My job, my kids, and trying to balance taking care of my house – sometimes it has all becomes too much. For the last three years, I have been all about figuring out how to make things easier on my husband and myself. Sometimes, this stage of life with multiple young children is challenging, and you can only plan for and control so much, but one thing that I can control is how many things that I have in my house.
Do not confuse me for a minimalist. I have not gone around my house, limited myself to owning 37 items, or decided to have no more than a certain amount of shirts or lego sets; but I have decided to keep only what serves my family or means something. Below I have broken down the how to process that has worked for me.
Why Has Getting Rid of More Possessions Helped Make Life Easier
- I have gotten rid of some of the knick knacks that I do not love. This is helpful because the more stuff that I have cluttering up the kitchen counter, sideboard, kitchen table, etc., the more that I have to pick up and dust around. I have decided to inside limit myself to a few knick nacks so that I can better appreciate items that I truly love, have more space in my small home, and it makes it easier to keep my house clean.
- By having less, I use what I have more. For example, I used to keep more of my purses around because they were still in great shape, I could remember how much I paid for them, and I figured that I would use them in the future. Because I used to keep so many purses, I then would have to find multiple places to keep my purses. I would keep some in my bed in a tote and some on the top of my closet in the tote. It was not always easy to get to my purses, so I would often opt to not switch my purse rather than take the time to sort through them. Now that I have just a few purses; they are much more accessible and I have an easier time getting them.
- It’s easier to keep my house tidy. Well, there are still parts of my house that are frequently untidy, the areas that have been “Minimized” are the areas that do often stay tidy. The key is, when you do not have too many possessions in your home, it is easier to put everything away because everything has a place to go and you don’t have to spend a lot of time deciding where to put something.
- If there is less to put away, it is easier to clean up. I have found this to be true in my basement that serves to be our kids’ playroom. I found that my kids were not really playing with the Little People, but my toddler would dump out all of the people and put the places all over the floor and then do nothing more with them. This made the task of cleaning the basement always seem so daunting for my kids and I. Once I realized that my toddler wasn’t really playing with them, I put them all in a tote in a different part of the basement. I may eventually get them out and put something else away, such as the wooden trains, to see if he will find interest in them again.
How Have I Changed My Way of Thinking
Free is not always for me.
I used to take almost anything free that someone offered me. I would get excited to get something that I did not have to pay for that could decorate/clean/serve my house. Once the excitement of the free item was over, I often would then realize that I did not really need the item, but I would feel guilty about getting rid of the item. Now, when someone offers me something, I think about it for a moment and ask myself: what about this item do I like, do I see myself using this item, and where would I store this item at my house? If I am not happy with the answers that I can come up with, I politely thank the person for offering, but I turn down the item.
I have to decide if an item makes me happy.
If an item is not essential, I ask myself a few questions:
If I associate an item to a happy memory, can I still bring myself the same happiness without the item, or will it make me happy to continue to use/wear said item?
If I am not using the item much, I ask myself, what would bring me more happiness, to have more space in my home or to keep the item? For example, I have a large hanging jewelry box that has enough space and more for all of my jewelry, however I also have a very small Willow Tree jewelry box that I keep as well, because it was given to me by my Godmother and it makes me happy every time that I see it. It also takes up very little space, which is an added bonus.
Just a few years ago, if I had a positive memory involving a material item that I did not frequently use, it was often hard for me to make the decision to get rid of an item.
Easiest Way to Donate
I have been donating at least one diaper box of stuff no less than once every two months for the past two years and I have a very easy routine. Whenever I have emptied the box of all the diapers, I save the box and start putting items in it that I wish to donate, gradually, as I come across things. Once the box is full, I donate to the Vietnam Vets. You can sign up for a pickup by calling them or on their website, I choose to do it via their website: Pickupforvets.org. I pick a date that they will be in my neighborhood and then leave the donations on my doorstep the morning that they are scheduled to pick up my donations.
Is minimizing your possessions for you? I know my house and stress levels are better for it.
