i think i like this simple life

ways in which i find a simple life more pleasant to live

Beach Scene at Trouville, 1863, Eugène Boudin

Remember when the “I think I like this little life” song lyric turned into a meme and was overused to scare parents? I am unabashedly guilty for doing this to my mom own because scaring her wits out is one of my favorite past times.

I wanted this newsletter to showcase how great a simple life can be. I think that we, as social media users, have slowly gravitated away from flashy displays of luxury and wealth, and are now embracing a more realistic, comforting and cozy lifestyle without the excess. However, if it’s just me, then maybe my algorithm has completely warped in a way that everyone I see online is loving a simple life and I’ve gotten rid of the bougie nasties. Now that’s a pretty good life to me too.

Here are some aspects of my simple life that I cherish and appreciate so deeply!

1. I cook the same 4 dishes over and over again. I’ve grown to appreciate and need home-cooked meals in my life. I grew up with parents who cooked meals for me, packed me lunch every day, and even though they had full-time jobs throughout my childhood, they still tried their hardest to prevent me from eating out often. In a weird way, I’ve grown accustomed and find comfort in eating the same thing over and over again, especially if it’s home-cooked.

2. I wear the same thing over and over again. I am a chronic outfit repeater, something both my mom and Mr. Beans have pointed out time and time again. My mom hates it, and Mr. Beans has accepted it. I simply don’t care much about high fashion as much as I used to, and I now prioritize ultimate comfort over looking nice. I bet there are clothes that would make me look tremendously better and also comfortable, but I also have no interest in putting in the effort to find those pieces, you know? Once I find something I like, I’m sticking to it.

3. I find joy in solitude. I used to be the type of person who hated being alone. I always needed people around me, otherwise I’d descend into emotional turmoil. I always needed to see a little notification in my texts to feel like I was “popular”. I even went out of my way to put myself, at times, in risky situations, just because I wanted to be around people. One incident that, if turned sour, would have changed the trajectory of my life forever (in a bad way), and after years of reflecting upon this, I realized I don’t need a lot of people to feel fulfilled. Even before I met Mr. Beans, I was doing fine spending my time with parents, seeing my friends once a month, and pursuing my career goals. Now that I’m dating Mr. Beans, I feel less inclined to have as big of a friend group as before.

4. I watch movies not because I’m lazy, but because I want my mind to work. There’s a difference between mindful and mindless consumption—even considering the plausibility of dichotomy of consumption itself may seem paradoxical. What type of consumption is even good for you, you may ask. I think that there is a lot to learn from film. Certain plotlines, scores, the ways that actors get into character—these all get sewn in together to create a beautiful piece (sometimes, not all the time). It’s not the art piece that’s the problem. It’s you, and how you’re using your brain to think deeply about what’s happening on screen. Hence, I take an hour or so to write a comprehensive movie review after watching something that impacted me in a poignant way (e.g., Barbie, Baby Reindeer, Elemental), and this practice prevents me from turning my film watching into a mindless habit.

5. I spend most of my nights writing on Substack. I spend a lot of time writing newsletters for my Substack, if you can’t tell already. A weekly paid report card every Saturday, then a Monday Musing… every Monday. Altogether, around 8 posts per month, sometimes 9-10 depending on how the weeks play out. While I don’t think the pay to effort ratio is all that, the fulfillment it gives me, writing my heart out and sharing things I love or am passionate about, is the equivalent of making this a hobby. A lot of people advise against monetizing your hobbies, and while I understand the sentiment, I share a lot of my private life in my report cards, so paywalling isn’t solely for the income, but moreso for my own privacy’s sake.

6. I don’t wear as much makeup as much as I used to. I don’t think putting makeup on is inherently bad at all. I just know that I’ve grown more confident in my looks (funnily enough, I think I objectively look worse than I used to), and it’s taken me a while to get here (around 15 years to be exact). I even got fired from a job for not wearing makeup (I’ll be posting about this on Instagram sometime soon). There’s nothing wrong with not wearing makeup, but I can 100% say that my internalized self-confidence has skyrocketed since weaning off of it. I feel more self conscious now, when I wear makeup! Wild how things have changed!

