Challenge: Our families year of less so we can experience more

Last week I floated a challenge idea for our family I thought I would name "Our Families Year Of Less So We Can Experience More."

The Landcruiser loaded up as we moved our family, three dogs, two cats, and Squirtle the turtle 2000kms across Australia to our new farm.  

In many ways we are pretty good at buying second hand, buying only what we need and embracing a simpler lifestyle.  In other ways, we could do better.  More importantly, I WANT to do better. 

This year we need to make our money stretch a really long way.  We have the yurt to kit out once it arrives next week with a fully functioning kitchen, super energy efficient fridge, gas oven, there is a basic solar system to build, water tanks to install and a basic shed to build.  Then there is the driveway that is in dire need of serious maintenance.  It is currently 2km of 4WD track only. (not actually joking, it's why this place was affordable.)

Instead of feeling constantly broke and overwhelmed by a looming to-do list I decided to make a challenge out of it which I have named Our Families Year Of Less So We Can Experience More.  

In this year I want to challenge us to think differently about how we live our lives, to be inspired to think outside the box, to explore and learn and to lean deeply into living simply while enjoying the everyday moments in life together as a family.  I want to take the time to play board games, read books, take trips to the beach, enjoy picnics together and to work together in a more creative manner.  

This challenge will continue to evolve as we become better set up with the yurt.  Having a full-size fridge and an oven will greatly improve my ability to cook full meals and store fresh food for example!  But we will start now, doing the best we can with what we have.  I am also conscious that the boys have had a huge move to process and adapt to so I will be ensuring somethings/traditions stay the same for them to give them a feeling of stability and familiarity.    

It is easy to buy exactly what we need from the shops, it is challenging to think about what we need and to see if we can come up with a creative way in which to achieve it.  Sometimes we will simply need to go to the shop and that's ok.  This challenge is meant to be fun, to bring us clarity and guidelines from which to work from.  If we slip up we are not going to berate ourselves, I will simply be honest about it and use it, reflect and move on.     

Camping on the farm.  Its basic but it does the job.  

For instance, I always pack drink bottles, crackers, and fruit when we go out, but we still splash out and buy take away more than we really need.  (Like sushi.  Which is simple to make.) Most of our clothes we buy new though we do op-shop a bit.  I would like to flip that so we mostly op-shop and only sometimes buy new.  Often we will fall into the trap of 'busy' and head to the shop to buy an item we need instead of patiently searching gumtree or op-shops.  

When it comes to setting up the yurt and the farm, we will source a second-hand kitchen and re-design it to for space.  We have done it before HERE and it was lovely.  We can build a small shed and shelter out of recycled materials.  We will search for quality second-hand appliances or scratch and dent.  I actually love that when things are built and created out of second-hand materials that they have a story and history behind them.  

Up-cycling, thrifting, and making is undoubtedly slower.  Sometimes with a young family, we simply don't have the time or energy to embrace these things.  And that's OK.  We have done our best until now.  But now I am ready to sink my teeth into a project to help us make a drastic shift.   

As with all things, actions speak louder than words.  

If we say we value the environment, that we value up-cycling and creativity and then don't make the time to do it then it is simply words.  The thing is we want our life to not be made up of well-meaning words, but instead, we want to live the life we value, to live a life of action.  We want to continue to teach our children to care for this plant and each other.  We want them to know the joy of lazy days, messing about at the beach and creating their own adventures.  

We want to have the financial freedom to work less and spend more time together.  We want to be present in this precious season of having young children.

I believe this challenge will help us get to that place.

The beautiful old woolen crochet blanket made up from an avid knitters yarn stash I discovered in an op-shop.  It was this blanket that inspired me to take on this year as a new challenge.

Goals
In this challenge, we hope to save money which will contribute to getting the farm established and also to re-building a good emergency fund after our big move.

We hope to become more conscious of what we consume and the way in which we source the things we buy to fulfill our needs.

We hope to make greener and more ethical choices which will, in turn, lead to shrinking our environmental input as a family.

We hope to be challenged to really explore our new area and all the wonderful natural resources and various events that are on offer here.  We hope by doing this challenge we will become more familiar with our community and to build new relationships with others who are similarly minded.

We hope to walk to the beat of our own drum, in being courageous in saying no and in finding the beauty and the joy in the simple things that surround us.

Inclusions

- Clothing

- Linen

- pet needs

- all kitchen/household items

- furniture (indoor and outdoor)

- kitchen cabinetry/bathroom items

- books

- building materials which are safely able to be purchased second hand for various projects like iron, timber etc.

- DIY composting toilet

Exceptions

- Undies, socks, underclothes. (hygiene)

- Any compulsory school uniform items I can't source second hand first.  

- Electrical items, plumbing, and essential building supplies that for safety reasons need to be brand new.  The yurt will be our home and needs to be safe.  

- medical stuff

- Fabric (though this will be carefully considered and op-shopped if possible.  I usually only buy natural fibers too.)

- Children's birthday gifts. (mostly we give money and we keep birthdays simple anyway.) 

- seedlings/seeds  (we will be starting out with veggie gardening at the farm, though we will save seeds as we get better set up.)      

Food

We will aim to bring all our food with us at all times unless it is a special occasion like a birthday and the person wants to eat out for their special birthday dinner or if we attend a social get together organized by others.  Our wedding anniversary will also be an exception.  If we do decide an occasion warrants a treat, we will ensure it is a budget treat.

We will aim to stick to mostly what I consider basic ingredients and to keep our shop under $200/week for 5 people 2 cats, 3 dogs, and Squirtle the turtle.  Currently, we have no veggie patch which will allow us to supplement our food budget later.    

Entertainment
Our challenge is to embrace and explore all the free or very cheap activities that are available to us in our new district.  Birthdays are an exception so a trip to the cinema or the zoo can be enjoyed by the birthday child!

Much love,
Emma
xx