The Simpler Family: A Book of Smart Choices and Small Comforts for Families Who Do Too Much

by Christine Klein

The Simpler Family shows families how to make their dreams come true by making smart choices about the way they spend their time and money. Its proven, real-life strategies help families increase their free time together, reduce stress on parents and children, improve parents' work/life balance, increase healthfulness and save time and money.

256 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2001

Reviews

[Cris · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is old book is a good starter into simplicity. It focuses families on spending time at home for more enjoyment. If you already practice simplicity you might be tempted not to read this book deeply, but there are some helpful practical pages here. Because Klein focuses more on her home than I, I found her list of yearly chores helpful. On the other hand homework-management was not necessary for me because I homeschool, but others might find the school choices chapter helpful. I was tempted here to feel inneficient about our money management reading about the incredibly small salaries people manage to make work but I had to remind myself that the goal is contentment, being in the moment and time to smell the roses.

[Charity · Rating 3 out of 5]

Klein's suggestions are good, but as someone who's been simplifying (with varying degrees of success) for more than a decade, most of the recommendations aren't new (except having my kids make homemade greeting cards to give as gifts. I really like that idea).

My favorite thing about this book is that Klein suggests simplifying not just for simplicity's sake but as a way to enrich our lives and improve our family relationships. It's easy (and fun, in a Puritanical way) to get caught up in challenges that put a number on how many items we have in our closets or how often we eat out or how much waste we produce, but none of those things is going to stick long-term if there's not a deeper, more significant reason to do them. I enjoy the smug sense of self-satisfaction that self-deprivation gives me, but the changes only stick if the benefits that result outweigh the difficulties. If we keep the focus on how we want our lives to look and how we want our relationships to feel rather than on what we don't want, we'll have a much better time making lasting changes that really improve our lives.

I think this message is in the book, but I might be reading between the lines.

Bottom line: This could be a great resource for those who are just getting into simplifying their lives or as a reminder/encouragement for those who've lost track of simplicity and are feeling overwhelmed, but if you're already deep into simplifying, it will likely have little new to offer you.