Whoa Doggy! And Some Other News.

OK, it’s been a while. Best-laid plans don’t always work out, and my plans are no exception to this oft-cited rule. Due to a combination of a bad economy, my looking for work, and several other unmentionables, my plan to hit the road with an Airstream has been put on hold indefinitely. I know, I know. It’s not gone, it’s just… being saved for later. I realized this morning that ever since my last post in October, I have left the site rather dormant and lacking of any news or updates. Thus, this here post, just to let you guys know I am not dead and, in fact, am working on the next phase of what is truly possible, instead of what has to be put on the backburner.

For starters, I have been on the road since October. Not in the fashion that I wanted to be, but I did pack everything up and have been living in 3 different locations since then. I am currently in Florida visiting some relatives, but in just a short while I am off for my (final?) destination — Vermont. And yes, my girlfriend is still here and coming along too.

The goal is to set-up a simple, organized life in Vermont. Yes, in the middle of winter. No, I am not insane. But that’s the goal. Once I’m standing still, I hope to fill my life with writing, working, small-scale farming, honey-do lists, and some general manliness, all on a few (many?) acres of our own. Basically I will be working at keeping it simple, stupid, while also starting over from scratch. It should be fun.

So anyway, in case anyone was wondering, that’s the deal, man. After the holidays I head north in the Tacoma, to set up shop in beautiful Vermont. I hope this is where I stay for a long, long time, as I am tired of being a nomad for so long. Living out of a suitcase has its perks, but you do run out of clean socks rather quickly.

As for the Whoa Doggy!? Well, one of those is in the plans too. Along with some chickens.

Onward. 2012 looks to be an exciting here for me. Simple living, here I come. Hope you come along too.

Smartphones Can Replace These Everyday Items

I may have recently written about going back to a simple cellphone instead of my iPhone, but chances are I won’t be doing so anytime soon. I think it hit me the other morning when I realized just how many purposes my phone now serves for me on a daily basis. Sure, it makes calls; but it also replaces many different items I would otherwise have around cluttering up my life and my space. Off the top of my head, here are a few things that my iPhone stands in for perfectly well, enabling me to simplify my life and my belongings:

  • GPS unit
  • Kitchen timer
  • Compass
  • Radio
  • Stereo to play my entire music collection
  • Recipe Book
  • Map book
  • Notepads
  • Calendar
  • Address Book
  • Digital Camera
  • Remote Control

iphones Smartphones Can Replace These Everyday Items

When you think about it that way, $199 for a device that does all that is a pretty good value. Imagine having to buy each one of those items individually? Add in the fact that I can also make calls and check email from almost anywhere and it is an astounding deal. Granted, the monthly access isn’t cheap and that’s why I am looking into switching to an Android phone on Virgin Mobile (75% less monthly cost than what I pay AT&T), but I do believe I need to stay with having some kind of smartphone for the future. What do you think? Do you use your phone to replace several everyday items, and if so what items does it replace?

Simplify and Save Money With Amazon Subscribe & Save

I am all about automating as much of my life as possible. My bills are paid automatically, payments are sent to my credit card automatically, and I have my Netflix queue full of at least 100 movies so that I don’t have to think about it for extended periods of time. The latest way I have discovered to simplify things around here is to start buying the standard items we constantly need via Amazon’s Subscribe & Save service.

subandsave Simplify and Save Money With Amazon Subscribe & Save

Just this morning I signed up for yet another item to be delivered every two months automatically — a daily vitamin supplement that we both take. Each bottle contains 120 pills, which means that it lasts us two months. We had been buying it at Whole Foods at first, thinking that was the only place we could get it. Then I decided to check Amazon and wow — it was 50% less than what Whole Foods wanted me to pay. Score! Throw in the free shipping and the no taxes, and this supplement just became a lot cheaper to take every day. But wait, it gets even better — when you sign up to have a product delivered automatically on a schedule, you save an additional 15%. How great is that? What was $49.99/bottle at WF is now $21/bottle!

Not every product is available in the Subscribe & Save section of Amazon’s site, but there are a ton of things in there that chances are you buy on a regular basis at your regular grocery store. Once you sign up, you select how often you want the item delivered and you are billed automatically each time it ships. I mark each delivery date on my calendar so I can skip, move, or delete a delivery of something I may not need right away, but usually the few things I do buy from them come right on time as I am running out. You can cancel at any time, but once you find out how much this helps to simplify part of your life, chances are you won’t. It certainly has made my life a little easier as I no longer have to worry about going without of some of our household standards!