October 2024 Minimal Monthly Hi Reader, Did you know that when you cancel a subscription, you will often receive a new offer that's much more inexpensive? It works surprisingly often! Two examples: I cancelled Spotify Premium and got offered three months for the price of one (OK!). Then I cancelled my CRM software and got offered 40% off. Like, wow. I'm going to be doing this more often now. Of course it's not guaranteed to always work, but I'll take my chances for stuff I can resubscribe to...
about 2 months ago • 2 min read
September 2024 Minimal Monthly Hi Reader, What a jump in temperature this week. Within 48 hours we went from flip-flops and shorts to jacket, scarf, beanie and booties. The sudden shift gave me the impetus to get out on the rooftop and clean the gutters before the cold really sets in. All that's left to do is bring in the containers that aren't winter-proof and tackle one final round of weeding in October. Easy-peasy. No knotweed in my neck of the woods. 😉 Good Housekeeping lists seven other...
3 months ago • 2 min read
August 2024 Minimal Monthly Hi Reader, Home organisation obviously focuses on the tangible—sorting through drawers, decluttering closets, and arranging living spaces. But what about things beyond our physical environment, noise for example? In a free society, much like in our homes, we face an abundance of choices. Just as we navigate through our possessions, democracy allows us to sift through a multitude of information, opinions and ideas, and tune out what we don't like and what doesn't...
4 months ago • 2 min read
July 2024 Minimal Monthly Hi Reader, Cold meals in the summertime are the best and if I can avoid cooking in the evening, I'm game. This simple raspberry dip is great this time of year if you like tangy stuff. It's quickly made and goes well dolloped onto melon salads, as a smoked salmon topping, for dipping veggie nibbles, crackers, broiled chicken chunks or cold shrimp. Here's all you need: A generous cup of raspberries About 200g or 3/4 cup of sour cream 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar Let the...
5 months ago • 2 min read
June 2024 Minimal Monthly Hi Reader, It's hot out. AC is not a thing here. So it's also hot inside. The sun doesn't go down until after ten at night, and it's up again at four in the morning. Afternoon naps are the way to go this time of year, if you ask me. In between the midsummer drowsiness, eating pound after pound of fresh cherries and watching Euro Cup matches, I saw The Smashing Pumpkins last weekend. The concert left me feeling rather nostalgic. Me and 16,999 other people at the...
6 months ago • 2 min read
May 2024 Minimal Monthly Hi Reader, If your favourite home & garden bloggers have been quieter lately, it's because they're deep in the trenches of social media, trying to figure out how to recoup the 70-90% loss in website traffic they're suffering. And it's not just home & garden that's been hit. Now that Google prefers to serve content from Forbes and Reddit (or just display utter nonsense), web publishers large and small are in the doghouse. Adding insult to injury, everyone's content was...
7 months ago • 2 min read
April 2024 Minimal Monthly Hi Reader, Habit stacking is probably one of the most efficient and relatively painless ways to stay on top of all the daily stuff you have to contend with at home. We all have things we do routinely. The trick is to tack a task onto them and presto, you're habit stacking. It can be as simple as stacking the task of wiping down the bathroom sink onto the existing habit of teeth brushing. Then you just build more elaborate stacks of mini tasks to maximise time. We're...
8 months ago • 2 min read
March 2024 Minimal Monthly Hi Reader, Whether it’s a car, appliance or pair of jeans: I tend to use my stuff until it’s on its last leg. I have an old friend who always chuckles whenever he drops by: "That coffee grinder STILL works?" He was with me when I bought it nearly 20 years ago. My electric beater is from the mid-80s (yup, the nineteen-eighties). It’s ugly as heck but it still works. It sits in the cabinet next to an electric citrus juicer from 1997, also still in weekly use. You get...
9 months ago • 4 min read
February 2024 Minimal Monthly Hi Reader, Happy leap year. I was so glad for the extra day. These past few weeks have been super busy rebranding and redesigning the site. But, ta-da, I'm happy to share Tidymalism has a fresh new look 🎉 The new site features faster mobile loading, larger, crisper fonts, less bloat, a new resources page, and a friendlier splash of colour. Come have a browse while I work out the last few caching kinks, and feel free to hit reply to send any feedback. Speaking of...
10 months ago • 2 min read