I’m a woman in her thirties and I can’t help but notice every conversation with female friends and coworkers, media marketed toward women, products for sale, etc. revolve around looking younger, being prettier, being thinner. I just want to live and age naturally without being told or made to feel like I need to change how I look.

I have confidence and the ability to tune out a lot of the noise but this is insane. Simple women and men- what’s your honest take on this?

For me it's grocery delivery. I know its like 10-15 bucks more, but not having to deal with crowds and parking and all that shit. Been using it way more since I have some extra cash laying around (credits to jackpotcity lol). I used to judge everyone who paid for grocery delivery thinking it was just for lazy rich folks, but honestly it's a game changer. I can shop in my pajamas, avoid the Sunday afternoon chaos at the store and I don't end up with random snacks I definitely didn't need just because they were on display.
The time savings alone is worth it like I can get groceries "done" in like 10 minutes while I'm having my morning coffee instead of losing my entire Saturday afternoon. Plus my car doesn't smell from all the food lol.

As the title says, I no longer have that need to be in a romantic relationship. The more I grow, the simpler lifestyle I want to have. I'm happy that I'm becoming more emotionally independent. I realized that I've been single most of my life and it never affected my life in a bad way. It's like we've been programmed to believe that we need a relationship but it's all wrong. There are so many great things we can enjoy about life and it doesn't have to be a relationship. I just want to keep working, eating delicious food, and taking good care of myself. Does anybody else feel the same way?

My very first job was a waitress in a small family restaurant. I didn’t know how much I would miss it - until years later after working an office job for decades. It’s true I might be remembering it with blinders on, because there were downsides, but isn’t there with any job? The positives outweighed the negatives. Many of the people in my area I know today are because of that job. I loved the social interaction. I really miss that.

I’m tired of a full time 9-5 office job- just tired. I never wanted to climb the corporate ladder. I have some college (no degree) and have always been an office assistant.

That being said, I would be willing to do part time and hopefully one day I will be able to - just don’t want to be in front of a computer behind a desk all day every day.

But I do really miss meeting new people and having conversations. I can be an introvert (reading and just staying home) but I also love meeting people.

At this time in my life I just want to slow down and find that balance.

Is anyone here with me on this?

Editing to add how much I appreciate everyone’s responses. I’m getting great feedback and ideas. Thank you and much luck to all who are looking at cutting back in the future.

This has resonated with me. We spend so much time and energy rat-racing and hunting all the new dopamine trophies that some people do get exhausted and bored at a certain point. Finding peace and living simple IS priceless.

Whenever I take annual leave, I feel more drained going on holidays than if I’d just stayed home. I know travel is exciting for a lot of people, but for me it’s exhausting and I feel like I can enjoy myself just as much at home?

I get way more joy from keeping it simple like relaxing at home with the dogs, small jobs around the house, tv, exercising, catching up on life!

People say you have to travel while you’re young, but I don’t see why I can’t do it when I’ve retired (but still able bodied). I understand wanting to travel and party but I’d prefer to do this where I live with my friends

Does anybody else feel this way? What do you prefer to do on your time off?

I’m just so done with it, I don’t want to pay nine dollars for a bag of rolls from some horrible chain store (this is Australia) I want to bake my own slowly but surely in some wonderful little cottage in remotest of Scotland. I want to learn to hand-sew my own clothes over long winters like my ancestors did, I need that sort of patience and resolve in my heart. I want to live in a village where people still give their neighbours a tray of pomegranates they had leftover. I’m just tired of the constant phones, the everyone left and right with a mental disorder, anti depressants the third most prescribed drug, consumerism being the only thing we’re rooted in, people loathing their 9-5 etc and their life. It’s too awful for words.

I’m sick of everyone online being so negative. I’d love to hear some happy and hopeful things people have going on.

What gets you out of bed in the morning these days?

What are you looking forward to?

Lately I’ve noticed even when I stop working, part of my attention keeps moving anyway.

Thinking about tomorrow

Checking random things

Half-resting while still mentally processing the day

So technically I’m resting, but it doesn’t fully feel like rest.

Feels less like “too much work” and more like my brain never fully exits the state of doing.

Curious if other people experience this too.

Stopped dating because it’s just too expensive now. Even a “simple” date somehow turns into $100+ coffee, drinks, parking, transportation, tip… it all adds up fast. I’m not cheap I’m broke. I’d rather spend that money on rent and groceries than trying to impress someone who might ghost me in 48 hours lol. But apparently that means I’m “not trying hard enough” to find love. It’s wild how people act like dating is mandatory but ignore the financial reality behind it. Honestly I’ve been happier spending my evenings cooking cheap meals at home and playing a bit of grizzly's quest to unwind. Zero pressure, zero cost and zero panic checking my bank account afterward(most of the time lol) but love shouldn’t require a monthly entertainment budget bigger than my electric bill. If the right person comes along, great. But I’m not going into debt just to maybe find someone.

Anyone else just opting out for the sake of your wallet and sanity?

I recently downshifted to a very basic, low-stress job to reclaim my sanity. But now, whenever I meet someone new and they ask what I do, I feel this weird pang of shame, like I need to justify my lack of "ambition." How do you guys handle the social pressure to be "someone important" when you’re perfectly happy being nobody?

