After sorting through all the comments, and because some swappers did not communicate with their partners or decided not to participate after all, I have had to update the apron swap list as follows. If you do not find your name on this list, it is because I have had to re-pair several swappers (and in the process remove those that did not communicate). Here's the list:

PS. Melissa in Costa Rica, please leave your email in the comments after this post as soon as possible for a possible swap partner.

I guess that most people reading here every day would be working people - either out in the wide world earning money and/or at home running the household in ways to save it. I am proudly working class; work is part of my core, it's something I expect to do most days, but most of the work I do nowadays is not for money, it's to maintain the way I love to live. It may sound strange to some but I think that working for what you need and want makes you treasure it more, it has meaning because you know the hours of toil that went into it. And yet it seems to me that we have gone off the rails a bit with work. Many of us will work until we drop because we have too much debt to retire earlier. 

I believe that most of us work to get together our life's assets and to buy a house to live in, or to rent one. We might also buy a car. Once we have our assets, we work steadily to pay off the debt we acquired to buy it all. We hope to stay employed, we cut back and save what we can and if we're lucky, the mortgage is paid off earlier than planned and a few years later the credit card and car are all squared away. This kind of debt management is entirely possible, Hanno and I paid off our 20 year mortgage in eight years and have lived debt-free for many years.

But somewhere along the way, a whole generation fell for the idea that buying everything you want on a credit card is normal; encouraged in that by banks looking for higher profits and advertising promising happiness in a pair of shoes, a flash car, diamond earrings, or a jet ski, etc etc etc. It saddens me that many of these good honest people realise too late that they're in over their heads and they'll be working far into the future to pay for today's must-haves. Long after the bling has lost its shine, it is still being paid for.

There is a better way, although it requires sacrifice and hard work. It requires that we cut back on our desires, stop listening to best friends and focus on slowing down and living well rather than expecting to have it all, and then working to pay for it.

There is only one sure way to financial security. Spend less than you earn. One of the things that can delay paying off debt is paying more for the things you use a lot of, or for convenience foods. And by convenience I mean washed salads, processed food, pre-cooked frozen meals, tinned soups, as well as takeaway and fast food, and a whole array of foods that seemed to be a good idea at the time because they cut down on preparation and cooking time but they cost more and therefore add to the cost of living. When you're paying off debt, you want to reduce your cost of living, not raise it. Get back to basics and buy unprocessed foods, cook from scratch and reap the benefits - both in your health and in the money saved.

There is a decision to be made here. Do you work less so you have the time to do some things yourself or do you work more so you have the money to pay for everything you want? Your answer to that question will depend on whether you want to work your whole life so you can buy every thing you want and need, or whether you see value is cutting back on your wants so you have more time to enjoy life. 

You will never see an advertisement suggesting caution and prudence. On the contrary, they encourage excess and acquisition at any price. So I am going to encourage you to look beyond today, think about all those months you'll be handing over money to pay for what you buy today. Try to cut the cost of living and pay your debts off as fast as you can. Don't be conned into buying too much, expect to work hard for what you have, expect to do your fair share and think about saving rather than spending - not just this week or next, but far into the future too. Because if you can get off the debt roller coaster, if you stop spending just because you can, if you knuckle down and get serious about debt reduction, you will be able to retire sooner rather than later and just live. It may be with less "stuff" but it will be on your own terms and you'll own your life. I hope you find a plan of attack, encouragement and support in my group of budgeting posts here.

It all starts with a commitment to your own future, a clear vision about how you'll reduce debt and then the determination to get back on track and out of the clutches of the bank. I wish you the best and I'd be interested in hearing your story.

Kristen has done a review of my book and is generously giving away a copy of my book to Australians only. You can find her blog here for the details. The giveaway finishes next Monday. 

According to the Wikipedia, value adding refers to "extra" feature(s) of an item of interest (product, service, person etc.) that go beyond the standard expectations and provide something "more" while adding little or nothing to its cost.

I like to think that Hanno and I have added value to our lives simply by the way we live.

I often think back to a young woman who attended one of my workshops at the neighbourhood centre. She listened intently to everything said, then right at the end, she said: "You mean to tell me we don't have to live like this?" "No," I said, "you can live however you see fit." She was astounded. She'd never considered the possibility that life may be lived beyond the consumerist model. There is a choice to be made here. You either go with the flow, do what is expected of you, don't make waves and be the mirror image of all the people your age, or you can step outside that mainstream bubble, make your own decisions, envision the life you want, then work to make it happen.

You can add value to your life and make it better.  Much better.

