So I'll Probably Never Be a True Minimalist

I mentioned that after my major purge I still feel like there is too much stuff in my house. I've gone through a second time in most rooms now and a decent amount is going out again, but there is still a lot left. It's taught me that I'm probably never going to be one of the minimalists that I envy or live in a teeny tiny house. I just have too much I can't or don't want to part with. I know part of this is that I have two small kids, but I also have personal hang-ups with stuff.

Let's take my shoes. I went through them this evening determined to cut the number down a lot. Even after the purge I still have fifty pairs :( Talk about consumerism! Now to defend this just a little bit, I have a ton of flip flops and some people don't even consider those when they count. I also have several pairs of tennis shoes for my workouts and since I worked in a gym. I like to keep tennis shoes that are past their workout prime for getting muddy or dirty outside. But the rest are purely because I love shoes...mostly high heels. I don't wear them often anymore because they're ruining my feet, but I like to take them out once in a while.

My other issue is books. There are no words for my addiction to books. They're stuck everywhere they can be stuck in my house and I won't part with them unless I hated them. I'm pretty OK with this addiction though. There are far worse things.

So, I may never live in a tiny house, but I've pared down enough now that I know what I have. I won't buy more simply because I forgot that I already own one (maybe with the exception of books). My new job doesn't require me to dress up so my clothing is adequate and I don't need to buy anything more in that area until it's worn out. I plan to use up what we have, upcycle or recycle when we can and just be more conscious overall. I also plan to totally avoid the new shoe boutique that just opened downtown even though I love supporting the local economy!

What's Really Important

Recently a family in our community lost their son in a car accident. I didn't know the young man, but he shares the same name as my youngest and so reading all of the Facebook posts about him sunk in just a little harder at the thought of something happening to my boys. Along the same lines I was at work last night and a member told me that her husband had nearly lost his life in a car accident a month earlier. You never know when this ride is going to end and so you have to make sure you're focused on what is really important.

I found out this evening that due to my current work schedule I'm going to miss nearly every soccer game played by the above mentioned child. This is unacceptable to me. Now I know that I can't be at everything he does in his life, but if I'm going to miss something I want it to be because I'm with my other child at something or doing something equally relevant and important. That's not to say that work isn't or can't be important. I like most of the people I'm around in my jobs, but I'm not where I was meant to be and I don't have the time I need to spend on what is really important. All of my relationships are suffering because of where I'm at right now. I'm too busy and too tired to do the things that really matter. Very little of what I do (outside of the time I am with my kids) brings me joy and that's just not the way life was meant to be.

I have very high anxiety most of the time. There are a lot of things I haven't done in life because of fear. This has improved some over the past few years as my diet and exercise habits have improved but it could be a lot better. Seeing that soccer schedule tonight and all of the posts about the life of that young man gone too soon was an odd wakeup call. I've been living in too much fear and it has to end. When I was little my mom worried about money a lot and I always told her "don't worry, the money always comes" and it always did. I'm going to start living and working like the money will come and it will. It will come in the ways that I need it to in order to make sure I'm focused on the things that really matter. I know that further minimizing my lifestyle will help with this too. I'm scared, but I'm excited. To bed now because I'm going to need energy for this.

Bathroom Round Two

The best thing about going through your house to clean it out a second time, is that it goes a lot faster than the first time. You also find that you agonize a lot less over what to keep and what to get rid of.

I started with the bathroom this time because I knew I could do it in a really short period of time and this second round is going to take a lot longer anyway because I just don't have the time to devote to it like I did last time.

So here are the before pictures (yes, please ignore the feminine products)...

Several things to point out here. Under the sink there was a pink bag and a clear box with a blue lid right there in the center. The pink bag housed a bunch of makeup. Some that I wore and some that I didn't. I cleaned out all that I didn't wear and moved the stuff I did to a much smaller bag that you will see in the after pictures. I may want to wear it for special occasions or something. The box contained nail polish. Lots and lots of nail polish. I only polish my toes and usually just use the same color, so most of that got pitched too. I did some some of it, just moved it to another smaller bag. I like to paint my nails at holidays so I kept some of the specialty colors. I couldn't believe how much I had though!!

