I feel so special

I feel really special right now because a friend of mine wrote a paper about me and my simple life for her college financial class.

She said she's better get an A on it because she actually knows me and its not just research she did on someone somewhere that who knows if they really live like that.

I didn't tell her that we are actually trying to simplify our life even more and downsize even more than we already have. She would get a kick out of that I bet.

I told her I would like to read the paper she wrote. Hope she lets me.

We are realizing that Jeff may not be able to work forever, and in case he isn't able to we need to be able to live as simply and cheaply as we can. He has no plans to retire but life sometimes throws curve balls at you and you have to either duck or get hit in the face. We would like to duck if we can. We figure that by learning to live more simply now it wont be such a shock if and when the time comes that forces us to do so.

I am stocking up on non perishable things like toothpaste, mouthwash, toothbrushes, beans, rice and the like when I can get them killer cheap so that I never have to buy these things at sale price let alone regular price with out a coupon.

I rarely buy things we don't regularly use except when its an item someone I know can use and I always use what I store and store what I use in all departments.

You would be surprised how much you can store in a 5th wheel. I am actually pretty good at organizing and finding space where most people don't see potential storage space. While its true that I cant store years worth of products or be like the Extreme Coupon people I can store enough to tide us through hard times. Which by the way seem to come more frequently these days. I am also able to buy cheap or free items I can then pass on to friends who have a need for them.

An example of creating more storage space: Lets say you have 4 box's of band aids. Those 4 boxes take up a fair amount of space, but if you dump the 4 box's contents into a zip lock bag you have much more space. You already know how to apply a band aid and I have never even looked to see if there are instructions on the box so obviously you don't need the box's. And get this, those 4 box's of band aids can actually fit in a snack size zip lock bag. Thus you have created much more storage space.

Look around your bathroom, utility closet, and kitchen to see if there are items there you can store in a different way.

Do you have a unique way of storing something? Tell me about it.