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!

clear I really like the idea of having a hall bench now that you've mentioned it, not that we can fit one here but we'll be moving at some point this year, no idea when so if we have the space I might like to incorporate that!

It is not as high a priority, however, as the new superking bed that I will be treating myself us to

Hello all, I've been away a while. Back to work after maternity leave and all semblance of time Disappears..
Christmas here was better than last. The in-laws got the message about excess tat (although totally duplicated the stockings so dcs now have excess underwear ), and the dcs declared it the 'best Christmas ever' so we must have done something right. I still felt overwhelmed by it all, and had a massive cull and tidy up at new year. We still have books to tackle as they seem to breed, and the baby's toys which need culled, but lots and lots has left the house this week and most things now have a place.

I have a question to ask about digital storage. We went through art work the other night and decided what to bin. Now we have to decide what to photograph for future posterity & Bin, and what to store. What system(s) do you use for digital archiving? I have Evernote, but never really got to grips with it. My worry about specific software is that things will change in 10 years and we will lose stuff. Is it best just to save individual photos into a folder on the hard drive?

Oh, and since you are on the subject of shoes - I look at shoe storage cabinets and wonder if size 11's fit in them. Any experiences?

inthetide We have some stuff on Dropbox, though tbh that's mainly so we can share it with family. Everything important is on an external hard drive - I think it's around 1 or 2 TB, not that it's anywhere near full. Hard drives pretty much just stick around, it's the rest of the PC/laptop that tends to go, so I think they're fairly reliable and you can always transfer it later to a more modern digital storage system should it be necessary (they won't disappear overnight, you can still readily get software and companies that transfer VHS to DVD and those went out years back now!).

On shoes: we have a narrow 5 shelf wooden shoe rack from Argos and it's brilliant.

For shoes we have something similar to this - fits over the door to the cupboard under the stairs, but it's on the inside IYSWIM so it's out of the way but still accessible. Not a very attractive solution but doesn't take up floor space so I'm happy!

67 things out to charity yesterday, woohoo :) I can see the floor in the spare doom! Still a long way to go in there though. Christmas decorations away and the house is starting to look more spacious and minimalist after the madness that was Christmas, phew. 3 things came into the house yesterday, a party dress each for the dc that i picked up in the sales.

I use an Ikea Expedit for the shoes in the hall. It's only a small 2x2 unit but the perfect size for us. Dh, dd1 and I have a box each and the younger 2 share a box. Dh and dc manage to get all their shoes in their Expedit box but mine won't all fit in there so also have some in my wardrobe upstairs. Which reminds me, I could probably do a third shoe cull.

I'll hopefully be getting more stuff to charity this week. The zhu zhu pets are still here, I daren't move them when the dc are here because they'll suddenly decide they want to keep them, even though they've been ignored for a long time. I'll do that when they're in school next week. A couple of pushchairs in spare room to go too - dd3 is almost 4 and not planning anymore so why am I so reluctant to get rid of these things? Hopefully some of my shoes will be going too.

Spare doom

Very apt

Yay Cadence! Impressive number!

Feeling rotten today, been trying to fend off the sick feeling but I have some sort of tummy bug and flare up of existing condition so feeling a bit rough. Going to spend the day on the sofa ignoring the rest of the clutter! Have, however, put on a nappy wash, vacuumed up crumbs, done loads of cooking yesterday, and house is generally tidy and clean so it's not so bad apart from the bookcase still awaiting my attention

67 items! Wow Cadence!

Happy New Year fellow minimalists. Hope you are feeling better delasi.

3 carrier bags of clothes/a giant bath toy to the chazzer today. The ladies in there looked a bit weary, are we all using the same place?

DP and I are using the mantra 'good is great but done is better' to help us get all those little niggly jobs out of the way. So spice racks are up in the kitchen even though they could do with a 2nd coat of paint. Pictures are up in the hallway even though they are a mixture of frame colours. I'm fed up with unfinished jobs because we haven't got the time/cash/energy to complete them absolutely perfectly...and in the meantime we are living amongst piles of things without a home.

Jimmy That's a great idea and makes total sense, and it probably also looks much better than when they are unfinished. I'm going to remember this

Nothing much but 2 bags (as in accessories) gone today. Going back to work early it seems Better for the bank balance, really, because I get paid on the basis of my hours, but not really wanting to go back to work or uni... quite happy milling around the house and organising things! Hoping to keep some semblance of time management and keep on the minimalism of the house.

I love the "good is great but done is better" mantra!

