When prices rise, we often find ourselves paring back and living with less. The good news? It’s an invitation to find your personal sweet spot of simple, economical, environmental, and pleasurable.
When costs go up for necessities like food, clothing, gas and energy—it causes real and tangible hardships. We won’t make light of that here or try to sell you a vision of a simpler time that beckons us back to a daily routine of everything hand-cooked, hand–sewn, hand-washed, hand-built, hand-repaired.
These practices can be truly transformative, but most people we know have to work outside of the home most days of the week and the demands of such “simpler” times are out of reach in the hours between returning from home from work and preparing for the next day of it.
Convenience culture has grown hand in hand with grind culture—the need to work continually to afford daily life. We can’t simply meet grocery price increases with full on homesteading.
That said, we can—and I argue we absolutely should—take the opportunity to invite more simple pleasures back into our lives and rediscover our own personal sweet spots of simple, economical, environmental, and pleasurable.
Whether it’s enjoying a meal and a card game with loved ones at home or sitting on the porch with a cup of tea in the evening, what may start as a way to save money can open up more space for connection and creativity to bloom in our lives.
Things are more complex than we thought…
What could be simpler than grabbing takeout or driving to the convenience store that’s a few blocks away? Surely cooking or taking a bus is far more complex and certainly more time consuming.
True. And also false.
When we scratch the surface of easy options, a whole chain of complexity unfolds. We begin to see that “convenient” is only convenient in its end state. Because of demand, takeout becomes more expensive and the people who make it and deliver it are squeezed more and more by the year. In our cars we grow more isolated, and in traffic, more antagonistic towards one another. In self checkouts, we grow less adept at connecting with the people who live and work in our neighborhoods.
Don’t get us wrong, we love an occasional takeout, a good restaurant meal, and a road trip. We drive our cars. We live in a city. We are definitely not homesteaders.
What we do instead is try to incorporate more of the activities that hit the sweet spot of simple, economical, environmental, and pleasurable. For us, those things are usually cooking, evenings at home, walking and, of course, coffee. For you, they might be different.
Coffee has long symbolized our philosophy on slow, simple, sustainable, economical practices. We are a busy family with two parents who work outside of the home and two very busy teens. If we can take the time and enjoy the pleasure of a simple coffee ritual, then we take the time each morning to reaffirm our commitment to slow down, reduce waste and spend time together daily.
The economics & pleasures of coffee at home
"Coffee, by the way, is one thing which cannot be made skimp. If you were to economize with it do so by using it less often, but never by trying to make it with less coffee and cooking it longer." —M.F.K. Fisher, How to Cook a Wolf
In her book about enjoying simple pleasures of food in the context of wartime shortages and rations, M.F.K. Fisher did not play when it came to coffee. Rather than weak, unpleasurable coffee, she suggested drinking fewer cups, savored longer.
Fewer cups, savored longer. Simple, economical, sustainable, and pleasurable. What an epiphany!
We had a similar epiphany when we first encountered a cotton coffee filter. In this simple tool, we replaced complex manufacturing processes, plastic bags, bleached paper, and fancy coffee gadgets with an organic cotton cloth we could carry with us anywhere.
And it was cheaper, too. You may not think much about the cost of single-use paper filters, but over time, these expenses add up, especially if you’re buying the unbleached, recyclable filters. But even if you’re buying plain white paper filters, if you make coffee daily, you’ll likely be spending more. And, of course, coffee aficionados know the many many expensive machines and gadgets you can buy in search of the best brew.
M.F.K. Fisher preferred a pourover method. How to Cook a Wolf was published at around the same time as the Chemex was invented, and by the 1960s, she wrote about preferring a Chemex to brew coffee.
It’s simple and slow and economical and delicious. It can be made without plastics or disposables. Best of all, the process of making your coffee can become a simple morning ritual.
Keep it simple, pleasurable, and affordable
Coffee has been our way of evangelizing slow and simple pleasures. And the underlying idea extends far wider than our coffee cups.
In times of disruption, shortages, and economic struggle, the collective vibe can become one of scarcity—a focus on what we can’t find or afford. That struggle is real. And it’s also an opening and invitation, even for the busiest among us.
It’s an act of rebellion to reassert our dignity and humanity in times of struggle. That’s what Fisher’s book was all about in wartime England. And its message, modified for a world where most adults work outside the house, is still very relevant.
The sensory delights of cooking a satisfying meal, the mind-body rewards of taking a walk, the sense of accomplishment at making or building or repairing, or the forgotten delight of listening to a record, start to finish … so many of the simple pleasures in life do take a bit more time than the convenient alternative.
With some experimentation and curiosity and a spirit of resistance to the narrative of scarcity, you’ll likely discover your own sweet spots of simple, economical, environmental, and pleasurable.
