I always believed that buying in bulk saved me money.  I am learning in this process of simplifying my life that in reality, when I think about it, I’m spending more to store them.  But I can’t throw them away cold turkey.  I already have the house to store them so I might as well keep them now I have them and not buy anymore until I need it.  I mean how many contact solution does a girl need?  I currently have 6 big bottles and 8 of the clear care type!  I think it takes me 3 months to use up 1.

On another note, the hubby is recognizing that I’m really trying to get rid of stuff.  He mistakenly thought this applied to my quilty and craft stuff as well.  Specifically he referenced my fabric.  I quickly corrected him.  Right now I’m focused on getting rid of the things I don’t use and do not bring me joy.  And fabric, friends, brings me joy.  So I will continue to have room for fabric.  That may change and evolve as I go through this process but for right now, it is what it is.

~Melanie

My closet simplified
10/7/15

My closet floor is clear again and the bag of clothes in my room is gone.  I went through all the clothes I kept and in the end I only kept 2 items of sentimental value.  Everything else is ready to be donated.

In addition, I bought a shirt from the Lobster Fest and decided to get rid of a shirt before it could be added to my drawer.  I ended up donating 2 more shirts from my drawer.  They didn’t add inspiration and I didn’t enjoy them anymore.

To my astonishment my office is clean as well.  The book I’ve been listening to is “The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up” by Marie Kondo.  There are so many tips I’ve gleaned from it.  I think this is one of those books that I’ll be listening too periodically when I get stuck in a rut and I’m not sure what next to work on.  I started cleaning out my purse after work every day.  My purse is usually filled with receipts and bits of things and just a lot of junk.  So for the last few days after work, I’ve been following a routine – put away whatever I’ve brought in from the car, empty my purse, put everything back in its place (inside the purse) and usually I’ll have little bits – receipts to file, trash, stuff to add to my calendar, mail, etc.  It takes about 15 minutes to take care of.  Then I put my purse in its place for the night.  I clear off my desk.  I spend 15-30 minutes clearing it off and eventually I’d like to work on that drawer of stuff that I have (as mentioned in this previous post).  I really should just go through the items at one time and get it over with but I haven’t found the time to do that.  Maybe I’ll be able to get to it this weekend.

~Melanie

I was listening to a book about tidying and de-cluterring earlier today.  And I got to thinking about a time in my life when my space was completely clean.  I remember when I was a kid I used to get into these frenzies where I would go through my entire room and clear out everything I didn’t want any more.  Things would go in the trash or in a box I titled “memories” and stored in the family storage.  My room would be so clean and everything would be in its place.  I would lie down and just relish the feeling that came at that point.  I’ve been calling it “freeing” but that really doesn’t describe it.  It’s freeing only because I wouldn’t have to do it anymore.  The physical clutter wasn’t cluttering my mental energy and I could devote time, energy, and space to things I loved and enjoyed and wanted.  I heard the word GRACE mentioned and that is the word I’m loving right now.  I’m not sure if I mean living in grace or living with grace or having the feeling of grace.  I’ll ponder that some more.  But GRACE is definitely the word of the moment. I want GRACE.

Anyway, those thoughts got me thinking about my current life and when in the more recent past have I felt this grace.  I thought about a few weeks ago when my drawers and closets were half full.  My floorspace clear.  It was wonderful.  But then we brought in a few boxes that were in the garage and I went through those boxes.  While I got rid of a lot of things from those boxes and that cleared my life and was very freeing (don’t get me wrong), the clothes I didn’t get rid of are now in a big bag next to my drawers and in a pile of clothes on the closet floor.  I realized today that I’ve been avoiding those parts of my room.  It’s been on a to do list to go through them but I haven’t done it.  Partly because of time and partly (probably more so) because I am feeling anxiety about it.  I really just need to go through them all once and for all.

~Melanie

Not a whole lot of getting rid of stuff on my part this week.  But the hubby was able to drop off the bags and boxes that I’ve been filling to wherever it is he drops them off at.  So all those things I’ve been decluttering are officially out of the house!

The good news is – he also started going through his stuff and getting rid of obsolete items too.

I’m not sure why we kept all this stuff for so long but it is freeing to finally get rid of it.

Melanie

So last edition, I still needed to go through the box on the left marked Hawaiian Clothes and the shoes.  I also needed to try on the clothes I kept from the right side.

More boxes!