Just popping in as I'm halfway through sorting our Xmas decs for the first time EVER! All the ones I've inherited from family home (my parents stopped decorating when I moved out) and various things we've bought ourselves. Thrown away anything really tatty or not nice. Still have loads left but it's all nice. DH digging out some Really Useful Boxes to store them properly rather than in random old bags and tins.

Finally feeling a little more clear headed now the DCs have gone back to school and the dark is lifting a little. Looking forward to getting back to minimising now :)

Woo hoo! I got paid!

7 of the babies big toys on eBay. A bag for things to go to charity. And the unwanted Xmas presents we have are being collected into one place to save for a tombola we are organising to raise money for my rainbow unit.

Just need to put the Xmas decs away properly!!

Oh, and I've had to buy the dc some more clothes. But I've thought carefully about what they have which still fits and gone for coordinating tops/bottoms to make complete outfits. And am getting rid of any clothes which don't fit or have served their purpose.

Great news on the pay Sok.
I too have been shopping (again!) but it is only entirely necessary stuff (kids underwear and pjs in the next size up in the sales)
I've added a few bits to a charity box but can't count them as out in my tally because they are still in the house.

Good mantra Jimmy. It is so easy to put things off indefinitely because you want them to be perfect.

Hope Arti and Delasi are feeling better

How is the frugaleering Fuzz? We are on target to pay off 4% of our total debt this month. Cue general rejoicing!

Hooray for being paid Sok!

Another one with the box of Christmas decorations still hanging about waiting to be returned to the basement!

Three items in so far this year (a broom, a natal hypnotherapy CD I asked for for Christmas and no one bought me!, and a book for DD about a new baby arriving), and nothing out yet. I seem to have lost all energy for anything. I am into the third trimester though - finally!

Is anyone doing Project 333 this year. I didn't bother last year as I am not a very clothes-y person and I figured that I probably only wore about that anyway. Then I wondered if that was actually true or not and whether I was copping out of properly decluttering my wardrobe by telling myself that So I am doing a kind of backwards 333 and writing down all the clothes that I wear to see what my total comes to after three months. So far I have worn ten items (with the usual 333 exclusions and exceptions). I don't know if that makes me a good minimalist or a bit of a skank

I guess that depends how often you wash them! I don't think I had a lot more than 10 items of maternity clothes (winter babies both times).

I like the idea of retroactive counting. I'm pretty sure I can remember what I've worn since 1 Jan (mostly in dirty laundry and ironing pile!)

Just checking in Cleared one dumping ground, one left to go and still the huge bookcase project.

Slowly working on tidying up the hall which became a bit of adumping ground over New Year.

Happy New Year to all! Been a busy festive period in the Teacake household and very little done in the way of minimising. But, the inlaws came good and although there was one rather large/unrequested present that came into the house for the DCs from them, they did give some money towards swimming lessons which should cover nearly half a term per junior Teacake - yay!

Now that DC1 is back at school I can start trying to prioritise what needs to be done. My issue is a lack of child free time as DC2 can't be left unattended for more than a matter of seconds before they are up to mischief. I think little and often will need to be my mantra this year.

fuzzpig - I shall be joining you in frugality as we really need to start reducing our outgoings every month. Have already started the Aldi/Lidl shopping. Only been a couple of weeks so far but I think it will definitely save us some money, along with some creative meal planning and use of leftovers. Have taken myself off the email lists for amazon, vouchercodes etc so that I'm not tempted by 'bargains'. Does that count as electronic decluttering?

Slow progress here. A few bits listed on a give away site.

And I finally removed all the receipts from my purse which had been building up since November. I couldn't close the purse! I'm pleased that my CC receipt system that I installed about a year ago is working smoothly. The whole thing fits in a small box (the size of a toddlers shoe box).

I get a disproportionate amount of satisfaction out of turning leftovers into a new meal.

clear I am the same with leftover creations. I was positively glowing last week having raided the freezer bare...

Nothing further here, although 3 items in there is another (quite big) one to go out, which is good. Back to the usual work, study etc so less time to spare, still have my minimalist hat on though when it comes to shopping! Amazingly I'm not even tempted by most bargains - I just look at them, sigh, and think, "I can't really be bothered to buy something new, I don't need it". On the odd occasion that I am tempted, 9 out of 10 times I get to the basket and then delete because I only seem to shop online. That small 10% is then what gets through Those items earn their place here, it's an obstacle course to get in!

A farcical morning here. DH had a cheque to pay in which he had lost, and DD had to go to nursery without any slippers because we could only find one. I can't believe that a year down the line we are still living in chaos Sometimes this feels like a battle that I will never win.