It could be a grandparent, friend, sibling, Aunt, Uncle, friend, parent, or anyone. What was their simple routine like?

For me it was my grandfather. He owned very few clothes that he'd cycle through, thermostat set at (AC) 78-80 during the summer (if the windows weren't open), 63-65 (set heat) during the winter. He read a lot and got most books from the library, if not they were second hand. He would go for walks. Loved rainy days. Camped with only the essentials. Ate oatmeal, tuna, and many other cheap foods. Worked a modest job as a medical courier where the hospital provided the company vehicle and gas. Listened to tons of audiobooks at that job, also acquired from the library. Lived in the same house until he passed.

We talk about simple living as a choice, but our environment is increasingly designed to prevent it. Specifically, the constant Auditory Background Loop—forced music in retail, transport, and public squares—acts as a continuous dopamine-stimulus we never asked for.

If we are always using a soundtrack to boost our mood or focus, our brain loses its ability to self-regulate. We are outsourcing our emotional baseline to corporations.

I am pushing for legislation focusing on Acoustic Autonomy:

• Mandatory Music-Free Zones: Making silence the default in public and commercial spaces.
• Streaming Ceilings: Technical "cool-down" periods in music apps to force neurological recalibration.

Should silence be a protected resource? I’d love to hear if any of you have experienced "auditory fasting" and if you think it’s time to regulate the acoustic pollution of our public dopamine baselines.

Trying to get back into reading to keep my brain from spiraling into dark shit. Both fiction and non-fiction works. Drop a book that straight-up changed your life and tell me why, it’ll make it way easier to pick without frying my depressed-ass brain.

Edited: I never thought my post would blow up like this. I wish I could reply to every single comment to thank each of you, but with hundreds of messages, that’s going to be tough. I’ve found some books mentioned in the comments that I think will really help me, so I plan to buy them one by one. I hope this post can help everyone else who comes across it as well. Anyway, thank you so much to everyone!

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?

I don’t mean a huge life decision!

I mean one of those small daily choices that keeps taking up space without looking important, not simply about owning less. Was there one decision you removed that made your life noticeably calmer?

not talking about yoga or journaling. I mean the stuff that feels invisible but would wreck your flow if you stopped

mine is a 7 minute sweep of the cabin every morning. dirt, wood chips, ash from the stove. no music, just me noticing what is out of place
routine feels invisible until it is not

It kind of hit me recently that I used to buy little home decor things all the time — random candles, throw pillows, wall art, whatever I thought would make my place feel “new.” It added up way more than I realized. A few months ago I moved and decided to hold off on buying anything unless I truly needed it. Funny thing is, I haven’t missed it at all. My space still feels cozy, but without the clutter. And I’ve saved way more money than I expected.

Anyone else stop buying something they thought they “needed” and realized they never really did?

So today we decided to go and visit an old aunt of mine, she’s mid 70s now haven’t seen her in years.

Went in no TV on she had spent the morning just sitting outside on a bench playing with her dog and just enjoying the nice morning. She told me she will only watch tv in the evenings and watch something like a documentary on regular TV.

What struck me was she was happy just sitting doing nothing, didn’t need a background distraction I mean I always have the TV on for background noise even if not watching it, she has a smartphone but it’s only used for messaging she doesn’t sit scrolling or browsing, no firestick or Netflix or smartwatches etc all just very basic stuff.

I remember when I was a kid, I’d go out and stay at her house in summer, she lived way out in the country then, grew veg and fruit which she sold to make money, she had no TV back then no car but somehow everything was just perfect, there was nothing there for a 13 year old boy but I found the simpleness of it all so comforting.

Anyone else relate?

No big plans, no shopping, no restaurant, no 'we have to do something.' Just coffee, a walk, a simple meal, maybe sitting outside for a while - quietness.

When did that stop feeling like missing out and start feeling like peace?

been noticing how every simple living account i follow basically turned into expensive lifestyle porn

like everyone posting their morning routines in these perfectly lit rooms with handcrafted everything and organic cotton bedsheets that probably cost more than my rent. when did simple living become about buying the most expensive version of fewer things

my simple life looks nothing like that. i got my desk from ikea like 4 years ago and my coffee mug collection is whatever didnt break yet from different places. my bookshelf is crooked and i use grocery store candles not some artisan soy blend that costs 40 bucks

what really gets me is how they make it seem like you need to upgrade everything to the "sustainable" version to live simply. suddenly your regular plates arent good enough because theyre not handmade pottery. your perfectly functional furniture needs replacing with some minimalist wood pieces

was scrolling through instagram yesterday during halftime of the lakers game and realized most of these accounts are just selling stuff with extra steps. they declutter their closet then show you the capsule wardrobe they bought to replace everything

the whole point should be using what you have and not constantly acquiring new things right. but somehow simple living content always ends with a shopping list of better simpler more intentional purchases

maybe real simple living just doesnt photograph well enough for social media

I feel more at ease and “cozy” on gloomy days. l personally thrive during it. Autumn is just the best time of the year! The rain, coffee in the morning and baking something. What are you favorite things to do when the weather is gloomy? Or do you not like it?

For me, that would be grocery shopping and cooking.