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!

I don't often read the Daily Mail but had occasion to buy it today and it had an article about women and shoes. Apparently women own, on average, 20 pairs but only actually wear 5! < goes off to count shoes>

LOL Educating
These are for you

Oh my! Have just had a wonderful revelation.

Loving something, or knowing that my kids/husband love it, is a GOOD ENOUGH reason to keep something. Hurrah! I can keep something just because I love it. .

Sorry, that probably seems really obvious to you all.

Liking something a bit, feeling like I ought to keep it, imagining that one day I will get round to using it, imagining how much the kids would like to see that bit of tat again for five minutes before ditching it again, being worried that the giver will discover I don't like it....these are not good reasons.

Loving something is a good reason.

That makes me feel better. I can keep something just because I love it or I know the kids love it.

Yes Building - of course you can!

I have lots of random bits of tat things I really like and that I have no intention of ditching!

DD just sold a game which we advertised online. It has been bought by a physical development therapist who is going to use it to help children practise certain fine motor skills. DD and I both feel really good that it will be put to such good use and she's chuffed with the money too! Better still, DS (who saves every paper plane he makes) has been inspired to look through his stuff to see what he could sell!

educating I have 1 pair of trainers (need replaced) 1 pair of wedge boots, 1 pair of pumps (worn only for job interviews/funerals etc) and 1 pair of flip flops. So... 4! I do need flat winter suitable shoes though.

Harriet I think the stocking sounds good except where's the clementine and chocolate coins?!

This will be DDs first Christmas "knowing" but will do Xmas eve hamper (pjs, slippers, dressing gown, Xmas DVD and hot choc stuff), and on big day im thinking 1 big gift plus voucher for clothes shopping trip (baby due on 6th jan though!) new duvet set, some books and theatre tickets.

DP will also get Xmas eve hamper and a theatre trip. He's so low maintenance I actually have no idea what else to get him.

Today we weren't out as long as I had thought so I'm 2 days ahead of my plan! Wrecked now though. Kitchen is all packed up except utensils as I cleaned out the drawer and put them all in the dishwasher. Ill sort them in the morning.

I also sorted a room that's holding stuff that use ago be in the nursery which was our attic alternative. I cleared 7 boxes of stuff to go (to charity/sell/give to specific person) plus a bag of paper to be recycled and a black bin bag of rubbish.

Not feeling great now though so will have an early night and then see how I feel tomorrow. Would like to get utensils drawer and utility room (2 small cupboards) cleared at least as I can be sitting down for those things.

I'm going to try local Facebook selling group that I just discovered today but not yet. Gonna wait and do it all at once. Maybe bundle some stuff for ease and earn some pennies for baby fund!

Feeling a lot closer to an easier to keep house!

Hello lovely minimalisers....I am a lurker...who has been decluttering for most of this year, and just wanted to say how grateful I am to you all for keeping threads going that I've delved into, and been motivated by.

I read the Slow Your Home blog from a link on these threads, and thought, 'get rid of 2013 things from your home? dont be ridiculous', but I think I've easily done that, with still more to go!

Its been a bit of a struggle to get DH properly on board (his dad had a very poor childhood, and is a hoard-everything-just-in-case-type, which DH naturally follows), but after much planning of ebaying, he has realised we are just storing sooo much stuff that we dont need and we cant sell, but that a charity shop probably could.

I have an empty (small) cupboard in our bedroom. Empty!

I've taken my minimising to work. I've spent years ricocheting around stuff that has always been there that might be useful, that has never had the time or opportunity to be explored nor used. So I cleared boxes and boxes today. I don't know how to dispose of it all, but I am excited that I might be able to keep control of my work environment.
What do do with boxes of dusty, out of date reference books?

At our tip/recycling centre there is a book depository thingy - I guess they get pulped and recycled.

Getting rid of files and stacks of old work reference material is the cause of my afore mentioned empty cupboard. I agree it's exciting!

I just wanted to say that I can understand the just-in-case hoarding and I think a lot of people must get into this. DH and I both had poor households growing up, DH moreso than I, and so whenever we could get anything for free we would jump on it. It took me a while to come to terms with the concept of not only not always getting stuff that was free to us but even getting rid of stuff we already had. I sat down one day and realised that I had clothes that were 6,7,8+ years old and that were cheap in the first place so it was okay to not have them anymore!

Unfortunately I didn't get around to my tidying targets I think I was being a bit ambitious. I've been ill, tired, and had stuff to do all day yesterday and today. I think tomorrow or Thurs is more realistic... but I have set myself a limit: it has to be done by Friday evening, those are the rules and they will be abided by!

I'm actually not getting much done right now but am hanging on til school starts. It is a magical dreamland of always having enough time for everything.... right? RIGHT. .

Hubbie is ebaying some region 1 Wii games we were given... £15 for the first one! Am v proud of him. That will almost pay to see Alpha Papa tonight. .

Ah yes, September, the promised land

Next month is actually extra busy for me, additional work committments, and we are away two weekends, so I desperately want to get organised before school starts again.

So far this summer we have got rid of every CD (DH put them all on the laptop and ipod) and most of the DVD's. He did use music magpie but found it so time comsuming for £6, I just took the last box to charity yesterday. Most of the books have gone, just a few well chosen favourites remain (I use a kindle).

