DOES SIMPLE = CHEAP?

Back in my previous life, as a big-city suburbanite, I was always under the extremely misguided impression that moving to a rural setting, and trying to live a simpler life, would save us tons of money. Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha!

True, I never, ever go shopping anymore, just for something to do. I rarely ever buy clothes, furniture, or knick-knacks for the house. I spend much less on restaurants and entertainment, and that amount will probably dwindle even further as time goes on, and we meet more people to socialize and trade supper invitations with. Also, the older we get, the less a trip into the city for dinner and a movie will seem worth those late-night-deer-dodging drives back home. I'm cooking more from scratch, avoiding most of the packaged, processed stuff, and making many of my own cleaning products, too. Best of all, I've rediscovered the joy of handmade gifts.

Despite all that, we still find plenty to spend our money on. For instance, we recently had some selective clearing done on the property. We managed to ignore the need for almost five years, but could no longer deny that scrub cedar and poverty weed had taken over our property to the point that you could no longer see the oaks, which were also full of dead limbs. Cha-ching! Before that, it was the water catchment system. CHA-CHING! Before that, it was paving the terrace, paving the driveway, re-sealing the driveway, refinishing the floors, the roof blowing off, re-refinishing the floors... well, you get the picture. It might have been different if we had started this adventure in our 20's or 30's, when we still had more strength and energy than sense, but doing most of this work ourselves is just no longer an option.

So, no. Not cheap. Just different. But good.