Quote for the day

If you realize that you have enough, you are truly rich.

Amen. :)

SUPER busy these days!

I apologize for the neglect to this blog lately. Truthfully, I have neglected ALL writing.

It hasn't been intentional, I just literally have been THAT busy. Did I mention my upcoming surgery? If not, check out my other blogs to get filled in.

www.jereandcara.blogspot.com
www.thebargainhuntingmommy.blogspot.com

Anyway, YES I have been busy. This time of year is crazy with the school year winding down for my daughter AND for myself (let's not forget that on top of EVERYTHING I have going on I decided to go BACK to school. SHEESH). Works been nuts, schools been crazy, and I have all sorts of other commitments that take up a lot of time.

But one thing I have been SUPER DUPER busy with lately is getting rid of STUFF!

I found out there was a family in our town that lost everything in a fire. So I went through all of my cabinets and closets to find items that I could donate. Sheets, pots and pans, towels, etc. That REALLY got me thinking about getting rid of more. So I set out on a journey through my house :)

I have recently taken over 100 items (clothing and shoes) to consignment. I have a good bit of money waiting on me there :) But at this time I don't need anything so I am letting it stay right where it belongs. No sense in putting it in my wallet. Then i'll spend on something silly! I cleaned out my closet, my daughters closet, guest rooms, coat closet... I went through it ALL! I feel so refreshed!!!!!

The items that are left in my closet made the cut. They weren't things that I needed or wanted to get rid of . It's OK to keep something just because you want it. That's fine. no one ever said to get rid of something that you WANTED to keep. That would be silly... and also, don't get rid of something that you might actually need!

I was reading on my favorite blog (becomingminimalist.com) the other day and his guest poster that day mentioned that she at one point got rid of things that she ended up having to buy AGAIN. How silly! But if we aren't careful and we get on a war path of clearing out our houses we will do that.

So be careful there.

Bottom line--life is crazy busy and we are making it! But in my spare time of decluttering my life. Which frankly, makes life SO much better.

Live great with less.

It's an easy trap!

While I am VERY pleased with my new lifestyle of living on less and NOT having to have everything in sight, there are still these traps that get me. :) It happens to all of us... so there's no point in pretending that I have it all together. Let's be honest here...

I love pinterest.com. i am SO in love with it. I love seeing the cute outfits, shoes, recipes, shoes, fun ideas for kids, shoes... you get the idea. But the crafty stuff is what gets me. I see all of these great ideas and I SO want to do them. I get super excited and make my Michael's and Hobby Lobby lists and then I stop. I realize I am in ... THE TRAP! The trap that makes me want. So i literally have to walk around my house and look at all of the cool things on my wall. All of the neat decorations I have. Don't get me wrong... doing crafts and wanting a cute house are NOT bad things. But for me, well, sometimes I need a reminder that I DON'T need these things. Or at least not now.

I am trying something new... I am keeping a "want list" of things that I want for my daughter, my husband, for me, for the house, for the car... whatever it is! I am keeping a LIST. It's like making a Christmas list year round. :) The best part it is that while I am making this list, I am not buying any of it just yet. I've heard it said (and cannot quote it perfectly) that if you want something, don't buy it, wait 24 hours. I am taking a little bit further. I am writing down all the cute items I want for my house (as an example) and doing nothing with them. Two days later i see something cute in a magazine that I like better. BOY am I glad I hadn't bought anything just yet! By keeping up with what I WANT, I am able to decide which ones I will actually purchase or make. Sounds simple and a little childish, but for me, it has worked.

It has helped me keep my wants in check. It has allowed me to dream of all the fun things I want! Just because I have chosen to live on less does NOT mean that I don't see things that I WANT TO HAVE RIGHT NOW! It just means that I am chosing not to buy them. At least for now.

So that's my latest little thing. It's helping.

What is on YOUR want list?

What have you gotten rid of this week?

Okay, well maybe this week you didn't get around to ditching any items, BUT, did you at least give it some thought?

I am preparing for a LARGE yard sale and cannot wait!!! It's about getting rid of things, and freeing up that space-time-and money!

A few ideas for the best ways to get rid of things:

1. yard sales. always good.
2. swap party. host a swap party and have each person bring 3 or 4 items (clothing, decorations, home accents, jewelry, cookware, etc) and swap them.
3. Sell things at a consignment shop.
4. Craigslist. It CAN work. I just sold a car this week on Craiglist and made a VERY nice profit! i have friends that bought I-Phones off Craigslist this week. It's a great place to sell!
5. Ebay. Don't forget about good ol' Ebay!
6. List it in the paper!
7. Post it on facebook!
8. Donate it and GET A TAX RECIEPT!
9. Give it to someone in need.
10. THROW IT AWAY

Just some thoughts! Let's de-clutter our lives, folks!

What to get rid of and what to keep?

It's so hard to decide what to get rid of and what to keep, isn't it? There are so many things that you would LOVE to get rid of, but when it comes down to it you just can't seem to toss it. Or, at least that's how I am. I get on these great kicks where I am going to get rid of all the "Extra" stuff in my life and then at the very last moment i have a hard time tossing it.

How do you decide what to keep and what to toss?

Here are some questions to ask yourself...

