Simple

It’s not the sexiest of topics, but man if it doesn’t make or break you… Budgeting sounds as great as getting a root canal by a first grader, but really, it’s simply telling your money where to go. That’s it.

In this episode, Erin and I chat the ins and outs of how we do it in our households. What does it look like to watch our pennies? How do we prioritize what to spend our money on? What method of saving and budgeting works for us?

And ultimately, how does money affect our life? Because it does.

Links From This Episode:

• Follow The Simple Show on Instagram
• Erin's blog, Design for Mankind
• Erin on Instagram and Twitter
• Tsh (me) on Instagram and Twitter
• Your Money or Your Life, by Vicki Robin
• Total Money Makeover, by Dave Ramsey
• When Money Isn’t Real (a TED talk)
• You Need a Budget
• Capitol One 360, my favorite online bank (been using for years)
• Notes From a Blue Bike, by me

It's episode 100—woot! (Which is cool, but also a bit misleading, because this podcast has had several iterations since it began in 2011. It's probably more at episode 263, if we're being honest.)

But it means one hundred consistent episodes of its current incarnation, and that's worth celebrating. And who doesn't want a good excuse to celebrate? In this Very Special Episode, Tsh is chatting with all four co-hosts.

All five women have interesting reasons why they live where they live, whether it's a recent giant move to a brand new place, or home is just a few miles from where they were born—on purpose. In this episode, they talk about why they've chosen to hang their hats in particular dots on the map. There's a good chance you'll identify with at least one of them.

Links From This Episode:

• Follow The Simple Show on Instagram
• Haleys blog, Carrots for Michaelmas
• Haley on Instagram and Twitter
• Erin's blog, Design for Mankind
• Erin on Instagram and Twitter
• Stephanie on Instagram
• Kendra’s blog + podcast, The Lazy Genius Collective
• Kendra on Instagram
• Tsh on Instagram and Twitter
• Episode 72, At Home At Home

Hard to believe, but the holidays are almost here—and with that, a roadtrip to see faraway family might be on your horizon. This gives Tsh and co-host Stephanie an excuse to talk about their favorite thing: family travel. In this episode, they share their best tips for roadtripping with kiddos: what to do beforehand, how to handle the adventure on the road, and ways to stay sane while you're visiting family in their home.

Links From This Episode:

• Follow The Simple Show on Instagram
• Stephanie on Instagram
• Tsh on Twitter and Instagram
• Battery jump starter
• Car rooftop bag
• Outdoorsy, for renting RVs and travel trailers
• Roadside America app
• Get the Ultimate Homemaking Bundle until tomorrow!
• New York Times recipe for an Old Fashioned
• Yogi Chai Rooibos, Celestial Seasonings Bengal Spice, and Trader Joe's Harvest Blend teas
• Previous episodes on travel: Summer Roadtrips, Christmas on the Road, Packing Light, and The World's Best/Most Cities

It’s all well and good to talk about why reading matters, what makes for great books, and how to increase our attention spans—but what about simply ways to make reading more enjoyable?

That’s the topic of this week’s episode: how Tsh and co-host Haley—certified book nerds—make one of their favorite hobbies work for them. They're moms, wives, friends, and writers, and yet they make time to read books. If you love to read and wished you had more time for it, or if you want to love to read but aren’t sure how to make it a thing in your life, this episode is for you.

Links From This Episode:

• Follow The Simple Show on Instagram
• Haleys blog, Carrots for Michaelmas
• Haley on Instagram and Twitter
• Tsh on Instagram and Twitter
• Les Miserables
• Brothers Karamazov
• Librivox
• Audiobook version of the Bible – Old and New Testament
• 11/22/63
• The Sun Also Rises
• Elsewhere
• Head here to sign up for a free Audible trial and get a free book!

You'd think there wouldn't be much to talk about when it comes to cleaning—we all have to do it, end of story. But really, it's much more do-able, efficient, and maybe even enjoyable (? okay, not so much) when we do what works for us, not what we "should" do.

Kendra and Tsh talk about cleaning: how they do it, how they don't do it, and things they've learned that work for them. Plus, Kendra talks about her genius idea for cleaning and decluttering a super-smart way: The Swap!

Be encouraged that there's no one right way to clean—but there is a right way for you.

Links From This Episode:

• The Simple Show on Instagram
• Kendra’s blog + podcast, The Lazy Genius Collective
• Kendra on Instagram
• Tsh on Instagram and Twitter
• Come to the NestFest!
• Organized Simplicity, my first book
• Loop scheduling
• Simple Show ep. 60, on living with a messy
• The Lazy Genius Podcast ep. 32, on cleaning the kitchen
• Kendra's genius idea, The Swap!
• Tsh's basic all-purpose cleaner: 1 part distilled vinegar + 2 parts water + 20 drops essential oil of your choice. Shake. Done.
• Or, use Grove Collaborative and get green cleaners at a solid price

A few weeks ago, Tsh talked to Max Lucado, the prolific author and long-time pastor. This was right after Hurricane Irma, and with both of them being in central Texas, Hurricane Harvey was heavy on their minds. Now, more events have happened - Hurricane Maria, the Las Vegas shootings, and more… And sad to say, who knows what else is around the corner.