The box on the top shelf in the closet contains some things I only use for traveling and odds and ends like backup glasses and goggles. Most of that stuff stayed even though I don't travel often. The purple bins contained lots of odds and ends like razors, my sons nebulizer tubing, etc. Under the toilet paper in the closet were two plastic bins. One had sample sizes of shampoo, and other toiletries, and the other had tons of unopened makeup that I'd purchased over the years. All of the makeup went. I did save the samples because they're what I use for traveling. The green bin on the floor of the closet contained what was left of my shampoo, lotion, deodorant stockpile that I didn't get rid of last time. I purged it even more and only kept what I will use. All of it got relocated to the purple bins after I cleaned them out.

So here are the after pictures....

The medicine shelf looks a lot fuller than it really is. Several of the bottles are almost empty and the shelf is pretty deep. We have a lot more towels than we use, but some of the white ones will be going to the rag bag soon and will be replaced with the purple. I still feel like I kept a good bit of stuff, but everything I kept is something I use daily, I just have a lot of backups. So, I won't be buying any more until I've worked my way through those backups. Good thing is that now I can tell what I have. I will not purchase any more lotion, perfume, or nail polish until what I have is gone.

My original plan was to have a yard sale. I could use the money, but then I remembered that my ex has our kids scheduled every Saturday from now until May so I just won't have the time. My mom works with a ton of women, I think I'm going to let her go through it first to see if she wants anything, then take the rest in for them. It's all brand new!

Getting Rid of the Clutter...Again!

If you're not a finely tuned minimalist you've probably noticed that after your initial purge items start making their way back into your house. Little things here and there, and before you know it, it feels like you never purged to begin with. I've been feeling like that lately and having a strong desire to go through each room again, but I haven't done it.

And then....

A friend of mine wrote up a post on Facebook about how she was really feeling the call to get rid of most of her families possessions. That sort of opened the door for a bunch of us to share how similar we all feel and now I've been bitten by the bug again. I mentioned it to the boys today and they were just fine with it. So I'm going to go through everything again. I can already think of a lot of things that I kept last time that haven't been used since, so they'll be going this time. I think I'll start with my bathroom and get rid of all of that makeup. It's warm here so I might do a yard sale this time since there should be a good bit less.

Perhaps my friends will share here from time to time about their own downsizing!

Christmas Nerves

Well it is one week until the big day! Christmas day that is and I'm getting nervous. Why would anyone be nervous about Christmas you ask. Well, as I posted a few days ago, this is going to be our first "simple" Christmas. Now I'm sure that for the more seasoned minimalist our Christmas won't look all that simple. But, for us, it is a big change.

The shift happened partially because of my desire to simplify and mostly because of my lack of funds this year. There has been a bit of mental struggle with this situation I can tell you that for sure! I've made the selections for the boys with a lot of thought. I asked them repeatedly for suggestions and listened for the repeats. I feel like the items I've purchased will be things that they really enjoy and things that will get a lot of use. But I can't deny that the pile of gifts is small. Wrapping didn't take very long and I got serious mommy guilt. It doesn't help reading about all the amazing things other people have bought for their kids.

Will they be disappointed? Will I be the one to ruin Christmas? Or will I get to enjoy the holiday a little more because I bought them things they truly enjoy and I don't feel bad when half of it sits around never being played with and feeling guilty about the money I've spent on it all?

I'll let you know!

Smalltopia

In the beginning stages of my quest to scale down, I stumbled upon the blog Rowdy Kittens. This woman's life fascinates me and I love reading about her writing and her tiny house. I would love to be armed with a camera, laptop, and a bicycle to get through life. She's an inspiration in minimalist living and she's written a great book called Smalltopia. I picked it up at regular price on my Kindle and it was well worth the money. Right now though, it is on sale for only $0.99 for the Kindle! Don't have a Kindle, you can download the Kindle reading app for free on your computer, smartphone, or iPad! I highly suggest picking up a copy!

Smalltopia: A Practical Guide to Working for Yourself