1. When was the LAST time I used this? (wore it, drove it, etc)
That black shirt that you haven't worn in two years? That old car that you were going to fix up but never did, that toaster that only works HALF the time... when did you use these last?
2. Would I realize if it was missing?
This is a tricky one... and it's not very easy to ask yourself, but TRY. If you had never found those black sandles would have looked aimlessly for them? Would you have turned your closet into a diaster to find them? If the answer is no, then you can probably live without them.
3. Does this item hold more than one purpose?
Another hard one to answer... but if you are staring at a purse that you can only carry with ONE outfit, it's probably not worth keeping. If you are holding a skillet that is only used once a year, then it's probably not worth keeping.

These are hard questions to answer. I struggle with this too. I recently switched out my closets and searched through everything to see what I could sell at consignment. the funny thing was that there wasn't many things that I just REALLY wanted to see go. There was nothing that I was tired of, nothing that I could yell "good riddance" at. Ya know what I mean? I don't feel like less of a minimalist for feeling this way. I look at like this...

If it's an article of clothing that it is NOT taking up much space and I WILL wear it, then it doesn't matter if I have another one similar to it. The problem would come in if I just kept it to have it. But if it WILL serve a purpose for me then I am NOT ditching it.

Make sense?

Each person has to figure out what is NOT worth getting rid of. It's all about the mindset. It's all about your reasons for keeping it. If it's to appear that you have more STUFF, then that's probably not a good enough reason.

What are your thoughts on getting rid of items? How do you decide what to keep?


**Last month at the consignment shop I made $63.00 on items that I did NOT want. How great is that???? That is motivation to get rid of MORE!**

That REALLY pushes my buttons....

I'm reading a terrific book currently. "The Happiness Project". This book is all about Gretchen's journey through a year of getting to that "happy" place and eliminating things in her life that bogged her down and stressed her out. I HIGHLY reccomend it.

This book is so encouraging to me. It's nice to know that I am not the only person out there that thinks about things like this. I'm not the only person out there that WANTS to eliminate daily stressers that make us all on edge.

PICK UP A COPY TODAY!

Okay, so reading this book has really opened my eyes to just HOW much stuff we have in our lives that make us antsy, edgy, moody, broke, and frustrated. I have ranted about this before, but I am going to ONCE AGAIN make a list of "Stressers" in my life that keep me from being happy and free.

**NOTE TO SELF AND EVERYONE ELSE... daily stressers will happen. You WILL  have stressful days. There is no way to completely eliminate that.**

1. Clutter. I realize that's a huge statement so let me break it down more.
-closets. things I dont wear or use need to be thrown out. every time I see them I feel overwhelmed because they are STILL THERE!
-drawers. My house has probably 5 junk drawers. I mean really?? That is insane. There are more dead batteries in these drawers. Did I ACTUALLY think they would come back to life? lol
-laundry room. This room seems to be a catch all. Don't know HOW it became that, but it seems to be the room where everything that doesn't have a home ends up.
-my car. My car constantly makes me crazy. I live out of it, seems like. i travel 3 days a week for work, I have a 6 year old, and i'm not a neat freak myself so my car is always overwhelming. ONCE AND FOR ALL--I WILL fix this.

2. LISTS. I am all about making lists. And suprisingly, Gretchen in the "Happiness Project" is as well. BUT, we have to COMPLETE those lists. So, i am actually going to SIT DOWN and make some final lists and complete them. Then I will be happier.

3. My paying bills method. i pay my bills on time, but unfortunately I do not have a designated place to do this. Sometimes it's at work if I have a spare moment, sometimes in the car while I am stopped at a red light, sometimes on the kitchen counter. NO WAY! I am done with this. That is NOT good and it keeps me stressed.

4. I will cancel DVR from recording EVERYTHING! Y'all, for real. I click on my list of shows taped and it makes me nuts. I feel overwhelmed at the list of the tv shows I need to watch. REALLY? I have GOT to get a grip.

5. I will not stop until everything has a home. EVERYTHING should have a place.

6. I will do all of this in a timely manner so it won't drag out and stress me out.

7. I will complete this and then I will breathe a HUGE sigh of relief.

8. Recycle. I will pick ONE day a month to recycle instead of making a few trips a week. Saving trees is important but it's causing me to stress. I will find something to put all of the items in so that when i make my monthly trips i will have ONE bin to pick up and be done with it.

9. I will figure out how in the world to make my bathroom countertops not look like a Mary Kay party just took place. i will do better.

Let's get happy, folks. Get rid of it! and BREATHE!

What does it mean to YOU?

What does living on less mean to YOU? What would it mean for your family? If you decided today to get rid of the clutter in your life what would that do for you?

1. You would have a LOT less to clean. You could clean your house in half the time if you didn't have SO much furniture to dust, so many nick nacks to move around and clean off, and so much stuff on the floors!

2. You would have less piles of "give aways" and "garage sale items" laying around. You wouldn't constantly be creating stacks of items to take to the good will. You wouldn't have excess things.

3. You would have more money. If you chose to live on less then you WOULD save money. Think about it... you'd have less dishes to wash, less clothes to wash, less cleaning products to buy, less gas to put in your car which saves money, less electricity to pump through your house... you WOULD save money.

4. Your debt would go down. You would save money and prevent the spending of money if you chose to live on less. You wouldn't have to go buy the newest and latest gadgets. You would relieve the pressure "keeping up with the Jones" and you could rid your life of "stuffitis."

5. You WOULD be happier. You would be happier because you would be more content. You wouldn't feel this CONSTANT pressure to have more. You would sleep better, live longer, and have more time to focus on your family.

These aren't necessarily life altering changes, but they would alter your life to some degree. Think about how NICE it would be if you chose to give it up! To give up the pressure, to embrace contentment, and to watch your financial world change.

How NICE would that be?