New reader poll

I just added a reader poll to the upper-right corner of the site. Please take a second or two to vote!

Or, if you’d care to expound a bit more on the poll (or anything, really) you can leave a comment to this post or send me an e-mail to LivSimpl at the gmail.

Thanks much and have a great Friday.

LivSimpl

Reader participation: What were you thankful for?

It’s been a week since we celebrated Thanksgiving and I’ve decided, as much as a reminder for me than anyone else, to ask, “What were you thankful for on Thanksgiving? Have you remembered to continue to be grateful for it since?”

I believe gratitude is essential to living a simple, fulfilling life. If we can recognize our good fortune, even in the little blessings and happy coincidences we’ll be healthier and happier.

Last week I was particularly grateful that I had a job and was able to provide for my family.

What were you grateful for last week?

LivSimpl

8 steps to relieving stress regarding credit card offers

OK, so this isn’t exactly a tip on how to simplify life. It’s more of a way to vent frustration, relieve stress, and hopefully get credit companies to stop sending junk offers to the masses. You see, if I understand things correctly, companies don’t have to pay postage on business reply cards/envelopes unless they’re used.

You may see where I’m going with this.

Next time you get a credit card offer in the mail (assuming you haven’t already requested your name be removed from their mailing lists), do the following:

1. Pull out the entire contents of the envelope
2. Spread out contents on table
3. Locate the Business Reply Envelope and set it aside
4. Take all the remaining materials (letter, brochures, etc.) and tear them up
5. Place recently shredded materials into the business reply envelope
6. [Optional] Write a nice note to the credit company explaining how you feel about them wasting the world’s resources, and your time, in the hopes of getting a 3% response rate.
7. Seal the business reply envelope
8. Mail it

Not only have you torn the hated credit card offer to shreds, you’ve also just gotten the credit card company to pay for you to mail them the torn-up offer they sent you in the first place.

Do they want it? No. But then again, neither did you.

LivSimpl

P.S. I just realize a previous tip on how to remove yourself specifically from credit-based offers (think “Congratulations! You’re pre-approved!”) didn’t make the jump when I switched sites. I’ll rewrite it and get it back up soon.

Photo courtesy of here.

Gadget charging: reduce the clutter

While I haven’t tried this out personally, I think if I traveled more (or at all) I’d probably find $110 ($50 for the base and $10 for each custom charging cord) well worth the investment.

The <a href=”
http://callpod.com/products/chargepod”>Chargepod does just what it looks like it does: charges up to six smaller gadgets (sorry, no laptops) simultaneously while using only one wall outlet.

Of course, even if you don’t travel it would be great to have a Chargepod as a central area to charge all your gadgets instead of having to occupy six outlets and keep track of six power adapters.

While I don’t know many people who have a Treo, a Blackberry AND a regular cell phone along with two Bluetooth headsets, my wife and I have plenty of gadgets that need charging.

I’ve seen homemade variations of this idea, but nothing quite so simple. What are your thoughts? Do you like the idea? Is the price right? Has anyone used a Chargepod or something similar? Let me know in the comments.

LivSimpl

The poll is closed

Thanks to everyone who voted in the poll. The question was, “What do you think of the new site?” Overall, the vast majority of voters liked the new look. Thanks! Of course, I’m still open to any and all suggestions about the site, so feel free to e-mail me at LivSimpl at the gmail.

LivSimpl

Thanks to my readers

I wish to express a sincere “thank you” to the readers of LivSimpl. Believe it or not, it takes quite a bit of effort to keep the site going (of course, it could use a lot more effort) and I’m thankful to have people come, read, and leave comments. It keeps me encouraged and excited about what I’d like this site to become.

Speaking of the future of the site, a special thank you to those who link to the site and tell their friends. That’ll be the key factor in getting readership to the point I’d like, so thank you!

I hope you have a wonderful day, wherever you are!

LivSimpl

Live in thanksgiving everyday

Just a quick “happy Thanksgiving”. I have much to be thankful for today, not the least being that I was one of the lucky ones who wasn’t laid off at work this week. I’m surrounded by family in a warm home with lots of food. That’s a lot more than many people can say.

I’d like to refer you to a tip I posted recently about making a record of your blessings so you can reflect on them at a later time. I know how easily I forget how good I have it and this is a good way for me to remind myself of what’s really important.

LivSimpl

I’m grateful for the picture of the turkey, which I found here.

Simple way to get ready for Black Friday

If you’re crazy enough (no offense) to venture into the cold and crowds tomorrow morning, get the low-down on who has the best deals beforehand at BlackFriday.info. They get the inside scoop on the deals from a lot of the big-named stores.

Some of the deals are even available online beforehand so you can make your purchase from home and, in some cases, pick it up later Friday after the crowds have died down a bit.

Planning on heading out for the big day? What are you shopping for? Let us know in the comments. And thanks for reading!

LivSimpl

What you *should* leave on your outgoing message

Quanology left a comment about the recent post about how to simplify your voicemail’s outgoing message. He/she said, “I see a lot of ‘don’ts’. What should we do on the voicemail??”

A good question. Thanks for asking Quanology.

My personal preference is to keep it simple. My outgoing message says, “Hi, this is David. Press pound and leave me a message.” I put the “press pound” thing on there so people will know they don’t have to listen to T-Mobile’s automated recording.

I figure this gives people calling for the first time enough info to know if they got in touch with the right person, but keeps it brief enough to not be annoying to regular callers.

I’d imagine leaving your phone number might be a good idea in some circumstances, but with more and more people having digital readouts on their phone it becomes less important since they can see the number they dialed.

Anyway, that’s my two cents. What does everybody else think?

LivSimpl

Guest author expounds on virtues of Freecyle

Today’s tip is provided courtesy of a good friend, former co-worker and distant relative of mine, Erin. She’s a technical writer currently in a master’s degree program at Utah State.

We all have our days where we feel like we have too much stuff lying around. Face it, your garage is full of things you know you don’t need—but that you think you’ll need eventually—and your neighbors are starting to nickname you the packrat family. Maybe you’re planning to get rid of an appliance that isn’t operating well, but it would if someone willing would spend the time to fix it. The point is that we all own a few things we don’t need any more, and there’s a better solution than throwing that stuff away.

Let us introduce you to http://www.freecycle.org/. Freecycle is not a priceless (or worthless) cycling contraption—it is a free recycling program where one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. It’s a great place to find things that other people don’t need.

Freecycle is made up of over 4,000 groups; each covers a specific region. The regions are of minimal size so people don’t have to drive long distances to obtain their newly claimed possessions. The website allows you to solicit products in three straightforward categories: Offer, Wanted, and Taken. What’s offered is up for grabs; what’s taken is gone; and calls for wanted items may or may not be answered. Responses are posted through Yahoo discussion boards and e-mail—just because you respond to a post doesn’t mean that the item is still available. But you’ll never know if you can find something unless you try, right? Someone out there might just have that rare Atari game you want, or maybe a handyman will take away your broken appliance and fix it up for his own house. The Freecycle process sure beats sending items straight to the trash.

According to the website, Freecycle participants are currently keeping over 300 tons of stuff a day out of landfills. So next time you’re cleaning out the garage, don’t throw an unwanted item in the trash. Share the love—give away your (decent) unwanted stuff. List it on Freecycle!