7. Whenever I travel, I only bring my small carry-on bag and a crossbody bag. Unless I’m moving my entire life across the country (this has only happened once), I always make sure I can bring my bag inside the airplane with me. This is primarily for practical reasons, such as 1) knowing where my bag is at all times and not risking having it get lost despite Airtagging it, 2) checking in a bag costs $30, and 3) if I have electronics in my suitcase, I can make sure to lift it up and down gently. But for “simple life” reasons, I like to make sure I wear every single clothing item when I’m on vacation. I’d rather not have a piece of clothing item take up real estate without being used. This doesn’t apply for undergarments as I bring extra just in case, but those barely take up any room!

8. I have a 3-step skincare routine. Morning: water rinse, moisturizer, and sunscreen (I’ve been skipping the latter lately, it’s so bad!!). Nighttime: gentle skin cleanser and moisturizer. I have Aquaphor for my lips everywhere I go so I don’t consider that a step, but I thought I’d mention this to be transparent since I don’t use my face moisturizer for my lips.

9. I love being a tourist in my neighborhood. One of the things I regret about living in Boston for a year is not exploring the area enough. There were so many nooks and crannies of Boston—Back Bay, Allston, Brookline, Cambridge, Somerville… now, I’ve really prioritized exploring what’s local to me. Because frequent travelling isn’t in my budget (only max 1-2x per year), I’ve learned to tune into the tourist mindset and explore my own neighborhood with curiosity and wonder.

10. I removed my personal Instagram account off my phone. This simplified my life in ways I wouldn’t have ever imagined. Even though I might miss a few of my friends’ stories, if I truly cared about their lives, I would ask them in-person when I see them, and they’ll catch me up on pictures I didn’t get to see. This happened recently when I saw a friend who recently graduated from law school. He told me he posted on Instagram, and I told him I’m off of it for now so we just went through his camera roll! This is a two-fold happenstance: 1) someone who I deem a close enough friend will most likely tell me about big events in their life and send me pictures, in which I will be there to message them a “Congratulations” or something of the sort and 2) someone I don’t message regularly but see often (every month or two months) will update me on their life whenever I see them. I’m grateful I have friends who aren’t so obsessed with social media that they feel the need to tag me in everything, or their main form of communication is through sending me reels.

11. I never expect people to make plans for me on my birthday. I remember throughout undergrad, I would see my friends get surprised from their huge group of friends on their birthdays. I’ve never had that growing up. Maybe in high school, the girls in my group would do something small, like we’d all go to someone’s house and just hang out or get food together. We’d also do gift exchanges. But once I hit undergrad, all of that ceased. I’ve gone 10 years without people doing anything for my birthday that now, my birthday is just another day in the calendar. The one thing I like doing is reflecting on how much I’ve grown and either writing it down or taking the time and space to think, alone. But receiving gifts? Having people take me out to get food? I don’t care if that happens anymore. And even if it does, it’ll feel like a normal day of hanging out with a friend.

12. I take things easy on the financial front. I have something called “accidental side hustles”. These are things, or hobbies, that I would still continue to pursue whether or not I make money from them. Of course, if I were to lose money from it I’d stop immediately. I don’t actively credit card hack, coupon, or take on a side job for the sake of making more money. This is primarily because I am only one person, capable of a certain number of things before I mentally breakdown into exhaustion. Starting moneywithbeans on Instagram was an effort for me to get more involved in the finance space, but never to make more money from it. My Gumroad templates are ones I already use in my own Notion dashboard (with some tweaks, here and there to make it more publicly accessible). My Substack is my personal diary with the option to pay for posts that reveal certain parts of my identity more. I don’t do things that 1) I don’t consider to be a fun or fulilling hobby or 2) are solely to make money and not for growth.

13. Mr. Beans and I don’t have expensive taste for each other. We prefer at-home date nights and take-out from our local mom-and-pop shops compared to fine dining establishments or luxury gift exchanges. While I appreciate luxury goods, I never expect Mr. Beans to get these items for me; similarly, Mr. Beans has an affinity for hobbies that tend to be more expensive, and I am never expected to purchase them as a gift for him.

Living a simple life is subjective, based on what you know, the people you’re surrounded by, where you live, and how you grew up. Regardless, I think that simplicity in ways you find most impactful is more important than trying to achieve the “extreme minimalist” lifestyle. Do what’s best for you!

If you got to the bottom of this post, I am so grateful for you. Here’s my weekly virtual hug to you, and I hope to see you again next week.

Where to find me: Instagram | Goodreads | Letterboxd | Notion Templates | Wealthfront