Does anyone else just feel overwhelmed with clutter? I loath clutter but yet I feel that it is the ever present monster waiting to over take me. Sometimes I will get in this mood where I go through the house and load stuff up in my Goodwill donation bag as fast as I can grab it. I get so focused that I fear if one of my kids inadvertently leaps in front of me, they may get dumped. My husband has nicknamed the bee in my butt Busy. He will warn anyone in my way "watch out for Busy!"
Junk is just wrong on so many levels. First there is the the financial aspect-you spend money on this crap. Not to mention if you can't find what you need you spend MORE money to buy a replacement. There is also the moral delimna. Why do I have so much and waste so much when others have nothing?
Now a lot of times in this blog I tell you how to get things very cheap. That may seem counter intuitive. However, if you notice I talk about food most of the time, something we all NEED. It is sometimes hard to differentiate between a need and a want. Like right now I have been struggling with my NEED for a new pair of Danskos. I have had the same ones for 3 years. I wear them every day to work. They are faded. I NEED a new pair. No, I don't. I WANT a new pair. They are in great condition so I am not getting a new pair right now.
Have you heard of the 100 Things Challenge? Basically this guy lives with only 100 things. Sounds impossible to me. I'm not ready to do that yet but I am taking a real hard look at things before I buy them. Do I really need it? Can I afford it? Am I out of debt and going to pay CASH for it? Most of the time I realize I don't need it. I'm not saying you should never buy anything. I like nice things but I am trying to really think before I buy things now. I realize I don't need much to be happy. In fact not buying some things has made me a lot happier.
2 comments:
I love this posting. Before I had a child and had the opportunity to spend money at a salon/spa, or go to the mall and spend a few hundred on clothes, I never did. I was so frugal/stingy I seemed to never buy anything that was "extra". Now that I have a child and am a stay at home mom, the urge to spend seems to be increasing. I can affirm this in what you wrote; I don't want to dig into savings or charge something in order to have an item I don't really need. Theres a time to splurge, but this post was a great reminder!
-Heather
It's too funny that you just posted about this. A couple of days ago I got in the "we have too much stuff" mood and cleaned out our book shelves, much to my husband's chagrin. Actually, we were able to weed out many books that we just don't need and eliminate the need to buy a new bookshelf, which was rapidly approaching. We then donated some books to our church and our local library so hopefully other can enjoy them now too.
With Love,
Penelope
P.S. I don't think I could do the 100 thing challenge. Yikes. It's a great reminder, though, of all we can live without.
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