Sounds like a derivative Elaine St. James' Simplify Your Life, published in 1994 by Hyperion, which turned into a series of succesful sellers.

St. James' book numbers the tasks and many of them (if not all, I'm going on memory here) are the same as posted by swissmiss. See for yourself here.

It's good advice, mind you; it's just been done before, and better. Credit where credit is due, please.

I really like that picture!

My wife and I have definitely taken simple living to heart. We've stopped consuming all physical media except for books and magazines. We're selling all of our DVDs, VHS tapes, and books except for our absolute favorites. We're even decluttering my parents' house. We get rid of the stuff mostly through reselling on Amazon and Ebay and as well as physical yard sales every few months to make some money off of the whole thing...we've actually made about a thousand dollars or so selling old stuff we don't need!

Anyway, for our first house that we plan to buy, we're not looking at anything too big...at most 2000 sq ft, but probably 1000-1500 sq ft would be fine. We're also planning on buying small and then building our own dream place that is designed around how we live (gardening, computing, Wii-playing, pets, etc) rather than having layouts designed by someone who is not going to live there.

Anyone else amused by a 72 item list that preaches about simplicity?

Consumer culture=debt, unhappiness, environmental damage, and exploitation of workers in the developing world.

Sick of consuming? Fancy a challenge? Ready to not buy anything for 6-12 months (except absolute necessities like food and medicine)?

If so, contact me at amanda.graham@bbc.co.uk

Cheers!