"The more you have, the more you are occupied. The less you have, the more free you are.” Blessed Mother Theresa
Last year I wrote about How we really only use a small fraction of what we own on a regular basis, most of us use 20% of our things 80$ of the time I undertook a challenge to myself to reduce our possessions by 20%. This year I would like to invite you to join me in this challenge. There will be a weekly focus/tasks to help you along.
Think about it. Do you have a closet full of clothes yet wear the same jeans 3 times a week? How about shoes, don’t get me wrong I love pretty shoes and I used to have a closet full, now I can’t wear them anymore, but I still have a closet full of cute but comfortable shoes.
Now lets talk about the kids, do they really need all the stuff they have? I know even though I do my best, my kids possessions seem to multiply like rabbits, what started out as one bin of Legos becomes a whole tote full of Legos. One or two stuffed animals can now fill an ark.
What about your kitchen, do you have any gadgets in there that you have not used since you got them? Some of us acquire kitchen gadgets because we think it will make us a better cook.
I am issuing you a challenge this for the month of May. Each week we will concentrate on a different area of our homes/life. Our goal will be to simplify by 20% in each area. Not a huge drastic change but a start. There will be ground rules. Number 1 is that whatever you decide to get rid of MUST absolutely leave the house, as soon as possible. no saving it to sell later on eBay or craigslist. If you decided to have a yard sale it should be done by the end of May. Believe me having a finite to end of the decluttering will be very fulfilling.
I hope you will join me on this challenge. We will have lots going on over on Facebook, so be sure to like Granola Catholic over there too.
4 comments:
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I did this years ago. My oldest is 27 and my youngest is 9. We we got to child 3 I started limiting things. I wear the same clothes every week and nothing is left in the closet by was day. Toys are gotten rid of when broken and when birthdays come around they always had to get rid of as many things as they got. Your life is so much calmer when you know what you have and are always using what you have. Sometimes I think I want something and then I remind myself that I have lived with out it this long, I really don't NEED it. Nice article.
Excellent article. I wrote something similar on my blog. Once I started nesting with our last child I haven't stopped. Only problem is there is only so much that I can fit in our bins - its kinda overflowed into the garage awaiting a time that the bin wont be full, but I keep finding things to fill it with!
Its so freeing having less stuff.
Blue Wren, it sounds like it is time to start empty the bins. This challenge is not just about decluttering it is about true freedom. If you are storing things in bins, think about it, are you really using that stuff? Time for it to go! Good luck and be sure to check in with how things are going.
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