Topic: Minimalist

My sister is my financial advisor. If you need to squeeze quarters out of pennies, Courtney knows how to do it. By looking at her year-end account statement last year, she realized she could pay off all her student debt 6 years early by simply getting rid of cable TV for a year. She's that good. 

Anyway, my sister, during one of our... shall we say, "financial sessions," shared a terrific story with me that I think sings to the heart …

I love meal planning and now I've gone a step further: I cooked all of our meals for the week in one day.In fact, Happy Herbivore meal plans encourage it!

Admittedly, the first time I tried cooking all my meals ahead I wasn't sure if this would be possible. It seemed so crazy and unrealistic. Could I really cook all of our lunches and dinners in one day and reheat them during the week?Would the food still taste …

Planning our week's meals before going to the grocery store has been one of those Do as I say, not as I dothings for me. 

I recommend meal planning all of the time and truthfully, I've always wanted to meal plan. I saw the utility and value behind it, but for the past 5 years, Scott & I have always lived in walking distance to a grocery store. 

In Boston I lived across the street from Whole Foods, in …

This blog post picked me. I kept coming across this same, reoccurring idea over and over this last week and as it turns out, it was something I needed to hear. (and I suspect we all do!)

When I started down this minimalist path I wanted to reduce stress so I could be more zen, but also so I could be happier. In one of my past memoir posts I shared this quote, which I find deeply profound:

Know that happiness is always available …

The deeper I dive into minimalism, the more I realize I've always had an inner minimalist trying to push her way out. 

About two years ago I adopted the practice that something new must truly replace something old. That is, every time I buy something, I have to get rid of something else. 

This all started when Scott's T-shirt collection was getting a bit out of hand and I told him for every new T-shirt he buys, he has to …