If you read the newest home and life style trends you cannot do so with out hearing about "Simplifying". There are gurus and teachers who have ideas about how to do so pretty much at the touch of a mouse in moments....however this is not a new concept at all.
In fact, if you observe creation you will see that there is no waste at all in nature. If you read your Bible you'll also be familiar with the concept of simplicity as it echos through out the scriptures.
It's something that many of us really want to do. What makes it so hard? Well.....to be real, our lives are complicated in ways no one could have even imagined even 10 years ago. We collect things but we are too busy to discard often. People give us things and so we have a hard time letting go of them.....and reality is it's HARD to simplify. The busier we are the more we really need to do it and the harder it is to find the time to do it....and honestly, it's not just our homes that are too cluttered it's also our schedules. ( more about that later)
So here is some about my family's journey. I really began to feel the need to simplify several years ago. We have met many of our goals. ( no debt other than our mortgage for instance) We also have a long way to go. We have been blessed beyond measure, especially considering the financial crash in 2007-2008 bankrupted our family. In between then and now we've gone from having pre- teens, a toddler and then a one more baby to having grown kids and a pre teen and a teen.. ( whew) Just that alone means we have lots of extra stuff. Children's needs change so fast, they grow out of things before you know it you have things in the closet that are 3 sizes too small.....We also went from having 2 pets to....well I've lost count. ( seems we are not moving in the right direction there)
So what progress have we made? At least once a week for the last year or so we have brought at least a bag or a box to donation. I've started to pay attention to if I have doubles of things in my wardrobe. ( Ok people I really can use more than one black pair of pants or black skirt...but just how many nice brown purses do I need....and even black purses do I need? ) I also went through my clothing and if it did not fit or I did not feel wonderful in it...away it went.....even if it was expensive. I still need to go through more and I will have more to give away when I do.
Then I also started to pay more attention when buying things. Did I REALLY love it? If not, I no longer bring it home. Does it fit well with things I already have? If no, then either I buy an entire outfit at once or again, I get nothing.
In the kitchen, I am planning meals more. I am buying less in bulk. I thought bulk buying would save money, but more often it lead to having 4 of one thing open in the fridge and wasting. I've been planning one meal that can be made with left overs of another meal for instance as well. I've been planning so that meals can be used as lunches if we don't finish them and I've been working to have more beans and veggies and less meat. This has lowered our grocery bill a little. If I find something sitting for a bit I freeze it right away and bring it to a family that can use it.
We've also been working in our yard to have less work. There's always going to be quite a bit of work since we have laurel hedges, but we've put down weed barriers and mulch and so on so there is less weeding to do. We've made patios a couple places which means less mowing. Instead of wood edgings on most of the flower beds we have cement now, which will never rot or need maintenance. Our fence as we replaced it has cement footings under it so it will never rot either. We've been trying to look ahead so that we can do as much work "once and for all" or almost once and for all as possible as far as the yard is concerned. I've planted
perennials through out the yard so that I don't have to plant and buy flowers each year. ( still enjoy buying a few, so those I buy as my hanging baskets) We are making progress, with the yard at least.......
I still feel as if we have a very long way to go. The meal planning, while it does take time and does not feel simple, it actually does simplify. How? Less wasted food, less grocery shopping trips last second, in the end less spent on groceries and less eating out. ( which also saves money, which means we get to spend more time with each other instead of working) I am enjoying trying some new things and we are keeping tried and true stand bys on hand as well...so far it's working pretty well. It's bought us more time with each other and saved money.....
I will keep going, and I will keep you posted..... oh and I will share what we don't need or want ( but you may) with you.
Anna Matsunaga
Team Momentum
Keller Williams Realty Tacoma
253 212 1252