Since then I went through the boxes but didn’t have a chance to try on the clothes. I was able to donate most of the clothes in the box on the left and a few of the shoes.  I kept a few things that I was a little sentimental about.  Right now I’ve got a huge trash bag of clothes and my closet floor is covered with clothes that I need to go through.  I am irritated with it.  The clothes lay everywhere.  This may be a good thing since I’ll be inclined to donate more.

Another thing I’m trying to do is work through my boxes of files and papers.  When we moved from up north to LA I put everything in my desk into a few boxes.  I didn’t unpack everything.  any papers that were lying around waiting for me to deal with also went into boxes.  I know I went through some of it but I still have 2-3 boxes of files that I’m sure could be gone through and gotten rid of.  I did the same when we moved over the summer.  I still have 1 more pending box.  It’s not a big box.  It’s the size of a box containing 100 manila file folders.  My right bottom drawer contains the pending stuff that I accumulate during the week that I need to review or take care of on the weekend. Usually it’s personal stuff.  So, over the last few Saturdays I’ve been spending an hour or so emptying (or trying to) the drawer.  I’ve had to create files or add appointments on the family calendar.  Whatever I need to do to get it out of that drawer.  It’s like my inbox.  Anyway, last Saturday I finally emptied it enough to fit the file folder size box into it.  I’m not sure I’ll be able to get to it this weekend but I feel like I’m making slow progress.  After that manila file folder I know I’ve got 4 bankers boxes worth of papers in my quilty closet to go through.

I haven’t forgotten about going through the books.  They’re still on my list of things to go through.  I haven’t forgotten and I’m not procrastinating.  I just have other stuff on my plate. ;0

~here’s to a week of decluttering, living simply and planning for a better tomorrow.

It may be slow progress but any progress is better than none.. or worse, buying something else.

Melanie

Previously called “Clearing my life of things” … and then “Decluttering”.. I’ve switched my Thursday post to “Living Simply”.  I like it.  We’ll see if I keep it. 🙂

Over the weekend, the hubby brought in a few more boxes for me to go through.

More boxes! 

And was I in for a treat!  It was a mix of stuff.  All of the items were packed in the spring of 2013 and kept in storage for a year.  When we moved back to LA in 2014, I guess these got relegated to some spot in the garage and forgotten about.  I never meant for it to be stored for so long so it was like reuniting with long lost friends.  I got rid of everything I didn’t like which amounted to half of the items.  The ones that I still liked – I set them aside to try on.  I remember putting them in this box before we went up north because I felt like I wouldn’t use them up north or really need them while there.  So if they still fit and look nice I’ll want to keep some of them.  The trash bag in the back contained DDs stuff.  We were able to get rid of a lot of her stuff as well.

It was easy to get rid of the ugly stuff and the stuff I knew I would never wear again.  But there were a bunch of things that brought back memories and I couldn’t throw them out.  I didn’t.  There are now two big trash bags filled with clothes in my bedroom.  I saved them to try on later.  That’s what I’ll be doing this weekend.  I can’t keep them all – I don’t have the space.  So I’m prepping myself to be strong and let some things go.  Really a lot of it go.  I don’t know how it’s going to go.  I may get rid of half and stuff the other half in my drawers and my closet.  And then I’ll have to go through my closet and drawers again and whittle those items down again.  It’s like I’m constantly bargaining with myself which items are worth keeping.  I’m taking stock as to the value of each item.  Right now, the questions I ask each item – do you fit, do I like you, will I wear you again?  If after I get through this I still have way too much I will have to ask myself other questions.  I’m not yet sure what those questions would be but I’m guessing at that point it would be something about whether the item adds value.  I’ll keep you posted.

I only went through the big public storage box on the right and the bag of stuff behind that.  Those two things contained a lot of clothes.  The stuff marked Hawaiian Clothes were really old clothes from pre-baby days and the oldest baby is now 14!  Sometimes I bring them out to reminisce how little I was. ;0  I believe there are actually Hawaiian Clothes from when I used to dance hula as a teenager too.  I went through the shoeboxes and got rid of a couple of shoes.  I could probably get rid of more.  And the box the shoes are on top of do not contain my stuff.  They actually belong to a cousin of ours who visited from Italy and left it here.  (Beth, if you are reading this, I’m talking to you!)  I think my MIL will be meeting up with her in the Philippines come December so I’m sure they will make arrangements for these somehow.  So this weekend I’ll be going through the Hawaiian clothes box and the two bags in my bedroom. That’s the plan for now.

~Melanie