As I get further into 'Simplify' I find that apart from food planning and having to think a bit more about various aspects of my life, not a lot has changed. In fact by thinking ahead and planning I am finding I am spending virtually nothing outside of my food needs. Maybe I am more boring than I though. However, this is why I know a month is not long enough. There are far too many 'big bills' and hidden costs in my life that I can get away with even in one month. I have generally been able to walk and cycle. But because I am still working I have needed the car on a few occasions. I have used it far less however so that is good. Suddenly a 5 mile bike ride to a meeting just means building in 30 minutes either side. That is 30 minutes of ME time too. But even though my car is a 10 year old Rover 25 with low tax, insurance and running costs I know these are annual bills that have to be budgeted for. I know I have to budget for depreciation/ replacement costs too. (As part of my wider move to simplify all aspects of life I do believe in not borrowing money as far as possible too!) Once these are taken into account the little I have spent on fuel for the month makes the economics of owning a car seem ridiculous. No wonder car share schemes are booming. This is certainly one area of life that needs deeper thought.
Other gems this week. By volunteering as I do with the Cubs I got a free swimming session. The swimming for the Cubs of course is now free thanks to the introduction of free swimming by the government earlier this year. However, the thing I will miss most this month are my sessions at the gym. I have taken the useful advice and decided to use the natural environment to keep fit instead of paying to use gym equipment. But I will miss the whole experience.
So far so good. But now I am back at work in London I face new challenges. I have promised myself not to eat at work using canteens. The problem is that we work 9am to about 10.30pm so there is no opportunity to prepare and cook a hot meal at home. I will have to see how I get on with this. On the other hand it does stop me spending money on leisure. But for me simplifying my life properly would be to end these ridiculous long hour work cultures just as much as cutting back on the cost of food and leisure.
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