It was June 12, 2013. The lawnmower slogged through our front yard, a once-proud self-propelled machine now a heavy burden. As I turned the first corner the handle broke off and I walked into our neighbor’s driveway with only the handle. I flung it down and made the long walk to the garage, cursing once again.

Our property is long and rectangular, nearly an acre, and as I walked I took stock of all the time and money I had spent on the place in the previous 14 years. Fourteen years, including my entire thirties, of year-round mowing, trimming, edging, weeding and dealing with our typical Florida landscape impossible to tame. Fourteen years of oak tree trimming, palm tree pruning, driveway resurfacing, painting, power washing, mulching, leaf blowing, swimming pool maintenance, pool cage re-screening, fence repairing, outdoor lighting installing, insect baiting, and lawn-chemical treating.

That was just the outside. Inside we had replaced every appliance at least once and one of the two – yes two – water heaters twice. We allowed ourselves to be bitten by the mid-2000s remodeling craze and managed to take what was a 3-year-old house when we bought it and remodeled the entire interior. We had replaced both – yes both – HVAC systems, though only after enduring extensive repairs on both. We had resurfaced the pool, remodeled the deck, and painted and re-floored every room in the house, some twice.

It sickened me to think how much money we had spent on this house. But it horrified me to think of how much time we had spent between the home, yard, and pool maintenance – which I also did myself – in order to….what, exactly? In order to have a showplace for parties we rarely hosted? To welcome friends and family from up north who seldom visited? To not swim in a pool? To be the house all the neighborhood kids hung out at – even though we live on a main road and not a neighborhood and our kids, like most, are so overscheduled they don’t hang out anyway?

My wife and I pride ourselves, or so we thought, on being sensible, frugal people who live below our means. But why had we willingly sacrificed so much precious time and money to maintain and cool a Florida home that, while (mostly) affordable, was far more than we needed?

It was time for massive change and this wasn’t just about hiring a lawn service, which I did for a price far below what I would have expected. No, this was about claiming the life we always aspired to, discarding all of the clutter of the past and living lean. It meant shedding extra pounds, at least half our belongings, dead-weight relationships, commitments that provided little value, and digital distraction that in the 14 years we lived in this house had gone from exciting new technology to a smothering, all-consuming, time-sucking matrix of email, social media, texts, tweets, videos, games, instant messages, Internet rabbit holes, and 24/7 nonsense that threatened to engulf all four of us, especially the kids.

It meant striving to downsize and find a smaller home. Yes, downsizing, In our forties. With kids still at home. We’re not there yet. But we’re looking.

We decided to go back to the future, to a place of real-world experiences, eschewing prepackaged theme park visits and entertainment and embracing the outdoors, traveling to places of historical significance and natural beauty, and using technology as a tool, not a freakin’ lifestyle. With rare exceptions, we’d keep the TV off. We’d put down the phone, though go old school and actually use it to call and speak to people. Entertainment would be biking, hiking, paddling, swimming, and running, preferably with friends who preferred such things above getting together to eat and drink.

No longer would we buy anything unless it served these goals. We would not collect. Anything important in paper form would be digitized. We would not buy in to America’s consumer calendar on steroids unless it served our goals.

We committed to shedding clutter in all aspects of our lives – physical, mental, digital, possessions, relationships, commitments – and by doing so framing a life of rich experiences.

This is our ongoing journey To Live Lean. Any input is welcome.