One way to keep the clutter in your house under control is to pretend you are moving.
When we moved from Montana to Arizona in July of 2005, we left a 2200 square foot home, and moved into a 900 square foot apartment. We sold almost everything that we owned and took our 1991 Suburban which was pulling a 1940’s style 6’X12’ Uhaul (I have a picture of that somewhere, but that is the Suburban that we used!)
Although I’m glad that we moved so my husband could begin a new career, I'm really glad we were able to be free of “stuff”. Items that at one time brought joy into our lives. Later on, after a useful life, it becomes "stuff"!
Fast forward to our lives today. We now have a 2600 square foot home that we bought in 2008 and guess what? It’s filled with stuff. How quickly that happened! I had a garage sale with a friend this weekend and I remembered how nice it was to get rid of a lot of stuff. I didn’t make much money, but that wasn’t my goal.
I decided that I’m going to move….only in my mind though (we’ve moved enough the last 5 years to last me a long time!) My attitude since I discovered FLYLADY was to keep things that I love. I mean love love love!!!
For example, my grandmother-in-law gave us an old Bible. I love that thing! I don’t ever look at it, it’s not in a version that I understand, but I use it as a decoration in my home. It’s beautiful! I don’t keep it around just because Grandma gave it to us. We have an agate lamp in our bedroom. Out of date? YEPPERS! Will I get rid of it? NO WAY! My grandfather-in-law (whom I didn’t get to meet) made that for my husband. I love it! My wedding dress that my mom made for me – I got rid of it. WHAT!?! Why in the world would I do that? My mom has since passed away – you would have thought that I loved it enough to keep. Nope. I love the fact that my amazing Mom, in one year, made my dress, my bridesmaid dresses, my sister’s bridesmaid dresses, the flower girl dresses and her own wedding dress. I love the picture of us together. I love the memories I have of my mom. I don’t need the dress. I won’t ever wear it again so I donated it to a good cause. I did however keep the flower girl dress that my niece wore. It’s a decoration hanging above my sewing machine. The sewing machine that my amazing Mom gave me. So do I need the dress to remember my mom? Nope? Was it hard to give away? Nope! I donated to someone who was raising money for breast cancer. The same year that my sister had breast cancer. Now that means something to me.
Anyway, spend 15 minutes today getting rid of STUFF that doesn’t bring you enjoyment. I don’t have a professionally decorated house by any means. I have a house filled with a few items that I love that I put out on display. Today I need to work in some closed closets and drawers I have stuff in that I need to get rid of. It really doesn’t take long. It just takes a bit of focus.
The frugal side of this is when I am getting rid of stuff, I don’t want to go buy more STUFF! I feel content with the things I own.
This post is linked to Works For Me Wednesday at We are THAT Family.
It's been 15 years since our last move. I was just talking about this to my husband a few weeks ago...can you imagine if we had to move? Yikes! I've tried a few times to "move" in my mind and it is just so daunting, I just give up.
ReplyDeleteI'm moving in July and you have NO IDEA how excited I am about decluttering :)
ReplyDeleteI love the FlyLady too. She has made a huge difference in the way our home looks.
ReplyDeleteI tried the FlyLady once, but that sista wore me out! I do need to declutter and get rid of stuff that I don't love. Thanks for the reminder. :)
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