More People Are Leaving the Rat Race for the Simple Life Time is more precious than money for an increasing number of people who are choosing to live more with less--and liking it Kay and Charles Giddens, two lawyers, sold their home to start a B&B hotel.Four years later, the couple dishes out banana pancake breakfast, cleans toilets and serves homemade chocolate chip cookies to guests in a B&B hotel surrounded by trees on a hill known for colorful sunsets. "Do I miss the freeways? Do I miss the traffic? Do I miss the stress? No," says Ms.Giddens, "This is a phenomenon that's fairly widespread. A lot of people are reevaluating their lives and figuring out what they want to do.If their base is being damaged, what's the payoff?" Simple living ranges from cutting down on weeknight activities to sharing housing, living closer to work, avoiding shopping malls, borrowing books from the library instead of buying them, and taking a cut in pay to work at a more pleasurable job. Vicki Robin, a writer, lives on a budget equal to a fifth of what she used to make."You become conscious about where your money is going and how valuable it is," Ms.Robin says, "You tend not to use things up.You cook at home rather than eat out..." Janet Luhrs, a lawyer, quit her job after giving birth and leaving her daughter with a nanny for two weeks."It was not the way I wanted to raise my kids," she says, "Simplicity is not just about saving money; it's about me sitting down every night with my kids to a candlelit dinner with classical music." Mrs.Luhrs now edits a magazine,Simple Living, which publishes tips on how to buy recycled furniture and shoes, organize potluck dinners instead of expensive receptions, and generally how to consume less. "It's not about poverty," Mrs.Luhrs explains, "It's about conscious living and creating the life you want.The less stuff you buy, the less money goes out of the door, and the less money you have to earn." Simple living includes   _  .
building a home library living in the countryside enjoying a colorful night life sharing housing with others