Minimizing and Simplifying

We have been hard at work the past six months or so clearing out unused/outgrown items from our apartment!  It has been a lot of work, and we still have a ways to go, but the results have been great so far!

I suffer from anxiety and, for me, clutter is a huge trigger.  There is nothing worse than feeling claustrophobic in your own residence!  Since having kids the amount of stuff that we have has grown exponentially.  The clothes, the toys, the gear etc.  So much stuff!  

Since last fall I have been putting in some extra effort to de-clutter unused/outgrown items.  Each and every diaper/wipe box that enters our home leaves full of donation items or items to store at my mom's house for a multi-family garage sale in the spring.  You'd be surprised how quickly a diaper box can fill up!

Late last November I decided to join a Facebook garage sale group to make a little money off of items that would otherwise be donated.  To date, we have made $321 selling clothing, toys and household items!  It takes a little effort and time but so far it's been worth it! 

I struggled with whether or not to involve the kids, specifically Amelia, in our de-cluttering.  In the end I decided it was best to include her and we began slowly.  I asked her if there were any toys in her room that she didn't play with anymore.  She found a couple and I asked her if we could pass them on to someone else.  She declined and I let it be.  Over time she saw me filling up diaper boxes and eventually came to me one day and said, "Mom, I have some toys I don't use anymore that I want to pass on.  Can you help me?"  Success.

Why are we doing all this?  To create a "manageable mess" as Rachel put it!  

In the not so distant past there were times when our kids made messes that were so insane and overwhelming that we would be left wondering where they even found all that stuff to take out.  We'd get frustrated at them and it created such a negative environment for us all.  Something had to change!

How are we doing this?  I'm trying my best to follow the "one in, one out" rule, especially with toys!  I am also trying very hard to be intentional in my purchases.  I work at Target and it is easy to get caught up in the "deals" that we run into as we re-do aisle after aisle of the store.  That's my job, clearing out the old to make way for the new.  I see a lot of "deals" every day!  I'm learning to just say NO!

As far as deciding what stays and what goes - I just try to look at an item objectively.  Is it being used?  Is it something we love?  Will we use it in the future?  If the answers are "no" then it's time to pass that item on to someone who can get use out of it.  It's not doing anyone any good sitting in our closet!  I'm not against saving things but everything does not need to be saved!  

Now for a visual, this mess...

...is a manageable mess!  Yes, everything is out but it all goes in either the purple bin or the closet!  By simplifying their toys we were also able to simplify the play-with-every-day toys' storage which makes picking up much easier for them!  They are learning that there is a place for everything and when we pick up everything goes in it's place!

Bottom line:  Less stuff = less mess = less stress!

Simplified Kitchen

A read a blog called "Intentionally Simple" and for the month of October Rachel is doing "31 Days to Living Intentionally Simple."  I'm following along and working on the projects she posts each day!

The first four days of October were dedicated to the kitchen.  This week I have gone through every cabinet (except the spice cabinet...that one is Jason's and I am hands off in there!) and every drawer.  I eliminated so many things from our kitchen that we just don't use/need.  We use the same pots and pans over and over but we had a few "spare" ones included in our collection - they went!  In the silverware drawer there were 23 plastic utensil sets (you know, the ones you get with your take-out) that we were saving, I assume, for that one day when we would need them.  That day has never come since we both bring actual silverware in our lunch bags to work with us - so into the trash they went!

With all the space I was able to make in the cabinets and drawers I was also able to move our flour and sugar containers underneath into a cabinet.  I realized they were just taking up valuable space and I honestly haven't used flour since we've lived here - except the one time a neighbor asked to borrow a cup a few weeks ago.  To me, that indicates very little need for it to be taking up space on the already crowded counter-top!

I cleared off the top of the refrigerator as well as cleaning it out of questionable food items.  I went through the pantry and got it all cleaned out very thoroughly and organized.  I went through all the things we had up on our refrigerator with magnets and decided it was time for a lot of it to come down. 

I was a machine this week in the kitchen.  The best part?  With it being broken up into several days of smaller tasks it was much easier to achieve this goal and having others participating kept me motivated!

Our simplified kitchen

The next room to be worked on this month is the master bedroom! 

Traveling

We packed up the car this morning and headed to Milwaukee for the week!  Our car is always full.

When it was just Jason and I traveling we filled the trunk.  When it was Jason, Amelia and I we filled the trunk.  It is now Jason, Amelia, Joe and I and we still fill the trunk!

I was thinking about it on the way down and I realized that in order to make our small car work for travels we have had to simplify.  The best part?  We didn't really realize we were doing it!  We've always filled the trunk, whether it was for two, three or four people.  Everything always fits into the trunk. 

 

Simplifying is going on somewhere - that is for sure!  We don't over pack like we used to.  If I'm going to be gone six days, I pack seven shirts.  In the past I would have packed twice that - you know, so I had options.  I pack favorite items that I know are comfortable and that I like to wear.  It's much easier.  The kids also don't need to pack up their rooms.  We bring a few favorite toys and that's about it. 

For this trip Jason and I each had one bag.  I fit both kids' clothes into Amelia's suitcase.  We limited toys/books to one bag that we brought in the car with us.  We brought only one pack and play (for Joe) and Amelia is using a big bed for the first time.  Well, the first time away from home :)   We also brought the portable DVD player, a cable for it and a few movies.  We hooked it up to the TV in our hotel room and we watched My Little Pony with Amelia tonight. 

 

My packing list was fairly short for this trip.  I kept thinking we were forgetting things but we have all we need!  In fact, I am sure there are several things that made the trip that we don't truly need as well.  I love that we have been able to gradually get down to just the basics for our travels.  It is so much easier and involves less stress on everyone!