Simplicity Within My Family

The sub-title to my blog is Sharing Frugal and Simple Living. At the beginning of 2026, all the financial files and planners are put aside. New planners are filling up with things to keep my busy.

At the beginning of each new year, I take time to evaluate if there are things that I want to do differently in 2026. And, yes there are many. Some of them are big and some are small. Because of retirement, we are looking at lowering our cost of living.

We still have debt from last year, and the medical bills have already begun. With more diseases than I will mention here, I am chronically ill and have numerous doctor’s appointments. I take numerous medications, which all cause problems with our finances.

As I’ve gone through the expenses, there were many small things that we didn’t need, so they’ve been cancelled. We’re still planning to remove more categories in our budget, or at least lower them. Doing this helps to simplify our finances.

When we simplify the finances, we are worrying less and enjoying what we do have. We may not have good health, but we have family and that’s more important. We spend most of our free time with family in our hometown, and other time is spent on Face-time or texting/phone calls.

We look forward to time with family every week. Family time is easy to simplify. Instead of going out to eat all the time, we cook a simple meal here and have them come over.

I love simple meals and we often have crock-pot meals. It’s so easy to add the ingredients that cook most of the day. Smelling a hearty stew, roast beef meal, or BBQ chicken makes our tummies yearn for simple, comfort food. We usually have something like that with a salad or green vegetable.

Simplicity can often be healthier, physically and emotionally. Scratch-cooked meals are healthier if they are created with real, unprocessed ingredients. They can be easier to prepare and make me feel good emotionally. Comfort food is truly comforting.

Sitting around the table and eating together brings family members together unlike any other thing. I love to light a candle, because it seems to slow us down. Talking while dining with family brings such a sweet peace.

How many times do we all sit in the living room with the tv going. I look up to see that we’re all staring at our phones. I catch myself on the computer while listening to the tv and texting at the same time. Then, I wonder how my shoulders are suffering from tight muscles.

I need to do one thing at a time, not three or more. That’s not really entertainment. We require more things to entertain us, because we want more stimulation. But, we really need less. Pick one movie or sporting event and be satisfied with that. I think it’s a quest for more Dopamine?

I’m trying to be more present, to look at people when they’re talking. Life slows down when we all just have a conversation. Playing a board game is also a wonderful family activity that can be simple.

Going to a child or grandchild’s little league game with a thermos of coffee or hot cocoa can be a simple and low-cost activity. Kids love for you to watch them and cheer for them. We recently took our grandchild to a local museum, which wasn’t overly stimulating. It was fun to watch the child’s expression as they viewed a cute train exhibit.

Desiring to spend more time on simple things this year will be a big step towards gratefulness and contentment. I write a lot about contentment here.

What are your favorite ways to live simply with your family?

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Lisa Ehrman

Lisa has been blogging since 2013, and loves sharing resources and ideas for living a simple life. To get free printables, bonus words, and more - sign up for the newsletter.