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Up until about 60 years ago, borrowing money was generally frowned upon by society. Even today, nobody likes that one "friend" that always tries to mooch cash off you. Borrowing puts you in a place of disadvantage. The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is the slave of the lender. —Proverbs 22:7 Why, then, is consumer debt so prevalent today? Partly because businesses are really good at marketing instant gratification. You need it now. With college students being told that student loans are normal, everyone being mailed credit card offer after offer promising low interest rates and high credit limits, and car manufacturers enticing would-be car owners with zero-down delayed payment plans, it's no wonder that everyone has so much consumer debt. Marketers have done a fantastic job at normalizing it.…

Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away. —Antoine de Saint-Exupéry We bought bicycles. We live in a world where it is so very easy to overcomplicate things. Technology has reached a point where complex machines are easy to fabricate, and we don't give them a second thought. But machine complexity increases rapidly the more work they take away from us, and sometimes simpler is better. I use the word machine here, of course, in the broad sense of a tool that consumes some form of energy to accomplish an action or goal. The advantages to simpler machines are that they are generally cheaper, I can usually make and repair them myself, and they often have a wider range of…

Recently a post circulated Facebook about Seattle and the coming of Fall rains and how comforting they seem to be to us native Seattleites. I found it surprisingly true. Though we long for the warm Summer months and often complain of the dreary skies come April, the transition from Summer into Fall brings a certain level of familiarity and comfort and routine back into our otherwise busy lives. Ben and I are similarly working on our own transition to cultivating a new routine, a new normal, if you will. We recently moved from our apartment in the city to a mother-in-law apartment in the "country" on the property of our parents with the goal of simplifying our lives, boosting our savings, being closer to family, and working towards our goal…

Last night we moved our first belongings from our current apartment into our new home. It was both exhilarating and intimidating. While we're thrilled to have the hard work of cleaning up and painting our new apartment behind us, the sadness of leaving our old apartment is quickly setting in, for me at least. I've always been pretty sentimental towards places I've lived. Having a home where I feel safe is extremely important to me. And as I look back, each move away from my home has been equally bittersweet. I long for those perfect moments spent in my old home that allow closure and adequately commemorate the end of a season without putting too much glee in the changes ahead. Despite whether I was allowed this closure or not, I…

Last weekend, Ben and I were privileged to spend a weekend away in the San Juan islands to celebrate the wedding of some good friends of ours. We feel so fortunate to live in a part of the country where such a gorgeous spot for a getaway is just a few short hours away! In those few hours of travel, however, we were transported further away than just the 105 miles it took to get from our home to the island. The week preceding our trip, we had to cram as much as we could fit into a shorter week in order to fulfill our responsibilities before taking off for the weekend. We found ourselves rushing every single day, getting to bed late and waking up early, running errands and trying…

While we created this space to keep our loved ones up to date on our long-term dreams and goals, it is sometimes difficult to find material to write about when our day-to-day lives fill up with finite and menial things. That, combined with our busy schedules has meant that updates have been on the back burner for a long while now. Though the past 6 months have been busy and full, not a whole lot has happened pertaining specifically to our goals of owning land, building a home, and living the simpler life. We have continued to learn all that we can and strive to simplify our life, but alas, it seems the day-to-day business of work and school has taken precedence. Sometimes it's hard to realize that 2014 is…

Twenty-thirteen was good to us. Here's a quick review: We bought a dump truck in preparation for owning property We had a small but moderately successful balcony garden We helped clean up the property of some friends—good practice! We continued saving for a down payment and started looking at properties We started drawing up initial house plans Ari worked toward starting her wedding planning business Perhaps most exciting of all, we spent three weeks in Europe in December! Twenty-thirteen was good to us, but we have a lot to look forward to... In twenty-fourteen, we plan on continuing to live well within our means, doubling down on savings, and eating as healthy as possible. We got permission to use the small yard in front of our apartment for a garden…