As winter races toward us, I realize what a difference a more self-sustainable life makes in my preparations for being snowed in or flooded in, for losing power, or for whatever else this latest season has in store. I don’t need as many things. I can do more, and make more, with less. With just a few basics like flour, sugar, lard, oil, for example, I can make pies, cookies, breads, and soap–and about a thousand other things. I don’t need to stock pile huge boxes of laundry detergent. I don’t have to fill up an entire freezer shelf with loaves of bread. I don’t need bulky frozen pie crusts or big packages of store-bought cookies. It’s all in that big bag of flour and that big canister of sugar, etc. Fewer things to stock up–and it actually means more options. (Amazing.) With a cow, I have milk, butter, cheese, and cream. I don’t have to fill up another freezer shelf with gallon jugs of milk and pounds of butter. (Beulah Petunia even stocks it all for me!) The less I need to buy from the store, the less it matters if I can’t go, and the less space it all takes up in my house even as I continue to clear out, throw out, and give out the clutter that also gets in the way of doing more with the fewer things that are truly special, like my grandmother’s dishes.
I love having less. It’s freeing, and learning how to do more with less is empowering. My biggest achievement this year was learning to make soap. (Second biggest was last winter’s conquering of the wood stove.) I’m also continuing to learn how to make more and better cheeses so I can fill our needs there completely. (I’m not there yet, so that’s a big goal for me right now.) You? What steps have you taken this year to do more with less? And what do you want to do next?
(Maybe learn to use a Windows Phone 7? I HAVE A GIVEAWAY!!)
Enter to win a Windows Phone 7! (Approximate retail value: $500.)How to enter: Leave a comment on this post! Comments must be at least twenty-five (25) characters and no more than two-hundred fifty (250) characters. I don’t make the rules. YOU MAY ENTER ONCE PER DAY.
Eligible entry period begins on November 15, 2010 at 12:00 a.m. Eastern Time (“ET”) and ends on November 29, 2010 at 11:59 p.m. ET. The sponsor’s computer is the official time-keeping device (not mine).
There is one prize and there will be one winner chosen from entries on this site. However, there are other sites hosting this same giveaway and you are free to enter to win on other sites, too. For all the official rules and links to other sites hosting Windows Phone 7 giveaways where you can also enter to win, go here.
The winner will be chosen using random.org and will be contacted by email. The winner’s name will not be announced until their eligibility in accordance with the official rules has been confirmed. The winner must respond within 5 days or another winner will be drawn. (For more details, read the official rules.)
UPDATE 11/30/10: THIS GIVEAWAY IS CLOSED TO ENTRY. The winner has been drawn and contacted according to the official rules. If the winner is not confirmed within 5 days, a new winner will be drawn. The winner’s name cannot be posted until they are confirmed. Please see the official rules for more details.
UPDATE 12/03/10: The winner has been confirmed as comment #166, amandaC.
This giveaway is brought to you by the new Windows Phone 7. Less MIA. More PTA: Learn about Windows Phone online and see it in person at local T-Mobile stores today.