TuckertonRR

I wouldn't buy a _bottle_ of wine for $19, let alone a _glass_

beast775

the less you have ,the more you gain!!!hello minimalists.to make it simple,no vehicles..i ride a motorized bicycle.and have run it on alcohol and castor oil.it tends to lose power that way,but my fuel costs for 2007 were 23 dollars.i own a few 100 year old bicycles,and a english roadster hercules 1934.no credit cards.no loans.everything i own will fit in a backpack.the bed stays and small tv if i split.i enjoy living like this,it keeps my mind clear.

Machka 

I think I would have handed the wine list back and said that water would do fine.

sunburst

That is pretty close to what I said, after pointing to the price and saying "I've never seen this." He probably thought I was referring to the winery, but I meant I've never seen such a price.

One good thing about this (expensive) area though - we are blessed with very close foothills and there are a lot of cycling enthusiasts. Six serious cyclists on my half-block alone.

Roody

I wonder how much the water cost.

Machka 

Probably just about as much as the wine!

Reminds me of a Three's Company episode:

Captain: A cocktail before you dine?
Janet Wood Dawson: Oh, thank you!
[looks at menu and is stunned at the prices]
Janet Wood Dawson: I believe I'll have some water.
Chrissy: [eyes bugging out at the menu prices] Me, too.
Captain: Of course. Would you care for the imported Rumanian, the Mountain Clear or the Gillian Sparkling?
Chrissy: I'd like Santa Monica tap!

z3px

Wonder how much a nice glass of beer would have been. Usually cheaper, and you can get more of it for your money

j.walker

i used to live simply...

then i got married

wahoonc

I wouldn't even bet on that! I was in a chain restaurant the other night for a very late dinner. They were charging over $6 for a short glass of Sam Adams...they claimed it was an import (and this was on the east coast, not the overpriced west coast)

Aaron

AdamD

Living cheaply and simply while enjoying wine is easy, but to so do means you probably won't be buying wine at restaurants. Wine is outrageously marked-up at restaurants. 3x mark-up at a restaurant over retail price isn't uncommon in my experience. If you're buying by the glass the mark-up is even more. Buy wine at a local wine shop and you can get darn good wine for very reasonable prices, and then drink it at home so you don't have to pay some restaurants dumb corkage fee. If nothing else Thunderbird and Night Train are reasonably priced, but they can be hard to find on wine lists at restaurants.

TuckertonRR

even better would be making your own wine. Not very difficult, plus you could use locally-grown grapes & do some experimenting. Probably come up with a better wine than most of whats out there, cheaper, and its something you actually made yourself.

z3px

I thought about doing this. Not sure if I would have the patients for it though.

Machka 

You're a Dr? Well ... the fewer patients you have, the more simply you'd need to live!

pwhallon

Oh goodness, ME TOO!

wheel

People every where are living simpler. I just wanted to say.

gz_

Yea, I'm not sure if it's good to feel this way but I kind of like this economic downturn because people are forced to find entertainment in the simple things like a hike in the woods or riding a bike rather than blowing a lot of cash on junk. Oh well.

TomM

Maybe where you live but not in my neck of the woods. I am beginning to think that people are in denial or they are waiting for the magical government bailout. I am waiting for the day when reality hits these people.

Sirrus Rider

Yeah.. A high percentage of women will complicate your life and call it being sophisticated.

rockmom

This made me chuckle. I posted a similar thought concerning having a husband. I think people just have different ideas about what is necessary or not. When you put two or more of them together it just gets more complicated.

zoltani

I once got into a heated “discussion” with the bartender, and eventually the manager, of a restaurant over this very issue. They claimed that all domestic beer is $2 during happy hour, so I gladly ordered a Sam Adams. When they told me the price it was more than $2. When I mentioned it they said that it was an import, even though it’s made in the US. After telling them this fact they said “Well, you know what we mean by domestic, Budweiser, miller.”
Ok, so it may be a “craft beer”, but don’t call it a freaking import! Soon after that I think they changed their sign.


