We are bombarded by advertisements for products every day. Although the actual number of advertisements we see each day is up for debate, it’s no secret that we come across ads all the time. Scrolling through social media, using an app on our phones, watching YouTube, watching movies and TV on many streaming services or cable TV, billboards, and print media ads (magazines, newspapers, etc) are just a few of the ways ads make it to our eyes and ears. Even if you just pop in a DVD in an attempt to avoid ads (if you still own a DVD player!), product placement is rampant. It’s now normal to watch ..read more

Many years ago, I was facing a potential promotion at my job. When I saw the salary offer, I had a hunch that it was lower than it should have been. I sat down with a trusted co-worker, who had similar work experience and credentials as I did. I asked her what her salary was. My hunch was correct– she was making much more than I was currently, as well as more than the promotion salary offer I had been given. Some companies and institutions have a pay scale, which helps to standardize salaries. But many workplaces do not, including the one I was employed by at that time. I went back in to negot ..read more

My family experienced a laundry emergency last month. When we moved into our current home back in October, we bought a new washer and dryer to replace the appliances that had been there since the house had existed (around 20 years ago). The dryer wasn’t drying so well anymore, so we decided to buy new appliances that would be more efficient at washing and drying our clothing. Or, so we thought. Only a month or so after buying our washer, it stopped draining water correctly. It didn’t happen consistently, so we thought it was just a fluke. But then a week later, when I went to put a load of clo ..read more

What do you picture when you think of the word “comfort?” For me, it brings up images of my family and friends, my favorite blanket, lived-in sweatpants, my spot on the couch, and my favorite foods. Here’s what all of my comfort images have in common (and my guess is that your comfort images have this in common, too!)– they all involve people, places, and things that have been experienced so many times that they have a worn-in quality. I go back to these things because they make me feel safe, at ease, and they feel good. Feeling good is not a bad thing– these comfort things can be good for us ..read more

Every year as a child and teen, my extended family got together on Christmas Day. We would eat, laugh, play games, open presents, and spend time together as a family on the holiday. Plans and preparations for this event started months in advance, with each family unit contributing food, drinks, presents, and other materials needed for the celebration. Our Christmas get-togethers didn’t always go according to plan, though. One year, there was an emergency room visit after a snow globe exploded in my little cousin’s hands. A different year, there was a huge blizzard on Christmas, stranding all o ..read more

Recently, we went to visit my parents with Baby Theo (and his bottles and diaper bag) in tow– a regular occurrence now that we live much closer to them. When it was time to feed Theo, my Mom took the bottle out of the fridge and pulled out the same pot she uses every time to heat the bottles to the correct temperature. “You know,” she said to me, “This pot is the same pot I used for your bottles when you were a baby.” “Wait, hold up. Mom, this pot is basically 40 years old and still being used??” “Yup!” she said. “And it’s being used for your child now.” My mind was completely blown. Here was ..read more

A few months ago, I was playing with my son Theo. Only a few months old at the time, one of his favorite things to do was staring at himself in a mirror (a typical past-time for infants who are a few months old). This particular playtime, Theo was propped up and sitting in my lap. I brought over the mirror for him to look at. He was so enthralled by his own reflection, he leaned forward– and started to fall and face-plant into the mirror! Luckily, I managed to catch him before he smacked his face into the mirror. I held the mirror up again, hoping to keep him upright. But every time he saw him ..read more

Note: This is a guest post written by Will Platnick, husband to The Christian Minimalist. As a new parent, I need to be much more intentional about how I spend my time. I want to make sure that I’m spending as much time as I can with my wife and son. Being intentional about time is something that I’ve learned to value over the years, but it has become even more critical since becoming a Dad. Now, more than ever, I want to be there for my family, and I know that I need to be mindful of how I divide my time between work and home. Priorities and Time Management In my job, it’s easy to work a lot ..read more

Like many of us, I’ve struggled over the years with simplifying my wardrobe. I’ve managed to gradually get my wardrobe down to 1/3 the size it was previously, but I still revisit my wardrobe periodically to see if I can simplify more. While experimenting with wardrobe simplification, I even wore the same dress for 100 consecutive days to see how wearing the same thing every day would simplify my life and help with decision fatigue. Ultimately, I enjoyed wearing the same thing every day for a set amount of time, but I wouldn’t want to do it the rest of my life. Many people like wearing a self-i ..read more

When I was a kid, we would often have family game nights. Bingo was a particular favorite. When playing Bingo, one person calls out the letters and numbers as they popped out of the Bingo cage spinner, and the rest would scramble to put their chips on the respective spaces and be the first to make a line of playing chips on their board and yell “BINGO!” Even when I was younger, I thought it was fascinating that all the Bingo game boards had a “Free Space” in the middle. It was labeled “Free,” and players could automatically put a chip there, and use that space to help them win the game. That F ..read more