You will make choices every day you're alive. Will I get up at 7am or 8? Eat breakfast or have a cup of tea?  Get married, or remain single. Spend or save? Live according to your values or go along with everyone else? I have never been a follower, and regardless of the consequences, I've always gone for the interesting option rather than the safe one. I have lived a most remarkable life and I think one of the main reasons for that is that I don't take the easy option and often the paths I walk along are not main roads, they're back streets. I am convinced that those back streets and all I experienced along them, added value to my life.

There are certain questions you can ask yourself and  what you do as a consequence of your answer may help change your life and might also add value to it. 

Simplifying your life isn't just about the practical things you do every day - although that is a big part of it - it's also about creating a better life for yourself, discovering your own level of "enough" and being prepared to step outside your comfort zone and reconnect with real life again.

One thing is for sure, if you do change how you live, those life changes have the potential to make you content and satisfied. I well remember when I first started working in my home, making soap, cooking from scratch, baking fresh bread every day, it made me feel so alive! Simple things like cleaning the floors and rearranging furniture and appliances to better suit how I worked, made me feel that what I was doing really mattered and that I had regained control of my life. Decluttering opened up my life to let new possibilities in. In the space of one week I went from avoiding housework and thinking it was below me, to being challenged by it, and wanting to make my home a haven for me and my family. Doing what I had believed to be menial work was the making of me. I felt that if I could get my house in order, get back to healthier living, become more self-reliant, and strategise how to shop in a more mindful way, we would all be better for it. I regained the desire to care for my family and we all reconnected and became stronger because of it. That same desire slowed me down enough to let the stress melt away. Here in my home, I learnt how to live well, without many of the modern conveniences that prop us up and that we pay for with our lives.

I am not going to tell you that this is easy, because it's not. It can be time consuming and, at times, difficult. But you know what? It makes you happy, it helps you believe in your own abilities again, it makes you believe you can do almost anything; and maybe you can. I remember when frozen peas first came on the market, and when TV started, those two things went on to convince us all that we would save a lot of time buying convenience foods. Then we all got credit cards and started a whole new form of problematic behaviour. At the time we were told that all these new things would make our lives better. What we weren't told was that we'd have to work more to pay for things to be done for us, work more to pay for clothes and jumpers because we were too busy working to make them ourselves. Now, on top of those things we work to buy, we work more to pay for people to wash our lettuce leaves and cook or partially cook our food, to fabricate and package cleaning rags that we use instead of cutting up our own, we work more to buy chemical cleaners and laundry products that probably add 20 or 30 dollars to the grocery bill when we could use vinegar, bicarb, soap, borax and washing soda that cost a fraction of that.


And the good part is that you don't have to dive into this full-time like I did. If you're younger and don't have the time I have, you can do it your way. Just fit a few of these things into your life around what you're already doing. Do what you have the time to do. Making bar soap will take about 30 minutes to make enough soap for a family of four for about three months. It will take about 15 minutes to make enough laundry liquid to do that same family for 80 machine washes. Cook from scratch on the weekends. Start packing school and work lunches and drinks. Do the small things first and see how it makes you feel and how much you save.

Stepping back from convenience, being content with less and learning a few old skills has the potential to change your life. I know that to be true because that is what happened to me and it added value to my life. I hope you decide to dip your toe in these simple living waters and realise you can add value to yours too.

When we returned from the book tour, I received emails from two readers eager to know what I bought while I was away. I thought it was quite odd to assume I'd bought anything seeing as I write about moving away from a consumerist mindset. And mindset really is the key word here - you need to have thought about your spending and materialism and have turned your back on it for this kind of life to be your new "normal". That is not saying that I will never buy anything frivolous again, it's saying instead that I only buy necessities and what will give me pleasure, and therefore enhance my life.

So, where did we shop while we were away for those two weeks? Well, we went to book shops, naturally, to sign books. While I was in two of those book shops I bought a packet of stationery in one and two cards in another. They were for thank you notes to send to people who had gone out of their way to help us during the trip.  We also bought Hanno a new pair of shoes when the ones he brought with him cracked along the sole. We bought food and drinks to sustain us - these were generally bought at small supermarkets and market stalls along the way.

