When will we actually have enough? Enough money, enough houses, enough food or enough happiness.

Recently I’ve started noticing what really speaks to me. It’s the feeling and frustration which makes me almost anxious when I notice that there is “too much”.

Have you ever noticed how much waste is in your house bin? Or when you go shopping how much food is in your trolley or how much money did you spend this month on clothes or shoe shopping?

(Un)fortunately, I have and it makes me sad. Not only my personal attitude but when I see what is going on around us. This thirst for power or owning even more than we already have.

I can’t help myself to feel like it starts as soon as we start making money.

“I need to get a job, a job which makes me a lot of money. Money that I can buy a car for. Then I’ll be happy. Once I have a car I need my own place. Mortgage. Oh, I need a better job to make more money so I can afford this dream big house.” Then when I have a car, a big house with a big fridge and so I need more food, waste more electricity or water… then I’ll finally be happy.

“I’ll be happy when”

Alright, I don’t have a car or house but I can relate to this feeling “I’ll be happy when”, but will I ever? Eventually, we realize once we achieved or gained something it will never end just there. There is always more to want and it comes with this unfulfilled or disappointing emotion. Because not always after we achieve more, this more is good enough for us.

Well, I guess you get my point now and perhaps you understand my frustration. So, if you feel similar - feeling low or mad seeing the world without boundaries going a little bit crazy around us - you can be part of my little journey of changes and join me taking step by step every day. We can’t change everything today or tomorrow but slowly we can make an impact by being aware. A tiny bit more effort put into our daily lives already makes a difference.

I don’t know about you but I love simplicity. If I can, I try to make my life as simple as possible. And if you know our little Habitual coffee shop you know how simple Habitual is. We run our coffee bar on one group of Linea la Marzocco mini and use EK43 grinder for our espresso, batch or retail. Financially we didn’t want to get into debt and so we got what we could afford. With low risk, simple maintenance and with an effort to still make a good coffee.

In terms of café/wine shop equipment, we were very lucky. Since we joined Bunch which was already nicely equipped we just bought enough cups, spoons and brew kits.

If we could, we wouldn’t spend money on unnecessary stuff such as saucers, a hundred extra cups, too many take away cups, boxes or stock. We only bought what we needed and what we knew we would use or spend well.

What I love about this the most is peace of mind. I know exactly what I’ve got and how many of it I have or need.

I remember times when I used to work in coffee shops where I could barely keep a track of stock because there would be too much of everything. It got overwhelming, trust me.

And so we decided to keep the menu as simple as we could, focusing on quality over quantity.

I guess for me it’s knowing there is just about enough of what we really need, but more importantly making sure we can save money and time. Money on quality products and have time to make coffee, food or bakes with passion and high standards.

The only thing I’m trying to bear in my mind is waste during cleaning. Using blue rolls, bin bags or J cloth can’t be really good for the environment but they are essential in cleaning when it comes to hygiene and hazards in the hospitality environment.

That’s what I meant by being conscious. If you can at least realize where the changes need to be made, that’s a pretty good start. I know how much coffee we bin every week which doesn’t make me happy either. I’ve tried to contact a few companies which use coffee grounds for a good purpose but since they are mostly based in London I’ve only tried to keep some of the coffee grounds for my plants, coffee scrubs or candles. There is unfortunately still lots of coffee wasted every week.

“One step at a time”

One good tip I’ve learned on YouTube is - to check your recycling bins and recycle, please. Take five items out of your recycling bin and try to replace these with non-plastic packages. Like myself, I found a plastic bag of spinach, toilet paper plastic wrap, shampoo bottle, and more fruit plastic packaging. So, my personal challenge will be to replace most of the veggie or fruit plastic packaging with none. I know I can achieve this by shopping from local food markets instead of supermarkets. Like here in Liverpool we have Mattas or the food market on Lodge Lane. Now, I know we are talking about money as well, but again we might avoid buying too much fruit or veggie and only buying what we need, we can consume and not to waste. Eventually, I would love to replace my shampoo bottles with refillable ones. I’ve already started to keep nice bottles or jars I can use for my cosmetics or food. One step at a time.

And so I will try to finish it here. Let me just say a few more words. Emily talked once here on our blog about simple life and what is really important. Like being present, let it go and breathe.

“Having few comforts but endless space or energy to focus on little things and true happiness.”

If we try to get rid of all things which are not necessary we will create more space for what really matters. I believe that’s the beauty. That’s what life is about. Simple things. Having few comforts but endless space or energy to focus on little things and true happiness. Let’s share more tips and stay aware, that’s all we can ask for.