This isn’t necessarily a “new” resolution as I have been doing some of it already. BUT this is a resolve to take it to a new level. I ran across this post when I was reading things about “minimalism,” and it re-inspired me to get rid of more stuff! I haven’t even read through the whole list of 101 ways to reduce, but the basic concept is that even if you can’t get completely rid of something, like towels, you can still reduce the amount that you have.
I’ve been putting this into practice lately. I had already started a toy purge before Christmas because the kids just do NOT need a zillion toys. Some things we will hang onto for sentimental value or for Ella to use as she gets big enough, but mostly I’m trying to reduce the kids toys down to the ones that they really do play with, or that teach them something. Just because it makes noise and “claims” to be educational does not mean it makes the cut. Ha! They had this one thing that you move the arrow and it’s supposed to tell you the letter or sound or something, but it was completely impossible to understand. Believe me I tried!! So it went in the “garage sale” pile. Other things that are missing pieces or are broken in some way went as well. No sense in hanging on to something that only partially works.
As for the towels, I’ve begun purging those as well. We still had all the towels given to us for our wedding, so you can imagine that they are starting to get pretty worn. Though we did have quite a few so they weren’t as worn as they could be! 🙂 After the washer flood fiasco yesterday when I had to actually USE all the towels, I washed them and sorted them and added most of them to our “get rid of” pile. To that pile we’ve also added a broken recliner, that’s been hanging around for ages, the coffee table and a couple of book shelves. And I didn’t just relocate all the stuff on the shelves, I’ve condensed and disposed of what was simply taking up space.
It actually gives me quite a sense of relief to be reducing the volume of things in our home. I start to feel pressured and stressed by the accumulation of stuff. I say stuff and not junk because it’s not really junk… but there is too much of it.
So this year, I will keep in mind my reduction resolution and not keep things just for the sake of having them. While I’m pretty sure that I would never be able to live a complete minimalist life style, I do want to stay as minimal as possible. I think it helps me to keep things simple, and a simple life is something I really do want!
One of my next steps, which I hope to be able to do this week, is to go through my drawers/closet and get rid of much of what is there. Yes, I aim to be back in my “skinny” clothes soon, but even when I am I know there are a lot of things that I don’t/won’t wear anymore. Plus my dresser is still packed with all the maternity clothes and those DEFINITELY need to move! 😉 I read a related article about pruning your closet down. They called it a 333 project where you have ONLY 33 clothing items, including belts, shoes and accessories, and you wear just those things for 3 months. Interesting concept. Honestly I probably wear less than that amount anyway, so I just need to get rid of what is only taking up space.
There ya have it. Another of my resolutions for resolved week!