We also simplified in other areas of our lives too-one bank account, one credit card (low interest w/ $20 yr fee, only for emergencies).
I think that's a start for today-if you see something missing from my list or wonder how we do without something or other-ask!
I already had a PM about mixers-LOL your PM box is full I beat everything with a whisk. Takes longer but is great exercise. I use my hands for big jobs and spoons too. I bake a lot of bread and DH sometimes makes wedding cakes as a side hobby for friends, and we haven't needed a mixer yet~
I wanted to ask where in Canada you live? I'm in Nova Scotia (Yarmouth, actually). Now that I'm a SAHM again, I gotta go through our stuff again. I'm so tired of this mess and clutter, although I dont' think he would agree to going THAT simple, loL!!! Where we live, we're not planning on staying forever and there is some stuff I simply refuse to move again. Our Salvation Army has gotten many bagfuls from us.
Carla V.
__________________
~~Mama to a brilliant 5 year old boy and a beautiful 3 year old princess~~
WOW. That is inspiring...and I thought I did good in simplifyig when I threw away and gave away a bunch of stff when we moved. I am not a pack rat, and I hate clutter...but I know we could do better at simplifying if we tried.
__________________ ~Valerie~ WAHM to Asasia (7/3/95) Damian (3/21/98) Jaiden (4/19/01) & Mackenzie (7/29/02) View or leave me FEEDBACK here! There is a secret in our culture-
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Thank you!! Very inspiring. We need to declutter in some areas, in others we don't have much more than what you kept. I'm terrible with things like office stuff, papers, computer junk, extra bags/purses, blankets, sheets, towels. Have tons of them.
We're ripping up carpeting and re-flooring our entire house so we are also decluttering room by room. I'm in the bedroom now...almost went out and bought a new organizer for the closet because I didn't have enough room for all the extra blankets and sheets...silly me...there is plenty of room, I just need to weed out some!
I am so glad you shared this. We are planning a move and to build our own home in 3-5 years and I want to declutter and stay that way till then. We have gone from a full house of stuff to a VW Bus plus one teeny storage unit and it was really life-changing. Now we are back to a house full of stuff! Ack!
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I am so envious! Dh and i are so opposite! He is a BIG time Pack Rat! I am always getting rid of anything I don't feel nessesary! Unfortunatley I have to keep most things since he would freak if I got rid of them!What made the whole thing the worst was when he was a garbage man in a really nice area for several years! people threw away loads of usable nice things instead of donating them,so he felt he had to bring practically everything home!LOL! I always want to go through them with him,but he won't get rid of anything,he always thinks he may need something someday down the road!
We're moving from SK to BC in 3 months!! (eeek!) From a spacious house with an attic full of junk to an apartment, or maybe a townhouse.
We ~have~ to get rid of a lot of stuff.
I have art supplies that i've been lugging back and forth across the country for the last decade. I am in awe of you, that you were able to use up all of your art supplies!!
Both of us are pack rats, so it would take a lot for us to do this. But I think we would love it in the end. We both hold onto things for so many reasons. All the books, the boxes of papers (organized, but still...boxes of them), the stacks of photographs, and oh--can't forget the faaaabric!
This is something for me to think about though. We would definitely be happier with less. Thanks so much for taking all that time and energy to post about it. I think you've given lots of people (including me) food for thought.
Oh......that is kind of the way I just naturally live....
but good for you!
I come from simple people who always used what they had and didn't get extras.
We use our good dishes and tableware (always run short when we have company since we only have sets of 8) for all meals each day.
Right now, I am taking some stuff like old pots/linens from my home to my folks' cabin since the ones there are getting too worn for use. The cabin is furnished in stuff from the mid 1970's and the funny thing is.....the cabin kitchen actually looks a bit like a display at IKEA (turquoise kitchen sink, orange cabinets, brown frig with flower power stickers on it!) They waited long enough and its coming back in style!
Living simply helps to really focus on what you do have and you enjoy it more.
I cut and paste each room into my online journal for later reference.
VERY inspiring!
IMPOSSIBLE to do all of those things with my family!! LOL!
We live in ahome with one actual closet, and it is full.
Dh says he is not a packrat but I beg to differ.
We have no linen closet or broom/coat closet, so some stuff is just shoved into corners and stuff, liek the vacuum, broom, mop, etc.
I have been purging my baby clothes though. One small pile for keepsake, one large pile for handmedowns or donate.
Infant carseat is going to a friend in a month or so.
Unfoirtunately, we have no place to store double jogging stoller other than livingroom.
If it is stored anywhere else, it will have to be broken down, and it is not easy to do that!
So it is a big item that I plan on using until both the kids are teetering on 50lbs each...lol, the max for each seat.
I tend to be at a loss about little things that have much sentimental value to me, like old letters, pictures, cermic stuff my sister made me, things I think my kids would love when they get older, like all my old, and now collectible stuffed animals.......
I had this romantic idea when my first dd was born that I would just save all of my old toys for her and just ask relatives that insisted on gift giving to buy her books and clothes....
ROFLMAO
Xmas is such a huge mess of new crap in our house.
And my older kids remind the toddler of stuff if I get rid of it, which makes me SO MAD!
So, ok, enough venting, I am goign to apply your system to as much of the house as I can.
THANK YOU!!
__________________
Becky,
single mom to 2 future women.
Feminist, vegetarian, cloth diapering, and not afraid to speak my mind!
I beat everything with a whisk. Takes longer but is great exercise. I use my hands for big jobs and spoons too. I bake a lot of bread and DH sometimes makes wedding cakes as a side hobby for friends, and we haven't needed a mixer yet~
and a beautiful 3 year old princess
~~
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