I know what you're thinking - surely she bought more than that! Well, yes, I did, and I'm still not sure what category I'd place these purchases - necessities or pleasure; I think they're both. I need a pair of new slippers for winter. I wanted to buy real Ugg slippers and had already priced them on the Sunshine Coast. Too expensive. I wanted quality but I knew I could get quality at a better price so I was prepared to wait. When we moved here I bought a pair of real Uggs. They lasted me for eight years. Then I bought cheap slippers, and each time I did, they lasted about two years. I wanted to get back to the Uggs - to buy the best quality I could afford - but I wanted the price to be right. I found them at Blue Mountains Uggs at Faulconbridge. We bought a pair of Ugg scuffs for Hanno and a pair of short ankle Uggs for me - I like my slippers to cuddle my feet. Both are real sheepskin and wool. Both pairs together cost the same price I was quoted for one pair here. Well worth the wait.

The other thing I bought was a vintage potato masher. The one I had been using had a very long handle on it, much longer than any person would need. It is uncomfortable to use and doesn't do a great job. I wanted one like my mother used, although I didn't know that until I saw it sitting inside a beautiful vintage glass mixing bowl/jug. It cost $8 and has remnants of the old green paint on the wooden handle. This was made in the days before plastic. When I picked it up I felt like I'd picked it up a hundred times before. I bought it. When we came home, I soaked it in vinegar water for an hour, gave it a good scrubbing with hot water and soap, and added it to my kitchen utensils. It makes the best mash. 

I found this masher treasure in a place called Frou Frou in Springwood. My nephew Danny told me about this shop, I tried to get there last time I was in Springwood at Easter, but they were moving then and the shop was closed during my visit. If you're in the Blue Mountains and like vintage clothes and bits and pieces, it's well worth a visit. Just looking at the stock brought back a few memories for me and made me smile.

And that's it, folks. No big shopping spree, no souvenirs, just cards and a stationery set, shoes for Hanno to wear on the trip, Uggs and a potato masher. All necessities that will bring pleasure too; I reckon that's good shopping. We didn't need anything else and we certainly didn't go walking through shops looking for "stuff" to buy.

Are you having trouble stopping shopping? What are your downfalls? What are you doing to get back to frugality? Maybe you've found not shopping much easier than you imagined it to be. If so, tell me your story.

My first link is to Gooseberry Jam's blog. Meet Laura, the newest baby born into this lovely family.

And speaking of beautiful babies, look at this swaddling blanket. I have two people very close to me who are having babies later in the year. I'll be making this.

There are a lot of new simple living blogs now, just shows how many people are making this important change. I found this new blog after following a trail. It's English, interesting and recommended.

If you're interested in Waldorf-inspired, simple living families in the UK, check out mamaUK.

You know I have a soft spot for Pickles. Here is their breezy sofa blanket. As usual, it's gorgeous.

Steve Jobs: How to live before you die


Another link suggested by pigsmightfly is gracelinks, but it is American, so best for the American readers.

Thank you for your visits and comments this week. Hanno and I were on two national TV programs this week so there have been a lot of new readers coming to the blog and flowing on to the forum. Welcome to the newcomers, I hope you read back through the archives and find what you're looking for. Have a beautiful weekend, everyone.

It's not just in the kitchen that we can all cook from scratch - we can do it outside too by making our own organic liquid fertilisers. These fertilisers are easy to make, are made using leaves and other organic matter in your own backyard, they're effective and they'll save you money. 

One of the things you should learn when you start growing vegetables is the nutritional requirements of everything you grow. Basically, leafy greens need nitrogen and fruiting plants need a small amount of nitrogen, potash and potassium. Luckily, making both types of fertilisers at home is easy.

These fertilisers are gentle, just the right thing to give to newly planted seedlings and to apply frequently, in a weak form, to your plants. They're also excellent sprayed over the leaves, not just onto the roots. If you're in a cold area, the nitrogen in the soil will not be available until the soil warms up a bit, so sprinkling liquid fertiliser over the leaves will feed your plants when they need a boost.

This is how the gardens have been looking the past few weeks. We still have these three to be weeded and planted up again. It looks sad now but it doesn't take long for them to spring back to life.

My favourite liquid fertiliser is comfrey tea and as far as I'm concerned it's the star of the homemade fertilisers. We have a clump of comfrey growing near the chook house. At the moment the leaves are huge, and it's standing at about a metre tall. People tell you that comfrey spreads and you have to be careful, but that's not quite right. It doens't spread out like bamboo does but if you plant comfrey in a hole, you'd better make sure that is where you want it to grow forever, because if you try to dig it out later, leaving only the slightest peice of root behind will make it grow again. Choose your spot carefully - either at the edge of your garden or near the compost heap and you'll have your own source of nitrogen, potash, phosphorus (NPK) and calcium for life. Comfrey sends down a long tap root and that root mines the soil for minerals and makes them available in the leaves. Using those leaves in a tea, will give you those minerals and they're the same ones you buy as NPK at the gardening shop.

