a stay home day and a terrific list

After three days of gallivanting around swimming here and there and wearing the kids out (big time crabbiness last night: not me! them) we are having a stay-home day. We are making yogurt and baking bread and doing the laundry and reading lots of books. It's a bit overcast which helps us remain content to be indoors.

Of course I am content as I get to blog surf a little bit. I found this list for old-fashioned living over at A Vision Splendid and I love it. I'm highlight the ones we are not doing, to help me remember to get going. I'm a bit surprised that putting food up is not on the list. I'll just add it to the end.

1. Living within our means in a small house with no debt
2. No commercial TV
3. Cooking from scratch
4. Finding old 'sturdy' items second hand rather than a constant supply of cheap 'made in china' items that need replacing every 12 months
5. Spending quality family time together
6. Baking our own bread
7. Brewing our own beer

6Ps = Prior Preparation and Planning Prevents Poor Performance

8. Fixing things ourselves
9. Growing what we can
10. Doing our own renovations
11. Using the town library as a resource
12. Buying local produce
13. Composting our food scraps
14. Minimising plastic packaging on foods
15. Avoiding petrochemicals in products
16. Work on a completely cash budget
17. Changing all lights to CFLs
18. Line dry the washing
19. Menu planning
20. Buying Australian [the author is from Australian ~ obviously I'll be buying West Coast] grocery items where local not available
21. Stockpiling
22. Managing my home in a single binder
23. Getting ahead by applying the 6P principle [6Ps = Prior Preparation and Planning Prevents Poor Performance.]
24. Having a planning day once a week
25. Having a cooking day once a week
26. Work hard at 'saving' through the year for an annual holiday [vacation]
27. Using old fashioned items and remedies - e.g. washup with sunlight soap, put eucalyptus oil on your hankie if you feel a cold coming.
28. Wear an apron to keep your clothes clean
29. Turn the TV off and read out loud to my children
30. Wear hand me downs
31. Avoiding food additives and chemicals
32. Put food up: can, freeze & dry for off-season consumption [added by Suzanne]

Onward ho! I stopped by Costco last night and bought 25 pounds of sugar, rice, and beans. I'm stocking up on the essentials as I do not like the looks of both our personal economic situation and our national economic situation. I think we are in for lean times.

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