I enjoying brewing my own beer. There is a satisfaction in drinking it that doesn't come when you purchase beer in the store. In the end I guess it is cheaper, and definitely better.


I just watched the PBS documentary called "Affluenza" on you tube and it made me think of this thread. Funny how many things they were warning against are now true. I would have to agree with the poster above that I think the economic crisis will be good for the average american consumer in the end

Newspaperguy

For far too long, too many of us have had the idea that we're entitled to having all our desires gratified right away. But in much of the world, where people work long and hard for meagre wages and where there is little or no social safety net, such dreams of a rich life are completely out of reach. Even our versions of simplicity would be seen as high luxury.

If this recession serves as a reality check for us, then it will have accomplished something positive and important.

cthunter01

That's one of my favorite quotes. For the record, here's a more complete version:

What exactly "simple living" means to different people has been tossed around a bit on this thread, and now it's my turn to chime in. For me, simple living is ultimately about living deliberately and consciously. It's about living your life in a way that is consistent with your stated values. It's also about making decisions in life to further those goals, and eschewing choices that lead away from them. It's about being able to sleep well at night without taking a pill, and living with a totally clean conscience. It's about seeking true happiness and contentedness in life, which despite all of the energy spent in advertising to the contrary, cannot be bought. In most cases, it seems having lots of "stuff" is counterproductive to those goals, which is why I suspect living simply is often associated with living minimally.

In a related vein, I'm not interested in judging others for living with much more than I personally need to get by on, as that would be counterproductive. Additionally, I don't know what their values are or the specific needs of their families, so I would be in no position to be able to pass judgements. For the most part, I couldn't care less how other people live anyway, as long as their lifestyles don't get too much in the way of my chosen way of life; because, within reason of course, I choose to live my own life each and every moment how I wish to live it. To worry too much about what everyone else is doing with their lives would be to lose focus on my own. As for most of the people that know me, and whose opinions I actually care something about, they just think I'm eccentric and I'm fine with that.

At the moment, I live pretty simply, but I still feel like I have some nagging loose ends to take care of. I own a Trek 7.3 FX which I depend upon for transportation as I don't own a car. My room is pretty much bare except for a bed and dresser. My closet is pretty filled up with stuff, though. I have a lot of backpacking/hiking gear in there, but I use it and derive great satisfaction from it's use. Overall, I could move everything I own, save the bed and dresser, in a small car if I owned one. I'm not quite to the point of being able to move on my bicycle, but I'd like to get there. Maybe if I had a trailer... Oh, and I'm single, which helps tremendously.

EDIT: Oh, and I have a desk with a desktop computer on it.

Machka 

Rowan experienced something like this on February 7th ....... and life became a whole lot "simpler" in terms of material things for both of us.



I've been going through my stuff and getting rid of it, but now that our life no longer includes a house, I will be reassessing what I decided to keep and will very likely be getting rid of more than I originally planned.


And for those who think that they cannot live a simple life if they have a woman in their lives ... I am a woman, and Rowan and I are aiming to live a very simple life together.

cyrsir51

I just started scanning through this thread.
Im a young male who is still in school and trying to figure life out just like everyone else. I found living a simple life enlightening. I started going though all my clothes and donating the ones i dont use/ need, old bike stuff donate to a little program or gave to friends, and furniture I gave to my mom who was looking to to upgrade her living space...
I was living with my brother in a decent size 2 bedroom apartment till he wanted to move to london... i moved into the city... so the first move made me start to downsize the things I owned. Once i started doing that I didn't stop. After a bad housing situation I had to move again.. this time back with my mom, she is a pack rat but after telling her how the things you own soon own you she kind of understood that the things we own we can live with out ... in doing so we helped out other ( homeless people with clothes etc..) and saved money.

Fast forward 2 years now Im content with the things I own and the lifestyle I live. Im getting ready to move yet again. But this time to a little studio where all I will have is a bed, a table, dishes, and two chairs. Along with a few other little things OH and my bikes ... Living car free and saving money oh things are nice.

wahoonc

And Machaka; you appear to be the exception to the rule FWIW I know plenty of guys that could complicate and clutter up a simple lifestyle too

Aaron