This clump of comfrey has been growing in our backyard for about 14 years. It hasn't spread out at all but I know that if I wanted to move it to another location it would be almost impossible. Make sure of your spot before you plant comfrey.

To make comfrey tea, cut a clump of comfrey leaves and put them into a large bucket that has a lid. You can put a brick on top of the leaves if you like, so they don't float. Fill the bucket with rain water, put the lid on and leave the brew for two weeks. When you take the lid off, stand back, it will smell.

A lot.

Remove the infused comfrey leaves and throw them onto the compost. What is in the bucket now is comfrey tea concentrate. Make up the tea using about a cup of the concentrate to a bucket of water. You want this tea to be the same colour as a cup of weak tea. Mix it up in your watering can and sprinkle it over your seedlings. Comfrey tea is excellent on tomatoes, potatoes, beans, peppers etc - all the flowering vegetables.

You can make liquid fertiliser using many common garden leaves - if the leaves contain a good concentration of nitrogen, they are suitable. Most liquid fertilisers can be made in the same way. The steps are:

You can also make compost tea and liquid manure tea. To make these teas, get a hessian bag or an old pillow case and place your materials in there. About a shovel full of compost or any aged animal or poultry manure will do. If you don't have aged manure, you can use poultry manure pellets (Dynamic Lifter) - about a cup full to a bucket.  Tie up the top of the bag so it's like a big tea bag. Place the bag into a bucket with a lid, fill the bucket with water, top on, wait two weeks. Dilute before using it. Easy!

We have started planting our new season vegetable garden. We do our main planting in March and continue planting until November. Depending on the weather, we usually keep harvesting until late December. The soils are then left to rest for two months and we start the cycle again in March. Organising our gardening like that gives the soil a chance to rest but it also lets us rest too over the hottest months. This system works well for us.

Every time we replant, be that at this main March planting or during the year with our numerous succession plantings, we enrich the soil with organic matter like compost, manures and worm castings. During the year we also dig in any straw mulch that is still on the surface, that gives the soil good structure. 

This is the most important thing I will write about planting today: you must enrich your soil before you plant and every time you replant. No amount of fertiliser later in the year will make up for not doing this. Placing your plant roots in rich, fertile soil really pays off. If you're digging a new garden, you'll probably spend a week or two getting your soil ready before you plant. This is not wasted time, it is a time honoured way of working with your organic garden and is an investment in your future harvests.

We plant both seedlings and seeds. Most of our root crops are planted as seeds, so this includes carrots, turnips, radishes, beetroot, swedes (rutabaga), parsnips. We plant potatoes and sweet potatoes as sprouting tubers. Garlic goes in now in our climate - I have stored ours in a brown paper bag in the crisper of the fridge for a couple of weeks to mimic a cold winter. When the garlic is planted, it "thinks" it's Spring and grows as if it's coming out of a cold winter. Garlic takes a long time to mature. When the green tops emerge above the soil, you'll see them for a long time until they start going brown and dying back. That is usually when they're ready to harvest.

We plant kale as both seedlings and seeds but most of our leafy greens are grown as seedlings. This includes Chinese greens like pak choi and lombok. We plant many more than we will eat and share because the chooks love them too. They grow fast - eight weeks and they're ready, so there is a constant supply. We replant Chinese greens all through the year. The leafy green category also includes lettuce, silver beet (chard), spinach, cabbage, brussel sprouts.

Flowering vegetables and fruit such as tomatoes, beans, peas, cucumbers, cauliflower, broccoli, zucchinis are planted as seeds in trays,  raised as seedlings, and are then planted out in the garden. There is a post about how we plant tomatoes here.  They're an important crop for us and if we take a bit of care with them we reap the benefits. In our climate it's too cold for capsicum, eggplant, corn or pumpkins right now. We keep our capsicum bushes going, but don't expect them to produce anything until it warms up again.

Basically, root crops don't like too much manure, especially not clumps of it, and nothing fresh. Leafy greens like a lot of nitrogen, so they love enriched soil with plenty of manure. Flowering vegetables like sulphate of potash to help with flowering and root structure, but don't give them too much nitrogen because you'll get a lot of leaves and very few vegetables. Most vegetables love being mulched, but they don't like the mulch touching their stems. The exception to this rule is tomatoes - they love mulch touching their stems and a nice thick layer of mulch built up along the lower part of the stem. Make sure the lower leaves on the tomatoes are pricked off.

All seedlings like a good watering as soon as they're planted and if you have some seaweed concentrate, make up a seaweed tea and use that to water in. The plants will love you for it. Tomorrow we'll talk about making your own fertilisers at home. This increases your level of self reliance and also gives you excellent harvest at little cost.

