Week One: MINIMIZE THE CLUTTER IN MY HOUSE!
This was the week my firefighter husband was gone on a fire. Ha! Little did he know I was getting rid of a TON of stuff. I went through every single room in my house, every single shelf, closet, table, under bed, you name it, I minimized!!!! My goal was to live with less. I asked myself a few questions, 1. When was the last time I used this. 2. Will I need this in the near future. 3. Is this making me happy/helping me/needed in my life.
You would be surprised at how much I got rid of. I donated 9-10 garbage sacks, 5 large diaper boxes, and another large amount of toys and things that didn't fit in a box to the local thrift store. I had an employee come and help me, plus my two boys, to get everything out of the car and donated. I also threw out/recycled 8-10 garbage sacks, plus 2 large recycle bins full of stuff. I'm telling you, I thought I didn't have much in my house, but when I started going through it, I realized I had WAY more that I wasn't using and needed to get rid of.
So, the first week was exhausting, especially since my hubby was gone and I had 3 kids around during the whole process with no other help.
When my husband returned from the fire, late one night, he crept into the laundry room to put his gear by the washer and get things for his shower. He came into the bedroom and said, "I'm not sure what you did in that laundry room, but it's so open and roomy. I feel like I can breathe in there."
Success.
He noticed the change also.
And, our laundry room is just that. Every piece of clothing, towels, sheets, blankets, everything stays in our laundry room. I have dressers set up so it's easier for me to do laundry and fold and sort and put away. So, it gets a little messy in there, let's be honest. But, once I got rid of 8 bags of unused clothing it opened up so much more room!
WEEK 2:
After a long week of exhaustion, I gave myself a little break. The house was literally gutted out and things went back to normal. But, I noticed a few changes.
During the first week I cleaned out my kids bedroom. TOYS TOYS TOYS! Toys in their room, toys in their closet, dress up clothes, shoes, papers, old crayons.... stuff EVERYWHERE!!! They are now down to a small 3 drawer wheeled cart and a small toy box. That's it. They have 3 larger fire engines under a bed and a pop up tent another the other bed, but that's it. Not a lot of toys. Our one year old daughter has her cart in the living room for her toys. She uses 2 drawers, the top one is for controllers, remotes, batteries, etc. But, I realized something the second week....
My kids were playing with their toys MORE!
More!
More!??
HOW!? It didn't make sense. I get rid of 2/3 of their toys and I thought they would complain and whine. No. They played more with the toys they had. There was less to choose from and it was less chaotic. THEY were more at peace in the house. They were content. Happy. Playing. Less clutter, less stuff makes life better. Even for my little ones.
Week 2 was filled with swim lessons, so the mornings were busy and the afternoons were relaxed.
I began going through paperwork that was shoved in multiple drawers. During week one I didn't want to take the time to thoroughly go through it all, so I put it off. Again, I almost filled our recycle cart with unneeded papers. A shredder is a best friend of mine. Why do bills come with 3 pages of unnecessary junk mail? And JUNK MAIL!? UGH! The hardest decision I made was with my kids schoolwork. I decided that anything that wasn't personal... You know... The letter A written 50 times that we feel the need to hold on to... Gone. I threw it away. I kept the handprint pictures and the little thanksgiving "What I'm Thankful For" art and the important ones, but I got rid of the rest. The random workbooks and papers with doodles. Gone. It was hard, but why was I keeping it? I wasn't going to look back on all of it someday... Just the few I kept. I now have them in manilla envelopes on a shelf and they are all labeled the grades that the schoolwork is from.
Week 3 was a week we went grocery shopping. Since my husband works and we have no family around, I take the kids with me while I shop. They have always done this, so there has never really been an issue with the "I want" "Can I have" stuff. But, we tend to buy stuff we don't need. Especially food items. My next big goal for minimalism is food. We waste food. We don't eat it or it sits on a plate uneaten. It's wasteful and takes a toll on our budget. So, I tried to be more aware of what I was buying.
We spent less money at the store, I told myself "No" to many items that we didn't need and it went much smoother. The kids are on the same page with me with buying less, living with less, Less Stuff More Adventures idea. So, it's very helpful to have them with me. We keep each other accountable.
Week 4 was a short vacation to the beach. Our second little one was turning 5, and he loved the idea of going on an adventure rather than having a party. I LOVED this idea. We didn't have to deal with a ton of presents from a party, we didn't have to buy the goodie bags or the cake and ice cream or the balloons or pinata. We just went to the beach. It was AMAZING! We found a great hotel with a great price and spent two days at the beach. We did go into town to a little toy store where he was able to pick out a toy for his birthday gift. We also took him to an Italian dinner and bought a little cake and candle to celebrate. It was perfect. More memories. Less Stuff.
Within this last week, I decided to start working out again. I used to wake up in the morning and start cleaning. My house was always a mess. There was always clutter. With less stuff, I have less clutter and that means I have more time to do things for myself and for my family. Not just clean and "organize".
When I minimized my stuff I noticed having more time. More energy. More fun. More family time. More adventures.
I know I'm just a month in, but this has literally changed my family's life. It's seriously amazing. It's a struggle at times, to keep the mindset of less stuff and I recognizing I don't need something when I think I do, but I'm so much happier, so much more content. My anxiety has dropped drastically. My mind is clearer. My husband and I having been reading more books together. We aren't distracted with stuff. I could keep talking more and more about how it has changed us, but I doubt anyone wants to read that.
But, in all, I hope you try this lifestyle. You won't regret it.
No comments:
Post a Comment