-physics, but yeah, I'm familiar. I'm a reformed hoarder and have been on this simplification and purging path for about a decade.

So I get it and yes I understand. Sometimes the things are gone for other reasons. Health reasons alone have me given up on Salad Dressings, Fabric Softner, Dryer Sheets, Household Cleaners. An early retirement made us give up the second car 2 Tvs and a whole lot of shit. WE downsized our home hugely. I dont use a microwave and we dont have a smart phones. We cook from scratch and buy what we need. My pantry is full of spices and rice and beans. Just in case. My fridge looks like yours. I am appalled at the fridges of my friends and family. Chock full of all kinds of shit. 6 kinds of ice cream. Sauces and dressings and who knows what else. So bad. My parents were immigrants so we never had much. I dont remember being unhappy. I am however blessed, my home is comfy and cosy. I have given away bags of clothes and books. I have more to go but its so much work. Everything that is gone I do not miss. I am at peace. God Bless You.

Yeah, a couple of years back I got diagnosed with a pile of allergies and that eliminates most processed foods, and many body care products. But I had already been making my own body care and had to find workarounds to those because I am super allergic to latex (shea butter, pretty much any alternative to it), and all nuts and seeds (so many oils are out). So that has added to the simplification that was already underway.

I so hear you. I gave up regular TV long long time ago. Back when I still owned my own home! I do need a microwave as I hate cooking and prefer to zap. I now have two beds.. because the last place I was at didn't want the new one donated to them for me so I took it. No bed frame tho. If I have to camp in my van, I can't fit a bed frame. I have slowly been selling stuff. I brought with me from Cortez 2 heaters that I sold. I have an evaporative type cooler that I may sell, and a fan too. I have managed to hold onto my beloved shabby chic coffee table, and I have a small table and folding chair that I carry with me for working on jewelry. The thing I have the most if the, is jewelry making stuff. It's nuts! I have 4 rollaway plastic storage drawers two plastic trunks, and probably 2 or 3 large plastic totes of stuff. It's ridiculous I spoke! I am once again going thru it all to consolidate and get rid/sale. I have a hard time tho....and hover over it all like that crazy king with his gold!! I also have one tote with cat stuff in it and two cat carriers. I am trying to figure out thinking it out some so it fits in the van with a bit of room. Haha. Course this could all completely change cause I now have my van up for sale!! And when I do have a fridge, there's lots space...not much food

I have been slowly selling things as well. Some things move right away and some things just don't sell at all and I give up.

I run into that here too. It's odd sometimes what ppl find necessary and snatch up. Cortez had an amazing trade and resale response.

I don't have a microwave. Or a TV. You are not the only one.

I do have a car, but I paid cash for it so at least there's no monthly payment to worry about. And so far it has only broken down and stranded me four times 😄

This was a pretty cool post to read, btw. I've always thought it would be neat to live in a tiny home. Maybe once Steem goes to the moon I will be able to buy a tiny home.

I hope to as well! In an apartment right now.

Well, that is certainly a lot better than on the street. Success!

I'm 60% of the way there with you!

We replaced our ugly failing microwave with a tiny 700 watt model for under $30. We need it for re-heating the dog's chicken, and when we lose power, it's nice to have a low-watt model for running off the generator.

And I'd like to ditch the distractions of a smart-phone but I'm addicted to using it for reading in bed (no bedside lamp to wake up the wife) and tracking my runs while listening to music and taking pictures. It struggles with these tasks but it's three years old and only cost $40 so I can't complain.

I'm with you on the advertising, man. That stuff is idiotic.

Everyone's needs are different, totally. I'm not saying my list is a guide for everyone, but that probably everyone has or could have a list of their own of "things that just was how things were and not questioned" until, for whatever reason, they couldn't do it that way and HEY, they discover they like the workaround better.
Yeah, running tracking is another thing I'd appreciate. Currently to log my miles, I google map afterward, lol. I know the distances to my most common errands and that the park is 1/3 mile around by heart.

Yeah, the app crashes enough that I'll use Google maps to log my miles sometimes. Plus the fact that I'm running the same routes over and over makes it easy to figure out too.

It's kind of ironic that I'm so against tracking, yet I'm perfectly happy to put a GPS receiver on and then obsessively log all this information into a spreadsheet.

I have a garmin I use when I run, it gives me what I need to know. How far, how much time and the pace. I keep a chart on my bulletin board in my office to chart how much I do each day. I have a cheap cheap little cell phone I use to take pics or if I have an emergency on the run. Thats it

I've got an old Garmin that we used to take sailing. It's so primitive and doesn't really have a map, but it's rock solid.