moving onto simple

Library day yesterday found me picking up a book by Elaine St. James titled "living the simple life".  Now I am pretty sure I read it before, but it's a good read and reminds me of why I am traveling this path I am on.  Some days it's hard, some days I lose focus so I need some grounding.  This book was just it for me.  I guess I felt like i was getting no where so I needed some confirmation that I was going in the right direction.  I made list of things I have done over the past few months to simplify my life.  Then I made another short list of what means the most to me...things I really need to simplify in order to get to my end goal of well, having more free time for me, the kids, and things that are important to me. 

things I've simplified:
     *stopped buying bodywash and use only bar soap  {sounds silly, but I was buying like 3 different kinds every week!}
     *decreased our DirecTV to the least possible channels {now this came after I completely disconnected it, but then felt bad for my 17 year old, and didn't want him to think that it was only done for financial reasons}
     *meal plans
     *buy less processed/more fresh food-easy cause you can eat it plain...less mess, less fuss!
     *massive cleanout of stuff due to the move
     *buying recycled/repurposed household items....God bless Goodwill!
     *very concious of our electric usage...shut off the lights!!
     *budget friendly activites for the kids:  we swim, we go to library, hunt for free stuff to do
    * pizza is usually our only take out meal...usually on a Friday
     *shopping hiatus except for necessities....i have also really put a hold on quick purchases, I don't buy them go home and think about whether I really need it.  I also have a list of large ticket items I want to purchase for the house.
     *got rid of our landline phone
    * only creative, wood toys...no electronic/plastic
     *using homemade cleaning products instead of store bought one's...soap and water/vinegar/peroxide
     *baking from scratch

now some of these items I slip up on, other's I don't.   Some of them take some forethought...like the baking from scratch thing...you need to stock up your pantry for this, but in the long run it works out and as a bonus, you can teach your kids to cook!  Probably the biggest thing I've accomplished it to stop impulse buying and really look at what I bring into my home.  Is it useful, will I keep it, will I maintain it?  I've stopped buying quantity, more quality. 

My next major goals in simplifying have to do with my housework, my job and my commute.  All of these things seem to clutter up my time and take away from what I really want to focus on and that is my family.  I want to be able to spend more quality time with my kids, maybe homeschool and be less stressed out and more fun to be around.  I'd also love to get more involved in my papercraftinghobby and maybe take off on a business with it.  We'll see.

So what have you done to simplify your life?