Moving Forward With Minimalism

[MinimalistMommi]

This is a new thread following on from the previous 'm' thread on Good Housekeeping!

All Minimalists or aspiring minimalists welcome!

Condolences arti.

Just popping on for a quick hi and catch up before operation: get
Rid of summer clothes commences. Now the weather seems to have finally turned towards autumnal I've realised when my friend gave me a bag of next size up for ds1, that he still has lots from the current age he hasn't worn or won't wear again now. So off its going back to my friend :) have also decluttered 4 big toys of the twins' and replaced them with 2 from the loft. So we're continuing with the loft emptying. Unfortunately dh has decided we may not be able to afford to keep the storage unit on long term so I really need to buck my ideas up and get a move on.

Planning a car boot for a couple of weeks time with my parents and sister. Should be fun.

clearsomme Yes, 'tis not ideal! But we have a coffee machine and I like good, strong coffee - as in I enjoy the taste, and am not satisfied with decaf or 'coffee alternatives' (I don't want any more brown looking roasted wheat business!). So it's about limiting myself as it's kind of a daily treat. Tiredness means I want it even more, but it's a vicious cycle as drinking it too much makes me more tired. I plan on having a coffee free day for tomorrow at least (already had my morning espresso today!) and going from there. I've been accustomed to having coffee just a couple of times a week, and once a day when I do, so I know I can do it... I just miss the taste!

fuzzpig I said the exact same thing to a friend the other day about 'two steps forward, one step back'. Glad to see it's not just me.

Interestingly when I just wrote that, I put 'one step forward, two steps back' initially... I've definitely been there too...

Haha delasi, Freudian Slip much :o (and yes, I've been there too!)

I think it's good to limit coffee and only have nice stuff. I try to do that with cake etc and not just buy cheap stuff all the time, instead having occasional lovely posh ones.

It's a good point, I don't like to get, eg, untasty (is that a word?!) takeaway that costs £15 or £20, but if we get something every now and then that costs a little more but tastes really good then that's fine by me. I don't usually buy coffee out for this reason, as I don't like the coffee made in most places I'm not a snob, honest, I think Problem is I get too carried away when at home!

We do the same with mozzarella. DH has a thing for proper mozzarella, but it costs so much for what it is, so we don't often buy it and just pick up the good stuff every now and then as a treat. Likewise for ribeye, because I do so like a medium ribeye every once in a while

I'm so hungry, I'm totally losing the point of my minimalism now...!

can i join?i have 4 under 6 and another due in december,we lve in quite a big 4 bedroomed house and ive never really got to grips with keeping on top of it all.

we just came back from holiday on a farm and we didnt take any toys with us,only a few outfits each,and it was great!kids never asked for toys,there was no arguing over toys,no mess and they just played outside all the time!

i would like to move towards that slowly.did sign up to flylady but it was just too annoying and the emailes about blessing her darling husband by cleaning his shower for him make me feel like puking.

Hi ringaringa...coming back from hold is always when I feel most inspired...the kids just do better with less, I find. And the extra pair of hands doesn't hurt.

Welcome Ringa - wow 4 under 6 and another one on the way! Hopew you find it helpful here!

Ringa with that many children on hand to entertain each other, I expect they must never come to you whining that they are bored...or is that just a misconception? Anyway, if they can entertain each other, fewer toys needed, perhaps?

Welcome ringa, and wow - you have simultaneously impressed me and made me more optimistic at the prospect of more than one infant at a time not yet though!

We have new neighbours moving in who seem to be doing all manner of home improvements day and night whilst moving their stuff in. Seeing their empty home (front door open, not sneaking in!) makes me long for my own, so it's been an odd sort of motivation for me. Part of me just wants to pull out all of the stuff, put it in the outside hall, and decide what I'm putting back and ditch the rest.

...Can I do that? Maybe I should actually do that... during the day, when I'm less likely to annoy people.

delasi do it, do it! That's what they used to do on the Life Laundry show and it looked so cathartic...

Hello all! New Job is very hectic so I haven't had much chance to do anything other than work all week. On the other hand I haven't had the chance to buy anything or be tempted to bring new stuff into the house either!

We are having a laminate floor put down on Sat/Sun so our living room is full of packets of planks and underlay, can't wait for it to be done!

buildingmycorestrength-yes definitley no time for boredom in this house,i dont think ive ever heard the words im bored.

They do have too many toys and they hardly play with any of them except the dressing up stuff and my daughters toy kitchen,theyve got a bit of playmobil which they play with a lot too but apart from that they mainly run around pretending to be mario and luigi or sonic and tails or cops and robbers or cowboys and indians etc etc

I really want this weather to make its mind up so i can pack away/get rid of the summer stuff and organize everything,hate this inbetween stage i never know what to wear!

I bought a lambswool duster from lakeland which came yesterday and dusted all the downstairs,ive never done it before(usually just wipe a cloth over windowsills and surfaces) but i did all the corners and cielings and everything, it was actually quite fun,but disgusting too!

