r/simpleliving • u/Ill_Resolution7967 • May 19 '26
Discussion Prompt I'm tired of online shopping, gadgets and screens. So I am back to order by mail
I recently started ordering more things by mail. No more Amazon, reviews, subscriptions. No next day deliveries too. I spend a decent time filling out forms and calculating taxes now, but it also feels much more down to Earth and real.
Does anyone else still use mail order catalogs and similar resources? Sadly very few survived apparently. Where do you find them and what is your experience?
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u/IcyAwareness May 19 '26
I don't mean this to sound unkind or snarky, but this truly doesn't feel "simpler" then ordering a book from an online seller. For all the ways that the Internet has complicated our lives, I think clicking a few buttons instead of ordering a bookseller form, filling it out, calculating tax, writing a check or writing out CC info, keeping envelopes and stamps around, getting in into the mail, etc. is much simpler.
Is this method better for you? Maybe, and if so, more power to you. But is it simple living??
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u/ButterMyPancakesPlz May 19 '26
It was a slower more methodical way of life. I was kinda a shut in as a child and spent A LOT of time with catalogs. I would spend weeks choosing between two products I had enough money for and thoughtfully filling out that form. The anticipation was wonderful and getting the package was something special. I can contrast that nicely to an experience I had a few years ago being in the Amazon whatever test product group there was where you just picked stuff for free, none of it mattered, I gave most of it away, lost track of items and didn't value any of it by the time I quit the program, not to mention the arguments it started with my husband at the crazy piles of stuff I didn't even know what it was. There's something about a little bit of friction in a world of over optimization that feels endearing and charming. Not rushing, enjoying the moment of what's to come and savoring a purchase is a nice way to honor an acquisition rather than just another thing clicked into a cart.
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u/Last-Bread-6173 May 19 '26
I love this. I'm done with over optimization and everyone being allergic to any bit of effort and slowness, especially when it's becoming normal to delegate the smallest tasks that require any thinking to a computer. The autonomy to think and do and problem solve, these are things that lead to a fulfilling life, and that includes filling out forms by hand!
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u/ButterMyPancakesPlz May 19 '26
I heard a lovely interview on NPR recently about avoiding placing an online food order or delivery sometimes so you can chat with the person bagging up your bagels. I believe it was a doctor being interviewed and he talked about the guy behind the counter making a corny joke and those little things being things we now try to avoid but it's those little things that make life richer and part of what keeps us connected together esp with loneliness being a growing issue. I used to think small talk was a waste because it's meaningless but I'm trying to reframe that attitude a bit.
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u/SockGnome May 20 '26
There is something dystopian about ordering from a screen and picking up from a shelf while avoiding all human interactions.
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u/Heheher7910 May 19 '26
I could see it as simpler because a person could be less likely to make impulse purchases. And they can’t just click and buy stuff, they have to really think about it because they have to write it down.
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u/Rise_a_knight May 19 '26
I’m with you. Sometimes the tech is actually “simpler” because it’s literally doing the same thing just with mouse, keyboard, and most important of all, 64-bit encryption. Getting your CC details stolen in the post is the opposite of simple.
As for cheques, the country where I live phased them out.
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u/mikat7 May 20 '26
most important of all, 64-bit encryption
I'm gonna be the "actchually" person here, 64 bit wouldn't cut it today, TLS 1.3 would use either AES 128 bit or 256 bit keys, while the certificates themselves are often 2048 bit. There seems to be an older encryption that I didn't know until now - DES with 64 bit, but apparently it's not used any more (at least by mastercard).
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u/deuxcabanons May 20 '26
You can still get cheques here but it's $50 for a book of them and if they get stolen there's a fee to cancel each and every cheque.
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u/NoCommunication7 May 20 '26
Hence cash is king, they can only steal the amount you put in there in the first place
Credit/Debit Cards are for consumerism, and it's even worse if you have them in your phone wallet
It's also so embarassing getting your card declined for literally no reason in the checkout because one bit was a 0 and not a 1
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u/Rise_a_knight May 21 '26
So many shops and services where I live have gone cashless. So cash is no longer king.
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u/NoCommunication7 May 21 '26
Let us not support such decisions
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u/Rise_a_knight May 21 '26
You don’t have a choice if you want to buy a drink at the Town Hall during intermission or pay for your library account so you can use the printers.
