I was at the grocery store yesterday, gathering up the things that are essential to my life running smoothly. My list varies week to week, mostly season to season. The same things that sound good in the summer are off the list now and I am beginning my fall foods. Soups, casseroles, Crockpot meals. When I first married in 1970, my grocery list was short and sweet. The budget allowed $10 a week or we didn't have enough for rent, utilities and gas for the car. One car, by the way. We had one phone and one bathroom then. Years later after the girls were born we still had one bathroom and one phone until they were teenagers. There was plenty of griping as we entered the 1980's and we were "the only family" who didn't have two phones or two tv's or a vcr... you can fill.in.the.blank. cause we didn't have a lot of things that every other household had.... according to our daughters!
Slowly we went over to the other side, the "Jones" side of the street where peer pressure takes hold and then after you have two phones, or two cars or two refrigerators you realize... "Hey, this is living!" You get used to not having to run to the living room to get the phone, and it coincides with our getting older and lazier! By the time the girls were grown, we had multiple tv's and vcr's... just in time for them to be obsolete and we had to start all over. Dvd players then dvr's, at least the programing got easier!
It's good that it came in stages or we'd never have been able to learn it all. Plug and play/wireless technology is changing our lives for the better. We can forget about reading the instruction book that comes with a new toy... oh wait, we've always done that!
What can you NOT live without these days?
After kids have grown we have gone back to one bath, small house, did away with cable and use antenna for local channels (can't believe we get 26!). Did away with our house phone and only use our cellphones. Who would have thought back then everyone would have carry cellphones! As much as we are trying to go back to the simple life I don't want to do without internet. LOL It is my way to travel to so many places and friends without leaving the comfort of home.
ReplyDeleteMy cell phone would have to be the thing I would hate to give up. It keeps me "connected."
ReplyDeleteConnot live without the internet connection!!!
ReplyDeleteThings were so calm and cool in the years gone by.
Have a wonderful week ahead:)
I cannot live without the internet! I enjoy the connection to the outside world too much.
ReplyDeleteMy Mister and I have a conversation so similar to your post quite often. With his retirement not too many years away, it makes one think just how can we scale back. We are so comfortable with what we have today yet how happy we were as a young married couple and had the bare neccessities and life was so simple. I definitely feel safer with a cell phone and I love my computer . Thanks for the post, and it does make one think. Have a great day
ReplyDeleteAngela
My cell phone. And my kids cell phones!! I can't imagine how it was back when I was a kid, and mom couldn't get a hold of me to check on me at the drop of a hat. :-)
ReplyDeletemy laptop. blog addiction...
ReplyDeleteGuess I'd have to agree...my Smart Phone.
ReplyDeleteKathy
I think I'd give up indoor plumbing before I gave up my internet. Wow. I can't believe I just said that. But it's probably true.
ReplyDeleteI hear you on this one! We have multiple things, still around here, that are obsolete. Especially me and hubby!
ReplyDeleteOh yeah, I couldn't live without internet!
ReplyDeleteI'm an iphone groupie.... love the thing. For first time in my life I'm actually organized! So wonderful having everything at my fingertips.
ReplyDeletewhen I had kids at home we only had one bathroom. They crowded around the sink with me as we got ready for work/school.
ReplyDeleteNow I live with a fella and I am so glad to have my little half bath so I don't have to share with HIM.
Love my cell & laptop. I can live without t.v. I prefer simple over sophisticated...you can tell by my '03 Honda Civic. :-)
xo, Cheryl
Well, we ARE the Joneses! Heh!
ReplyDeleteWe don't have but one cell phone and it's carried just for emergencies. It's one of those cheap plans. We use our land line but if AT&T doesn't quit screwing around I may have it disconnected and find a cell phone with unlimited minutes.
We live simply on our social security but if we want to do something we can do it, as long as we don't choose something that's really expensive.
Because we paid off our home and all our debts before we retired, we really don't have many bills. Just food, utils, insurance, things like that.
Of course you know we believe in living frugally, even if we had all the money in the world! So it's not too hard to keep up with THIS Jones family!
THE INTERNET!
ReplyDeleteWe have eliminated Directv and are thinking about getting rid of the landline phone...haven't done that yet.
We raised our two with one bathroom, one TV, no computer.
Now they live in houses with 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms and a TV in almost every room, DVR, streaming movies, three or 4 computers....
I wonder how their children would make it living on a budget????
A scary thought!
The internet, hands down!
ReplyDeleteSkype...Addicted to seeing my kids' faces, and hearing their voices at the same time.
ReplyDeletexx
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