In this bonus episode, Tsh talks with Max about how to handle feeling anxious*, especially in troubling times like these. With pastoral comfort and wisdom, he shares how he’s feeling in light of everything. Perhaps it’ll encourage you, too?

For Max’s new book, Anxious For Nothing: Finding Calm in a Chaotic World, head to Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or your local bookseller.

* This is different than clinically-diagnosed anxiety. If you’re feeling the symptoms of this, please reach out to a friend and a trained professional.

We all know we're supposed to do it, and we know there's a million ways to do it. But how to make it work when life feels full and you're less than enthusiastic about the prospect?

For Tsh and co-host Erin, it's all about mindset—how to look at exercise in the first place. (In fact, Tsh doesn't even like calling it exercise.)

Maybe it's a personality thing, but they're pretty chill when it comes to numbers, measurements, perfectionism, or competition. They just like moving their bodies because it makes them feel better throughout the day.

In this episode, Tsh and Erin talk about how we make it work in the fullness of their days, and how they even make it something they look forward to.

Head to thesimpleshow.com and look for episode 96 for the show notes, or use the links below:

• Follow The Simple Show on Instagram
• Erin's blog, Design for Mankind
• Erin on Instagram and Twitter
• Tsh (me) on Instagram and Twitter
• Camp Gladiator
• Pomodoro Method
• Yoga With Adrienne
• Aaptiv
• Check out Alison Lumbatis' Style Challenges and her blog
• Join me at Nest Fest on October 21 in Charlotte, North Carolina!
• The Genius Blogger's Toolkit: available now till October 9!

There are so many great after-school activities for our kiddos, but we can't say yes to everything. How do we choose? And how do we balance tapping into the fantastic resources of sports, music, arts, and life skills while still having plenty of free time to just... be a kid?

What if it's a great option for an individual child in our family, but it negatively affects the whole clan? When you have multiple schedules to wrangle, how do you handle the spinning plates of extracurriculars without becoming the Parent Taxi, throwing family dinner by the wayside, and generally becoming a basketcase of a person?

These are the issues co-host Stephanie and I talk about in this episode: choosing how to help our kids get involved in extracurriculars, while still fostering plenty of free time for play and rest.

We’ve all been there: you settle in with a big book or a longer article, and you just can’t seem to concentrate. Your brain flits from topic to topic, refusing to settle down and focus.

The inability to consume longer-form content is becoming an actual problem in our modern era of smartphones, screens everywhere, and billions of quick soundbite-sized content thrown at us every second. Tsh and co-host Haley talk about keeping brains sharp, eyes focused in a world of memes, GIFs, and tweets.

Then, a new short series called How You Do You.

Links From This Episode:

• The Simple Show on Instagram
• Haley's blog, Carrots for Michaelmas
• Haley's podcast, Fountains of Carrots
• Haley on Twitter and Instagram
• Tsh on Twitter and Instagram
• Tsh's Alarm clock
• Mercury extension for Chrome
• Longer-form podcasts: Constitutional, Longform, The Liturgists, Overdue
• The Chronicles of Narnia
• Kristin Lavransdatter
• The Turquoise Table, by Kristin Schell

Dates are great—sometimes. But when you add up things like babysitting and eating out, plus the challenge of finding the right time on the calendar... sitting on the couch with Netflix and a killer dessert feels just as special.

In this episode, Tsh talks with co-host Kendra Adachi about dating their spouses. What works for them right now as parents with full calendars, tired bodies, and limited funds? They love their men, but dating them looks differently than when they were younger and tied down to fewer responsibilities.

They say no to classic dating, but they also say yes to lots of creativity—Netflix, sure, but also game nights, neighborhood walks, front porch mornings, and afternoon outings can be killer. Let's celebrate the small ways to spend time with our Special Someones.

Links From This Episode:

• The Simple Show on Instagram
• Kendra's blog + podcast, The Lazy Genius Collective
• Kendra on Instagram
• Tsh on Instagram and Twitter
• The 7 date night mistakes you didn't know you were making
• In defense of skipping date night
• Podcast episode: The Lazy Genius Does Date Night
• The 5 Love Languages test
• My second book, Notes From a Blue Bike
• The Simple Collective Facebook group
• From New York Times, the Sullivan Street bread recipe
• ....and watch Tsh's video series, The Honest Truth About Simple Living!