Say goodbye

A couple outfits and purse and a cuddly lamb... all found in my closet.. all completely ignored this season (too long ignored - out the door)

 

My sis (always helpful) says these items look "hideous" and had to go...

 

A 10 year old computer (though it was top of the line in it's day) now even the young kids don't want to play on it anymore. I have removed (and mangled) the hard drives, the rest is going to the electronics recycling centre next time I am out that way. The mouse and small monitor will be getting a second life on another computer.

Chillin'

The refrigerator.

In a home of food and cooking, the fridge is a "hot spot" of activity and mostly overflowing with the perishables and condiments of everyday cooking. And often this most used appliance can become a black hole of forgotten items.

Today was the day I mucked it out.

Consolidating multiples of sauces, tossing the expired salad dressings (why do I even buy them, they always expire before I even get 1/3 through them no matter how small the bottle), and washing the shelves and bins. Happily, thanks to more conscious shopping efforts, there has been little waste in the way of veggies (I wish there was never any waste of food, a goal I keep striving for).

It looks so much sparklier in there, and I know what I have. Very pretty results.

Size matters

When decluttering size does matter!

The size of the space you have and the size of the stuff you chose to keep.

There is the size of clothes that fit too.

Lots of folks have weight fluctuations, some of which are extreme, so I know this is a common dilemma for many people. When choosing what to declutter from the closets... How do I decide what sizes are clutter?

The old rule is that is it doesn't fit, look good or feel good then it automatically gets cut from the wardrobe. But in the last 9 months or so, my body has changed size (unfortunately larger than I am comfortable with). Some items I have given up because I barely wore them even when they did fit, but MOST of my summer-season pants that fit last year are really too small. Since I do think it would be in my health's best interest to lose the excess weight, I am hesitant about getting rid of perfectly good shorts and capris. Yet.

But, where is the line between aspirational clutter and a realistic frugal sensibility?
Is it one size difference?
Or is it a time limit like one year?
I really would like the convenience of only having things that fit in my closet.... And having the pretty clothes that don't fit mixed in with the few remaining bottoms that do fit does add some frustration to getting dressed. But at the same time I keep hoping the smaller clothes will motivate me to do what needs to be done to fit them again.

Does anyone have any ideas? All thoughts will be greatly appreciated?

My Apologies

I am sorry if anyone was following the "spending holiday" posts.

Alas, I had to admit defeat.
I'm not going into the details, but sometimes, retreating is the best way to move forward.

Though I lost this one battle, I will win the war by learning from these mistakes.

Vow of Contentment

I can thank the Happiness Project for this revelation (link)

“By making a vow of stability the monk renounces the vain hope of wandering off to find a ‘perfect monastery.’ This implies a deep act of faith: the recognition that it does not much matter where we are or whom we live with…Stability becomes difficult for a man whose monastic ideal contains some note, some element of the extraordinary. All monastaries are more or less ordinary…Its ordinariness is one of its greatest blessings.”

How does this apply to an everyday life? For someone looking for simplicity and contentment and overall happiness, it has EVERYTHING to do with everyday life!

How much happier would you be if you weren't looking for something better? If you were truly happy with your lot in life?

Lately I have been wanting to sell my car. My grand plan was to sell it, pocket the money and drive the junker that we got for our son to learn to drive in (hubby found a running car for $200 and has put enough money into it to make it safe... but its still not pretty). Drving it until we found the perfect replacement.... or until the teen buys the junker, which ever comes first.

Hubby had a different plan, he thinks we should sell the 4 door sedan and get a fuel efficient, newer, SUV thing so that we would have a practical, reliable and stylish vehicle to be seen in.

In otherwords he wants to UPGRADE.

I had a reasonable offer on my car. But it still makes me sick to think my lovely car has depreciated by 40% in the last 3 year! In effect, we have absorbed $135/month - not including taxes or insurance or maintenance, for the privilage of driving the car.

To add insult to injury, hubby and I went car shopping and found the top end of my comfort zone for car price buys a run down picked over (and sometimes smelly) model of the car that haubby prefers!To get into one of those cars would be like paying several thousand dollars to DOWNGRADE and a significant amount of taxes too.

This is were the vow of stability comes in.

Please hold me to this.

I vow to love my car -even though it isn't dog or cargo friendly & even though it drinks PREMIUM only fuel - because it looks good, it runs great and it is paid for. So as long as this car is safe and reliable and not too embarassing to take to client meetings, I will stay the course. I will remain content - even with hubby pressing for something different.