About

Leaving the U.S. with two suitcases, a 100-pound dog and the contents of a 7×7 foot wooden crate provided a fantastic opportunity to reassess my spending habits. I moved to Switzerland alone on a teacher’s salary and had heard horror stories of $6 ice cream cones lakeside in Lugano. Could I make a good life overseas? I wasn’t sure. The rent for my small apartment was considerably more than the mortgage on my three-story suburban Colorado home with a view of the Rocky Mountains.

Instead of constricting because of high costs, my standard of living soared. I’ve discovered, travelling and living in Europe, that some of the finest things in life are free, or close. Becoming an expat has been an exercise in voluntary simplicity and affordable luxury.

Fine Things You Can Afford is an exercise in lifestyle design. Long before Zen Habits or Lifehacker, I adored books on simplicity and abundance by Elaine St. James and Sarah Ban Breathnach. As a graduate student in the 1990s when I read their books I lived simply.

Then I got a job, a spouse (and his son) and a giant house. We bought furniture, shopped at Costco, got a dog and had more stuff than we knew what to do with. Literally.

Several things led to my experiment in lifestyle design. First, we got divorced. My husband got more than half of the stuff (including the house), and then I sold him some of mine.

The next house I bought was extremely small and cozy, in a community called the Cottages. I loved my little cottage, but after only ten months was offered a job in Switzerland. The movers wanted over $7,000 to haul my stuff overseas, so I sold everything except what would fit in a 7′x7′ box.

It was the best thing I’ve ever done. Getting rid of almost all my earthly possessions allowed me to choose consciously the kind of life I wanted to lead, what media I’d allow into my home, what I’d spend time to clean and care for. I kept the dog, the LaZBoy chair I’d bought as my own little personal Declaration of Independence after the divorce, and some art. That’s pretty much it.

There are only two things I really miss: my Trek mountain bike and this crazy mariachi band of metal frogs we had in our rose garden. I laughed out loud nearly every time I looked out the window and caught a glimpse of that set of instrument-toting frogs in our backyard.

Shedding my possessions opened up a world of travel, of food, of adventure. It gave me more time to focus on things I love that I’d forgotten: writing, languages, chocolate. I appreciate everything so much more. That is my wish for you.

I don’t make a fortune and I live like a queen. You can have this, too. Fine Things You Can Afford is about simple pleasures and everyday indulgences. You don’t have to be single to enjoy them!

Maybe I’m the quintessential Gen-Xer, I don’t know. What I do know is I’m living my own little Under the Tuscan Sun every day. Anything is possible, and a lot of it happens on a daily basis.  I’ll share as many great finds as I can.

Thanks for stopping by!