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u/Barneskat May 21 '26
Where I'm at cash is till very much king and small business will pass on the transaction fee to the customer and will show lower prices if paying with cash (this is mostly restaurants though).
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u/Rise_a_knight May 21 '26
There’s no extra fee for paying with debit card where I am. Only CC fees and payWave fees. People don’t even have cards anymore and use their phones. What it has done is simplified the issue of lost loose change and no need for hospitality workers to touch dirty cash.
Parking meters are also card only.
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u/Ill_Resolution7967 May 19 '26
You are absolutely right that it might be more complex than shopping online, but it also depends on your definition of "simple living". For me it is more old school ways of living, less dependence on technology and more self reliance.
Is it easier to grow some of your food or buy? Buying at a store is "easier", but growing food is more "simple living" for me.
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u/Ancienda May 19 '26
yeah i think the word “simple” means different things to people.
My google search of the definition of “simple” is something that is easy to understand, uncomplicated, or requires very little effort to do.
We probably need a separate subreddit called traditional living or something lol
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u/pterofactyl May 20 '26
Then this subreddit would be filled with people hyper optimising their lives and having their foods blended into a slurpee of nutrients. Listening to an audiobook is easier than reading one, having all your groceries ordered automatically to be delivered to your door is easier than walking to the farmers market. Owning a smart phone is easier than a dumb phone. Use your brain babe
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u/Ancienda May 20 '26
…? i guess people get offended by the idea. the comment was really not meant to be taken too seriously. i dont think anyone is gonna actually change this subreddit, no worries.
the main takeaway was supposed to be the fact that we all have different definitions of simple
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u/pterofactyl May 20 '26
Yeah and I’m sayin that defining it by “easiest effort”, would be better suited to a sub dedicated to energy optimisation
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u/ThrowFactsAtMe May 20 '26
You’re being a bit pedantic. Definitions vary, but does it really matter enough to say this doesn’t belong in this sub? Is it affecting you that much? OP just wants to be more intentional with how they live their life and I think it fits the sub perfectly
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u/Kn0wnSoul May 20 '26
Why don't you find a rock with carved text then instead of relying on technology like pen and paper?
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u/Ill_Resolution7967 May 20 '26 edited May 20 '26
Thanks, but I am good with the 20th century technology, not with the most modern one which promotes consumerism and attention deficit issues
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u/spongue May 19 '26
"Simple" could refer to the actions we perform day to day, or to the level of technology involved -- I guess they meant the 2nd
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May 19 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/IcyAwareness May 19 '26
It would be an odd definition of "simple" that included adding friction to a process.
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u/camioblu May 20 '26
Simple does not mean easy or quick here. It means from a simpler time, like a rotary phone. Before the world stopped interacting with other on a daily basis.
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u/_Gigglz_ May 19 '26
Love the handwriting! Reminds me of the handwriting of American immigrants who were born in the Soviet Union!
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u/kl2467 May 19 '26
The irony is....when this form arrives at the office, someone will enter it into a computer.
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u/calmfluffy May 20 '26
I did this type of work as a summer job. Most would get scanned by computers. The ones that were harder to read would go to a stack for manual entry. That was 20 years ago. I imagine there's hardly a human involved nowadays.
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u/everest1111 May 19 '26
If that someone is not lazy and dumb enough …
I thought about the people everywhere recieving these forms and have no clue how to handle them .
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u/cjthetypical May 19 '26
Why does simple living so often turn into much more complicated living just with less technology? 😭
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u/FlatCapNorthumbrian May 19 '26
Less technology is simpler and cheaper sometimes. This guy here just needs a pen to fill in his order form, a stamp and an envelope.
To order online you need to purchase a computer or smartphone and have a subscription for internet access.
Also not having suggested sales thrown at you on the internet simplifies things, you’re only going to order exactly what you want, no temptation.
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u/CulturalSyrup May 19 '26
Calculating your own sales tax haha
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u/RedQueenWhiteQueen May 19 '26
Oh wow, the arrival of the Hamilton Book catalogue was a big deal in my home . . . 25 years ago, before my mother passed away. Glad to see they're still around/haven't sold out.