Hi Ringa, if Flylady is too twee for you check out Unf**k your habitat.

There's a mumsnet thread on it too here.

is anyone planning a Minimalist Xmas?
And what might that look like?
I'm not quite brave enough to start a thread under Christmas on it (yet).

So, it's been a while. I started wonderful new FT job. So much to do and it will only get busier. Just wanted to check in and say thanks for all the inspiration and support. If I don't post often I may whizz by for a quick lurk. May your lives be full of lovely moments and less stuff.

Well done everyone on new jobs, best of luck

Still haven't done anything yet But, did manage a coffee-free day yesterday! Have a blood test today due to all of the tiredness, as it's been much more than the usual I-have-a-baby tiredness. Part of me thinks it might come back normal (possibly in need of iron) and if that's the case then I need to move back on to a stricter diet (boo). I eat healthily, we get takeaway about twice a month and a couple of days a month I get a bit treat happy with the biscuits/chocolate, but it's only those few days so I don't think it's a big deal. Nonetheless sometimes I have to go a step further to improve the absorption of meds, so perhaps I will just move that way anyway.

Looked up Life Laundry! I've decided to pull some stuff out, haven't done it yet but perhaps later today I will, it's not actually the whole house that requires it but there are a couple of areas which would benefit.

I'm trying to sort my daughter's toys (am trying not swear as I am on a sweaty threads about this and keep getting confused . )

Am ditching / rationalising and so on. Have pulled everything that is not in its proper place out of the cupboard and will have a mini Life Laundry. .

Will try to be done before lunch...urgh.

Well done on new jobs, all! So exciting. And sorry about health delasi, but me and fuzz* and others sadly know all about it. Try to get some proper rest.

building My mum used to replace swearing at the clearing of my stuff/building of furniture etc with screaming "Argh!" repeatedly and eventually kicking or hitting the offending items/s. There was an occasional shout of, "Oh shhh....SUGAR!". I appreciate that she didn't want to use bad language in front of me as a child, but the alternative didn't exactly appear too healthy! According to her DP she still does it...

Had a 2h nap today Same as yesterday, but at least feel very fortunate that I have the opportunity to do so as I'm not at work FT and DH stays at home so he can help with DS. He has his own health issues more serious than mine though, when I got up he went for his own nap! But we're both in health slumps right now, we've had months of good health so it's swings and roundabouts. Nevertheless I get my results Tues, in the meantime I just have to do what I can to boost my energy. Today so far has been yet another coffee free day!

...Well, I've had decaf. But I figured that was better

Ooh, am so pleased with myself. So many bags to charity shop this week. And I managed to ignore the little voice saying, 'You should just check with Mum whether she wants this...or wants me to keep it.' .

Daughter's room is lovely and tidy, with space on the shelves and in the cupboards.

Hall is lovely and tidy, verging on empty.

Things are gradually coming out of the loft to make room for spare bed up there...am sooooo pleased/smug.

Hurrah for me. Now I will have a fun weekend feeling like I have worked hard this week, and hopefully not collapse with exhaustion.

Oh, and generally manage not to routinely swear in front of the kids except in moments of duress, but am also not wanting to swear like a trooper on general MN in case it offends! Am trying to keep my beloved foul language to a sweary thread.

I am not doing very well .
Was ready to start the post summer sort out and it jasnt really started yet. I did tackle the ironing mountain today and now there is a bagful of outgrown clothes to go to the charity bank.
Ds does need some new clothes but I am determined that he won't have so many!

Just dropping by to say I'm not doing well either. Really struggling physically/mentally and not done anything at all on the house so it's a mess again. Keep reminding myself that at least some stuff went this summer so even though it's messy, it is less messy than before...

Sorry to hear people are struggling.

I sent a load of old stuff to the chazzer on Friday, including a broken crappy old Disney Princess clock that never really worked and has been in the loft for a year and has been replaced by a working clock and has not been mentioned in all that time.

DD asked for the Princess clock last night. It's like SHE KNOOOOOWSSSS. I just said it was in the loft and I'm sure we'd find it sometime.

for all.

Mentally I'm in 'the zone' for clearing, but physically and time-wise I haven't yet caught up. However yesterday I was feeling much better and got a little lie in today so I think/hope I'll have more energy this week. New neighbours seem to be gutting their place so I don't think they'll mind a few bags and boxes in the hall when half their home has been out there! Also had 3 caffeine-free days so I feel like I've reset a bit and I've bought all of our groceries to reflect the minor adjustments to the diet, so it should all be good.

building Just keep distracting her, she'll forget! I think

My husband was just trying to squash the recycling bin down and asked the kids for help...he puts them in the bin and they jump up and down, all good fun.

Except DD saw her old creations in there and went absolutely mad and we had to fish them out. And now she is v suspicious and I've had to have a chat with her. Ffs.