This week I have tackled the wardrobes in our room. I have been clothing decluttering on and off all year - and buying wisely, but there was still a bin bag full to go yesterday.

I think that is what I have learnt most - the first big declutter is easy as there is alot if genuine detritus, but then subsequent revisits is when you need to get really serious about why you are holding onto something.

Todays mission is the kitchen...but the thing I am truly putting off is my nemesis - paperwork.

Down completely know what you mean about getting serious about what you actually hold on to or not. Fingers crossed renovations on our cottage start this autumn and then everything is being stripped back, re plastering, new door frames, doors, carpets ripped up, floor boards being stripped, the staircase is being moved, under-stairs cupboards being built, loft being boarded, wood burner fitted etc etc so I want everything to be organised and only keep what we really need by the time all this is done. I'm going to have a blank canvas to make beautiful and minimal

Bluecarrot are you packing up your kitchen and putting it into six month boxes to see what you miss and don't need or have I missed something massive and am too tired to think straight and you're moving house...

Two big bags to the chazzer. .

bluecarrot, yes, of course there'll be choc coins and some species of citrus fruit in the toe. I will try to do a completely honest what-actually-went-in-the-stocking after Christmas...

So we're on hols (housesitting in a gorgeous family house in a different county). The dc had a good week with the grandma last week but there were no limits on screen time and they were both bonkers. The massive reduction in screen time this week has made a huge difference particularly to ds2's behaviour. (They were allowed on the Wii last night and went bonkers. We also watched some stuff together). They hate the reduction but have been building Lego, playing the piano, drawing, talking... Makes me think about cutting back even more dramatically. Could be hard with ds1 (who's about to go to high school) but it is extraordinary how different life is without the screens...

Our holiday chalet had no WiFi and it was brilliant. We all relaxed so ,much. Kids still played a few games on the tablet but we played more card games, went swimming, and DD did her usual making up games for hours.

Harriet, DS1 is also starting secondary in September. He will have lots more homework plus he'll have to prep his bag the night before according to timetable so I see it as a good time to reduce computer games to weekends only. We don't watch much TV and never have time for DVDs in the week anyhow.

MM yes, 6 month idea - prob after Easter as its Christmas/Easter I seem to do most baking!

From the kitchen I rehomed 14 items this am, and counted 27 items in the sell/donate boxes and 19 items in the maybe discard box. Nothing left the utility room as its all consumables but its reordered and I've measured the shelves to see about boxes that will keep it more organised. Also made an inventory and stuck it up on the inside of the door.

I also went through food cupboards today and chucked stuff ( bit cross with myself over it, though its mostly flour and dried lentils I was sure I'd get around to using!) I should really have cleaned out cupboards as I went but belly sore so that can wait til another time.

Just had a nice nap and cuddle with DD while she read to the bump. Now to get the last of my clothes sorted and put away and then its feet up and relax for the rest of the day /night. Unless I feel like doing eBay later...

Playdate (hate that word but oh well) going well. Glad we are a little tidier especially in their room as it means I don't have to panic about them stepping on things etc! We didn't end up doing much more yesterday but I did free up another bucket by putting the remaining books onto a shelf - feels like wasted space though as it's quite tall (it's obviously meant for a computer base unit thingy - the cabin bed has a desky bit) but at least I don't need the floor space for the bucket now - and in their tiny room it makes all the difference! So now they have one shelf of books and one bucket (hidden away, so I can swap them regularly). I'm wondering if I could come up with a use for that dead space though.

I am really going to have to do very little over the next couple of weeks and that is really annoying :( we have so much on leading up to the start of school, and I still have work 3 days a week (only short shifts, but due to my health I can't really do much else on work days), and I am feeling on the verge of a relapse if I'm not careful.

The teacher visit is on Friday 6th so hopefully we can gradually make a huge effort with the living room by then, although I will mostly be directing from the sofa sidelines this time.

I agree about it being harder once you've done the first sweeps. It's much harder to stay motivated when you no longer have endless binbags leaving the house.

It's making a difference though, in all aspects of life. Just the lightness of heart that comes with having more space - and more direction in our life - is improving our lives. Usually we were flopping on the sofa watching the same DVDs but now we are making more effort to do other things, even if it is just watching something new (currently working our way through Studio Ghibli movies!) but we are definitely closer at the moment. I think we will go back to reading to each other soon as we haven't really managed that since our DCs were born!

Forgot to say, what we have mostly been doing is going back to shoving stuff in boxes and putting them in our room so our room is now even more hellish than before. I really wish I had energy to sort through them all at once.

I had my first session with a psychologist last week, and we agreed that the main aim is going to be tackling my anxiety. I actually mentioned my Stuff issues so I think we will be talking more about this.

harriet are you house sitting for a friend or did you organise it through a website?

When you talk about cutting back more dramatically on the screen time do you mean cutting it out all together or simply reducing it more? My DD's do well on one film once a week, the rest of the time they are playing ( a lot of Lego pay right now) or drawing/reading. I wondered how it would be this summer holidays now my oldest DD is eight but it has been competely fine!

Play not pay...

fuzz Im glad your play date went well!

I don't want to cut out screen time entirely for the DCs. It can inspire their play. Eg DS has built Lego versions of favourite computer games and movie characters in the same way he has built a Lego chessboard and Lego versions of favourite scenes in books.