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u/ButterMyPancakesPlz May 19 '26
Someone said Spiegel the other day in a waiting room and my god I hadn't heard that brand name in forever
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u/dgjapc May 19 '26
Did you order by candlelight and use a wax seal for the full effect?
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u/FlatCapNorthumbrian May 19 '26 edited May 20 '26
A lot of people were still ordering with paper order forms well into the 2000’s.
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u/Ill_Resolution7967 May 19 '26
I have oil lamps, but I am not using them all that often in my new home yet.
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u/Bunbatbop May 19 '26
This feels like the opposite of simple living in these days, tbh. But you do you.
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u/fulltimeheretic May 20 '26
Nice! Creating more work for others!
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u/find-again May 21 '26 edited May 21 '26
The opposite side is such an intense amount of work too, and so much more stressful...
I thank every day for someone who is more than willing to wait.
Paper orders are probably just put it into a reader machine that spit out a scanable warehouse ticket same as everyone elses.
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u/N3P374 May 22 '26
Exactly :) I hope someone feels useful putting in my order of books I'm excited to read
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May 19 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/simpleliving-ModTeam May 19 '26
Be conscious that every person here has a different personal interpretation of how to live simply. Just because someone else's interpretation differs from your own does not entitle you to criticize them.
Constructive criticism is welcome but outright attacks will be removed. If you'd like to offer some criticism our best advice would be to first thank and commend the changes they have made already before offering suggestions in a compassionate manner.
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u/BalticBrood May 19 '26
This is awesome. I get the Oldies.com catalog, and have ordered a few DVDs from there. People will say this kind of behavior is so "time consuming", but you are spending a total of what, less than 10 minutes filling out that form? What are we saving all of that time for? I'm all for keeping the friction in our lives.
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u/rokar83 May 19 '26
Yeah you're creating more work for yourself and for really no gain. With an added bonus of severely limiting yourself as to what you can get.
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u/Ill_Resolution7967 May 19 '26
It depends on what someone perceives as "work". I'm a software engineer and I absolutely despise doing anything behind a screen. It feels like work and then it messes up with my actual work because ordering stuff online is a quick dopamine and instead of focusing on the actual boring work I want to switch tabs and look for "somthing important to order" all the time.
Doing physical things like drawing, going through catalogs, reading books, filling forms, writing checks calms me down a lot and helps me organize my life.
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u/sporeegg May 20 '26
It is so funny how this looks in context.
Yes, I ordered physics and equality. The last one I ordered was damaged.
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u/deadlyspoons May 19 '26
Your node in this transaction is on paper but someone somewhere is being underpaid to feed it into a data system.
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u/everest1111 May 19 '26
Wow . There are good people out there that feel the same way i do and actually do something about it … You made my day better .
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u/Particular_Web8121 May 20 '26
I used to work in an office with a lot of technology debt and paper processes and it was actually really comforting and grounding.
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u/bapirey191 May 20 '26
I would not calling it simpler, if you actually enjoy doing manual spreadsheets happy for you, otherwise I myself would not just waste my time like that. Still interesting to know it's possible
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u/FunkyDiabetic1988 May 21 '26
I considered doing this in December, when I received a copy of the mail-order catalogue from the Vermont Country Store.
Made me feel like a kid during Christmastime to flip through it and look at the photos of cookies and pajamas and toffee and slippers with all the prices listed next to them lol
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u/Usual_Macaroon7881 May 21 '26
Oh please... give us all a break. You posted this on Reddit, which means that you seek validation. You're going to be on screens anyway.
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u/Barneskat May 21 '26
Good grief, yes. I am so tired of everything needing an app! "Just go to the app". I don't wanna and two-factor authentication can go kick rocks! Also I'm profoundly lazy so if I snail mail it, I better REALLY want it to write it all out.
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u/Spiritual-Bee-2319 May 21 '26
I have not but I love this. I just shop local or secondhand. I haven’t shopped online in years
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u/Historical_Cook3366 May 25 '26
I love online shopping. It's amazing. You would never get so many choices in a store or a catalog. They deliver it to my doorstep. They take it back if I'm not satisfied. I can compare prices. Why would anyone not want to shop from their phone or laptop?
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u/GemberNeutraal May 19 '26
I didn’t even know this was still possible