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Our journey to pay off our mortgage, build a business and move to The Algarve in Portugal.

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Recent Posts Tagged With 'Simple living'

  • A little re planning

    Posted on Friday October 16th, 2009 at 10:18 in travel, goals, frugal living, Simple living

    Now that I’m over the initial euphoria of quitting my job, my mind has been spinning with all the changes it will bring to our life. We know that our goals for the next few years will need to be adjusted, but this is ok; we are looking forwa...

  • Bad Habits!

    Posted on Wednesday October 14th, 2009 at 13:50 in frugal living, Simple living, eco living

    As I’ve moved towards a simpler, greener lifestyle there are certain things that I’ve tried to do, that make a small difference to how I live my life. Not massive things, just little stuff. Lately I’m finding myself slipping back ...

  • Link Round Up: Life Planning

    Posted on Friday October 9th, 2009 at 04:32 in Simple living

    While I take some time to digest the events of the last few days and decide what I really want to do; my head is spinning with stuff, here are some posts that have inspired me. Go Ahead, Just Run Through The Fountain Live Simply and Save The Dra...

  • Big Change: I’m escaping the 8 to 8

    Posted on Sunday October 4th, 2009 at 21:38 in Simple living

    Please don’t be too shocked but I’ve actually done the craziest (probably) thing I’ve ever done. I quit my job. I have a few more weeks and then I’m out of the corporate world. This was a joint decision between me and my husba...

  • Rent or Sell? The Decision

    Posted on Sunday October 4th, 2009 at 04:50 in goals, Simple living, the house, mortgage payoff

    A little while ago I posted about how undecided we were on whether to rent out or sell our house when the move happens. We’ve finally made a decision, I think the photo probably gives it away! We aregoing to rent out our house. There are a coup...

  • Simple and Automatic

    Posted on Saturday September 26th, 2009 at 20:12 in Simple living

    How do you run your bank accounts? Is everything manual or automatic? Or do you do a mixture of both? I found one of the best ways to reduce our outgoings, early on in our goal to move to Portugal, was to eliminate every miscellaneous automatic paym...

  • More Reducing!

    Posted on Wednesday September 23rd, 2009 at 14:40 in frugal living, Simple living, organising

    Hello everybody Where did the last ten days go? I’m so behind on my posting! I’m in full scale ‘reducing my belongings mode’ as simplyfing of my clothing is quite possibly the best thing I’ve ever done. I feel constan...

  • Simplifying and Reducing: How far can I go?

    Posted on Saturday September 12th, 2009 at 03:05 in frugal living, Simple living, organising

    This title should read how far can I go or how far do I want to go? Since posting last week about my wardrobe clear out, I’ve been pondering these questions. I feel liberated by my clothing reduction, it feels great, and now I’m turning ...

  • Simplifying and Reducing My Clothing

    Posted on Friday September 4th, 2009 at 09:01 in Simple living, organising

    My self imposed ban on buying clothes has been going for 8 months now and so far so good. It’s really focusing me on what I actually need versus what I want, and I feel much better for it. Ever since I can remember I’ve had too many cloth...

  • Organising: Packing My Case

    Posted on Friday August 21st, 2009 at 10:03 in travel, Simple living, organising, 52 organising projects

    I’ll start off by saying that I love packing, it’s a mixture of holiday excitement and getting to organise a case. When we go on holiday we pack as lightly as possible, taking one case and one piece of hand luggage. For hand luggage I u...

  • Getting The Basics Right

    Posted on Sunday August 9th, 2009 at 02:57 in frugal living, Simple living, menu plans

    To me simple living is exactly what it says, simple; not complicated. Everything you do should be stress free and simple. Your daily food, your finances, your relationships, your holidays, even your email system, should be easy and simple. I’...

  • Getting A Life

    Posted on Sunday July 19th, 2009 at 02:56 in Portugal, goals, frugal living, Simple living

    This week I’ve started to read a book called Getting A Life after it was recommended by Tony. The book is about real lives transformed by the nine steps of Your Money of Your Life. So far it’s great; it really sums up how we feel about e...

  • Weekly Update: July 12th 2009

    Posted on Sunday July 12th, 2009 at 12:10 in Portugal, Simple living, the house

    I blogged about getting into the garden in April and it’s taken until now to make a little progress. We’re trying to get it back to (almost) zero so that it’s low maintenance; I have fence painting pencilled in for August and once ...

  • I Love Sundays

    Posted on Sunday July 5th, 2009 at 04:56 in blogging, Simple living

    Yay it’s Sunday! Today I woke up at 9.30am for the first time since about 1987. It may not have been that long ago, but it sure feels like it. Today is going to be a nice simple day spent in the garden. Thank you for all your thoughts and comme...

  • June Goals - A Little Late!

    Posted on Thursday June 11th, 2009 at 01:40 in goals, Simple living

    I’m a little late with these this month, and I’m not the only one, but I’m trying really hard to slow down. I’m aiming for a month of really easy living outside of work. Sometimes it’s just easier to go with the flow and...

