The Simple Living Guide: A Sourcebook for Less Stressful, More Joyful Living

"Reading this book just a year ago, it has changed so much more than my life - it has altered attitudes and made me review the standards I was brought up with and had come to regard as normal. The chapter on money was the first EVER description of handling finances that had got through to me. My husband was and is totally frustrated that many argument topics were made clear to me by this book that he'd been trying to show me for 15 years... it's not made life easier, but it's given me such a new outlook. Boy, what a year it's been!! My only criticism is that I read a German translation and would have liked to have seen some elements adjusted to our conditions, not just the language!"
~ Written on 1999-12-02

"The chapters about work and money were helpful, but all the examples of "simple living" were too impractical for most people. While the definition of voluntary simplicity is alleged fluid, why give the most extreme examples of people building adobe houses without indoor plumbing? The author talked too much about spirituality and quasi-religious matters. Just stick to the hints, please."
~ Written on 1999-07-06

"Unlike what other readers have described, Luhr's book is not extremist: in fact, the author gives numerous examples of others who use some basic strategies of Simple Living who are not on the lower scale of income. It seems that the point of the book has been missed for those readers. Rather, Luhr makes us ask ourselves a difficult question: what really IS important to you in life? No answer is definitely given. Instead, Luhr gives us a path in which to explore its possibilities, and the rich and spiritual depths of our own inner nature."
~ Written on 1998-10-25

"True, there's good advice in these pages, and it's presented in a convenient digest format (all of this territory has been covered before, by among others, Don Aslett, Jane Brody, and Thoreau). My problem is the author's self-righteous tone; although she begins, promisingly enough, by saying that "simple living has nothing to do with your level of income," she soon makes it clear that she will brook no slaggards, and that the leaner your existence, the better your person. Amy Dacyczn, the founder of the Tightwad Gazette, is pretty hardcore on the subject of paring down to the basics, yet her books are written with good humor and an awareness that she is, indeed, on the fanatical fringe; she is much more tolerant of the fact that people march to different drummers, something Luhr preaches but does not seem to really believe. If you enjoy being lectured, Simple Living will give you several days' worth."
~ Written on 1998-09-17

"I liked the general idea of the book, however, I found much of it to be redundant. Some of the ideas were too harsh for my lifestyle. The beginning of the book dragged a bit but the last two thirds were more interesting. I think this book would be excellent for someone who is disiplined and willing to have a simple life. It is not very good for the weak at heart."
~ Written on 1998-09-05