At the moment our vegetable garden is a mess of half-prepared beds and weeds but it won't take long to get it back to full production. It's something both Hanno and I are very excited about this year. We expect to bypass the high prices and often inferior quality in supermarkets and produce our own fresh organic vegetables. And this year, more than ever, it's important that we succeed with every crop. If you have the space I encourage you to do the same. What are your garden plans this year?

I've had a lot of reasons lately to think about how we live. All the interviews I did to promote the book brought up many different questions and the interviewers asked not only how, but why. Our lives have been put under the spotlight and it caused me to examine again, what we're doing here and to see how these changes effect us on a daily basis.

The most frequently asked question I've been asked lately is if this way of living is only for older folk. I can say with absolute certainty that how Hanno and I live would suit anyone, young or old. I believe the earlier you start living with a frugal mindset, the better off you'll be, but there are entry points at every stage of life and no matter when you start, there are benefits to be gained. Yes, we oldies have more time and we can do more making, mending, baking, recycling and gardening, but if you're younger and you start doing those things, they'll have much more impact on your entire life, not just in the final third of it. 

So what are the entry points? I think you should start with what is most important in your own life. If you're struggling with debt, start by getting serious about paying it off while you stop further spending. If you're a young family who are trying to eat well on a low budget, start by changing the way you shop, then stockpile and cook from scratch. If you're a single person, start by making your own laundry liquid. The recipe for it is here. By doing that, not only will you save a lot of money, you'll be cutting down the chemicals you have in your life.

You could also start by planting a vegetable garden, or if you've already done that, fruit trees. This will give you fresh organic vegetables for a fraction of the cost you'll pay in the shops. If you have a small backyard or a large one, or if you live in a unit and the only soil you have for growing is in a few broccoli poly-styrene boxes full of potting mix on the balcony or porch, use it, grow it and you'll increase your well-being in many different ways. If you have no chance of growing anything, and that may be the case if your time is taken up with children or looking after elders, or your job, take time out on the weekends to look for a good local market, and buy your fruit and vegetables there. Get to know your marketeers, ask them where they grow their produce, or where they buy it. Not all market sellers are genuine, they might just be onselling boxes bought from somewhere else. When you find your idea seller, stick with them, be loyal and I'm sure you'll be rewarded with good quality produce fresh from the farm.

If you're an old chook like me,  (or even a young chook), start knitting dishcloths, teach yourself to make soap, cook from scratch - all those soups and stews based on bone broths we used to have in the old days. They're good for you! Get out grandma's cook books again and fire up the stove.

And while you're doing all this, be kind to yourself. Take time out to have a cup of tea during the day, even if you're really busy. It will make a difference. Reconnect with your family. If you've slipped out of the habit of eating at the kitchen table, start doing it again. That 30 minutes can make a family a stronger unit. That is the time when your children will know they have your attention and they can tell you about their day and what will be happening tomorrow. Take every chance you have to listen to your children, if you stop listening, they'll stop telling. Invite the extended family, or if they're too far away, your friends around for family lunches. This is a good way to socialise and develop friendships without it costing too much. Be a role model for your children, be the person you want them to grow into. There is no good in telling them to be kind and generous, to not smoke or to drink in moderation if you're not doing those things. Children learn what they see, not what you tell them.

There is a lot to be said for a simple life. For me, it has changed me for the better. It has opened up my life so that at a time when I thought I'd be getting quieter and slowing down, I'm doing the opposite. It has given me opportunities to be generous. We have the freedom of being debt-free. I feel content, I look forward to each new day. My life is interesting, it never gets boring, I feel in control. This way of living gives you that. I will never forget the day when I took charge of my home and decided enough was enough, I was determined to get my life in order, to do things the way I wanted to do them, not how my friends were doing it. I wanted to march to the beat of my own drum. When I made a promise to myself that from that day on, my life would be custom made and not conforming to what was expected, I felt a weight lifted, I felt liberated and in control of my own future. I knew then my decisions meant something and I felt I had my life back.

Now that I can look back over this past decade of a more simple and gentle life, I thank my lucky stars that I changed when I did. Had I not faced the truth of my spending and shopping and made those early difficult changes, I would not be where I am now. I have found that very few good things come easy. That's just life I guess. I hope you have the strength to face your own changes and commit to them, even the difficult ones - especially those. It won't be easy but if you can start repaying debt and cutting back your desires, it will lead you to a better life. And from where I sit now, there is no better way to live.