  • Baby Steps To Your Dream

    Posted on Thursday June 4th, 2009 at 06:31 in goals, Simple living

    Well I’m back from Lisbon and feeling very refreshed, well apart from my calves; when people tell you that it’s hilly in Lisbon, believe them, I have aches on muscles I didn’t know I had! I did a lot of thought processing in Lisbo...

  • Ten Things I’m Loving

    Posted on Tuesday May 26th, 2009 at 14:59 in Simple living

    It’s been a while since I did a list like this, but last time I did one, it lifted me. So here we go. Please join in and do your own list. Daisies Blueberries Lisbon Sunshine Kevin McKidd {major crush} My garden Design blogs {all blogs} Read...

  • Budget Meeting

    Posted on Saturday May 23rd, 2009 at 01:48 in goals, Simple living

    Dh and I have a budget meeting today. It officially starts at 11am and we’ve had it planned all week. It assumes me that we do it this way, but it really works for us. I do all the day to day running of our joint bank account, which doesn̵...

  • Taking a Day Off

    Posted on Sunday May 17th, 2009 at 02:41 in goals, Simple living

    In a previous post Tony left a wonderful comment for me, which deserves its own post, about how he had made time for the things that are important to him; how he always keeps his end goal in mind. I do, do that. I have our end goal in mind 100% of t...

  • Talking a Good Game

    Posted on Friday May 8th, 2009 at 01:46 in Simple living

    There has been a distinct lack of posting this week, mainly due to me trying to do too much and not achieving anything. When it comes to simplifying my life I talk a very good game, but the reality is, I’m even busier than ever. What I’ve...

  • What’s Your Dream?

    Posted on Sunday May 3rd, 2009 at 19:01 in travel, dreams, goals, Simple living

    If someone asked you to tell them your dream lifestyle, what would you answer? I’ll start off by telling you mine; I dream of living in a warm climate (Portugal) and being able to spend at least a month every year in New York. There, not much ...

  • Ten Day Towards Health

    Posted on Saturday April 25th, 2009 at 05:52 in Simple living

    Frugal Trenches has spurred me and a few others into action. We’re taking part in a ‘Ten Days Towards Health Challenge’ and will be blogging our eating and excercise along the way. As you all know my eating sometimes leaves a little...

  • Link Love: Romance, Beauty, Simplicity and Motivation

    Posted on Friday April 17th, 2009 at 11:39 in blogging, Simple living

    Conscious Romance at Graceful Creative Sunday at Little Brown Pen Day 21 of 100 at Shoestring Alley Super Motivation to be Successful in Life at My Super Charged Life French Five Piece Wardrobe at On Simplicity It’s hard to find the right word...

  • An Easter ramble

    Posted on Sunday April 12th, 2009 at 10:02 in family, Simple living

    Hi all, Happy Easter. I’ve taken a couple of days off from the Internet this weekend; we went to a friends wedding reception in a hotel which looks out over Tower Bridge in London. We took the opportunity to spend a few hours exploring the sigh...

  • Clearing That In Box

    Posted on Thursday April 9th, 2009 at 12:53 in Simple living, organising

    I have a confession to make, I have 5 email accounts, all for different purposes.  One hotmail account in my maiden name, three gmail accounts and one for my small business account. Having 5 accounts does not fall under the simple living category a...

  • April Mini Goals

    Posted on Wednesday April 1st, 2009 at 04:39 in goals, frugal living, Simple living

    My March mini goals were a bit of a wash, apart from the purging, so I’m not aiming for too much this month. Start a small herb garden Switch to a cheaper Gas and Electric provider Do a car boot sale Sell 5 things on eBay Take all purged items...

  • Corners of My Home

    Posted on Sunday March 22nd, 2009 at 14:33 in family, Simple living, the house

    I've had a very busy day today, moving furniture and starting the big spring clean. It's been lovely. I'm now about to sit down and start reading my new books, birthday gifts from my mum. Happy and peaceful thoughts to you all....

  • Corners of My Home

    Posted on Sunday March 22nd, 2009 at 14:33 in family, Simple living, the house

    I’ve had a very busy day today, moving furniture and starting the big spring clean. It’s been lovely. I’m now about to sit down and start reading my new books, birthday gifts from my mum. Happy and peaceful thoughts to you all....

  • Spring Cleaning and Other To Do's

    Posted on Saturday March 21st, 2009 at 12:30 in Simple living

    I'm off work for a whole week now, so this means I need to write a to do list. I'm not hopeful that the weather is going to stay nice, but it would be great to get out in the garden.Clean all the blindsClean all the windowsWash cushion coversFinish t...

  • Spring Cleaning and Other To Do’s

    Posted on Saturday March 21st, 2009 at 12:30 in Simple living

    I’m off work for a whole week now, so this means I need to write a to do list. I’m not hopeful that the weather is going to stay nice, but it would be great to get out in the garden. Clean all the blinds Clean all the windows Wash cushio...