An American food and travel writer, a reformed shopper, now living a rural, "slow" non-consumerism life in the south of France with her French husband and daughter. Poorer than dirt, but living like kings from the riches of the earth.

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August 2007-August 2008 we did not purchase anything. Only food and that was severely limited to the farmers markets and the organic co-op store. This year, we are doing an all-out No Shopping School Year: September 1st thru June 15th, we will not buy anything, not even food. We will use what abundance we have: what we preserved this summer, our garden, foraging, bartering, trading, living off what mother nature gives us.

Why am I doing this?
I embarked on this slow life after seeing the waste from two peoples lives cut short. My husband's family halved in one month and we were left to sort through their closets, sell the car, and shake our heads at the material “stuff” that lived on longer than his grandmother’s precious words and his father's new lease on life as a first time grandfather.

I realized further that we needed to do some soul searching and rid ourselves of material obligations. In fact, now after a successful year of not shopping, we will probably make it part of our lives instead of just a stunt year. This year we will cut out food shopping as well and rely on foraging, what organic food we have in the freezer, fishing, our CSA basket and what we can grow in containers on our small patio.

I am having fun with it, discovering so much about myself and our planet along the way and hopefully inspiring my close circle of friends and readers to do the same. We are happier, more content with what we have and cherish each other and what nature give us without the constraints of money in our lives.

Also, I feel more grounded and in touch with "mamie" who lived through some tough times and I am discovering her world and past generations traditions along the way. I feel very blessed to have stumbled upon this through the slow year.

www.flickr.com More of These Days in French Life's photos

40 ways to start a Slow Life
A Slow Year Flickr
My Non-Consummation Proclamation
Cat Food
Grocery List
What I Can Do
Re-Valuation sans Money
Saturday Links
Wind Power
On The Road
Time of the Month
No Toilet Paper!
Tute: Baby Legwarmers
Tute: Baby Slippers
Tute: Baby Cloth Diapers
Where to Start a Slow Year
Is that really Organic?
Laundry Soap
Homemade Toothpaste
No Poo (hair washing)
Why Am I Doing A Slow Year?
Why does everything break?
For our Health
We dont use toilet paper

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