I could never be a hoarder
Deep down I think I have always been somewhat of a minimalist. It is something I have been reading up on lately, playing around with the idea and I think I fit in with this movement, though I am certainly not as extreme as some folks who live out of a backpack and own nothing more than a toothbrush and the clothes on their backs. Minimalists are made up a whole spectrum of people with the overall philosophy being that you can (and most of the time) should live with less. It is good for your finances, good for your home, good for your time and good for your sanity.
I have mentioned before in this blog about moving a lot over the last 8 years and of having to quickly reduce my belongings to those that fit in suitcases. Overall it hasn´t been that difficult of a process for me most of the time. Things don´t hold a lot of sentimental value for me normally, nor do I feel a lot of anxiety getting rid of them. In fact quite often the opposite is true, I get anxious the more things are around me. The exception to the rule and the hardest things for me to downsize have always been books. I have both here in Spain and probably back in Michigan at my parents´house quite a collection (even with my Nook). I also feel like I have way too many clothes, hence my beginning to follow the 2-4-1 principle.
Recently I have taken it a step further. As of today we have been living in our apartment for 4 months. We moved a bunch of stuff and there is some I have yet to touch. In my mind if it is not seasonal (like summer clothes or holiday ish) and we have not yet used it, we can probably do without it. Out it should go. Since I have not been working this month I have slowly but surely been going through our stuff and finding things we can either donate, toss or give to someone else.
Here is the latest result of my efforts:
Clothes, old sheets and towels, purses and a lot of crafting supplies. Let´s face it, I am not a crafty person and yet (thank you Pinterest) I feel like I should be making cute things to decorate my home, or scrapbooking photos of our travels. Reality check: I am NOT ever going to do this. So I can stop spending money on this stuff and get it out of my small apartment where it is just taking up room and making things look cluttered. When I see a picture like this, I feel better, my home looks better, I feel more free. I hope to keep motivated in this process.
Here is under our bed which believe it or not has a lot less crap, mostly only linens and shoes.
I also would like to announce that this is my 200th blog post. Yay! And my dwarf orange tree is growing oranges again. I feel like such a success since I have never had a green thumb.
I have mentioned before in this blog about moving a lot over the last 8 years and of having to quickly reduce my belongings to those that fit in suitcases. Overall it hasn´t been that difficult of a process for me most of the time. Things don´t hold a lot of sentimental value for me normally, nor do I feel a lot of anxiety getting rid of them. In fact quite often the opposite is true, I get anxious the more things are around me. The exception to the rule and the hardest things for me to downsize have always been books. I have both here in Spain and probably back in Michigan at my parents´house quite a collection (even with my Nook). I also feel like I have way too many clothes, hence my beginning to follow the 2-4-1 principle.
Recently I have taken it a step further. As of today we have been living in our apartment for 4 months. We moved a bunch of stuff and there is some I have yet to touch. In my mind if it is not seasonal (like summer clothes or holiday ish) and we have not yet used it, we can probably do without it. Out it should go. Since I have not been working this month I have slowly but surely been going through our stuff and finding things we can either donate, toss or give to someone else.
Here is the latest result of my efforts:
Clothes, old sheets and towels, purses and a lot of crafting supplies. Let´s face it, I am not a crafty person and yet (thank you Pinterest) I feel like I should be making cute things to decorate my home, or scrapbooking photos of our travels. Reality check: I am NOT ever going to do this. So I can stop spending money on this stuff and get it out of my small apartment where it is just taking up room and making things look cluttered. When I see a picture like this, I feel better, my home looks better, I feel more free. I hope to keep motivated in this process.
Here is under our bed which believe it or not has a lot less crap, mostly only linens and shoes.
I also would like to announce that this is my 200th blog post. Yay! And my dwarf orange tree is growing oranges again. I feel like such a success since I have never had a green thumb.
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