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lapazfarm
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| Posted: July 01 2007 at 7:43pm | IP Logged
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I know this is a topic we've discussed before, but inspired by Chicken lady's laundry thread (and Kristen's blog post) I was wondering if we could have a thread where we all list our best ideas for simplifying our lives, specifically purging unnecessary STUFF.
I am moving in less than one year to an island in Alaska. I will not be able to take much with me because of the enormous costs involved. So, I have a GREAT motivation to simplify. To pare down to the bare essentials.
I have already seen great fruit from the purging I have done earlier this year as far as ease of maintenance, so even for those not moving, there are great benefits to be had!
Maybe we could band together and have a "One year to simplicity" plan and all be de-cluttered together by this time next year!
So...With a one year timeframe in mind, what would you do?
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Theresa
us-schooling in beautiful Fairbanks, Alaska.
LaPaz Home Learning
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stefoodie
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I'd get rid of all my cookbooks except one or two. I used to collect cookbooks, and then even more when we moved to an area where the library didn't have much. Now that I'm back in a big city with 3 different library systems and an almost unlimited supply of cookbooks, I'm really seeing how having them around is unnecessary, and I can't wait to get rid of them! I'm selling a few at a time. I started last month, but I still have a ways to go....
This is also the year we are getting rid of all that junk in the basement -- from years of accumulation and moving 6 times.
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stef
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Celeste
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I'm starting with toys. We have way too many. I've removed many from the playroom, but they keep finding their way back in (no one knows how. . .).
Then my closet, loaded with stuff that needed to get out of the way quickly, but no one was sure what to do with.
Then cabinets and corners piled with stuff from multiple "dash and stash" occasions.
Quite possibly a year's worth of work just right there.
Honestly, Theresa, if I had to do what you're doing, I'd just sell the house as is, all stuff included, and start fresh in Alaska. 
Celeste
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Mary G
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Theresa,
We did this about 6 years ago in prep for Austria and still brought too much with us .... when it comes right down to it, you really only need a computer (with internet/email capability), a printer and submerge yourself in whatever community you're living in. OK, that may be a bit much for many -- allow each of yours to bring one large rubbermaid bin of stuff -- like these Roughneck Storage bins (31 gallon); and you get two for the stuff they need (but may not WANT  )... this can include books, toys, favorite binky, whatever. These are GREAT bins -- you can drill holes in the lid and the base and seal the boxes for shipping .. ours have made multiple trips across the ocean and across the country!
Much of the other stuff, store if you can't bear to part with it (especially BOOKS  ) ... it's like Christmas when you get back and find all the stuff you saved  !
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MaryG
3 boys (22, 12, 8)2 girls (20, 11)
my website that combines my schooling, hand-knits work, writing and everything else in one spot!
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Rachel May
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What a great idea!
I like the idea of methodically going through each room and closet and being brutal and then adding the organizational tools (baskets, boxes, shelves) that I always put off buying. When we moved into this house, I realized that we don't have much, but what we have is easily messed up because it is "grouped" together instead of being truly organized. If I decluttered and organized one room per month, I could have a house that echos by the end of a year.
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Rachel
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chicken lady
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Get rid of toys, clothes, CD's, movies...the books stay! I really think I am going to do this, you Theresa are the one who got me orgnizing over here, I think you may have created a monster, so says my 11 yr dd
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Leonie
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On my last move, I gave away many books - to homeschool and Catholic resource centres. Yes, I have missed the books but they were welcomed so much by others that I knew I had done the right thing. And having more space is great!
I also dwindled down the cookbooks to just a few loved ones - I had tended to collect cookbooks, books I didn't often use!
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Leonie in Sydney
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CatholicMommy
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I have been blessed that our last home/apartment was fairly large and allowed for a storage shed in the back - we stayed there almost 2 years and I was able to consolidate and attack: go through and get rid of so much (for the 8 previous to that my things were in storage all over the place, and we moved so much growing up that some of my boxes were never really unpacked - I had a MESS to get through). Then the greater blessing came when we moved into our current smaller apartment - I was forced to get rid of more. We've been here 10 months and will be moving again in a month - in beginning to pack, I've carefully gone through closets and drawers - and thrown out/recycled/gave away/sold enough to fill the entire back of our huge van, with all the seats removed and barely seeing out the windows. By forcing myself into smaller spaces, I have finally prioritized.
I've been doing what Rachel mentioned above: just go through one room at a time (I do one weekend a month). I tackle it: organize, throw away/recycle, put things in other rooms where they fit better, clean/scrub, and then do my best not to ADD to it again over the following months that's the hard part! I just keep cycling through and it's finally happening.
What with doing daycare, having all the Montessori materials, as well as some general toys, it's really taken sacrifice of truly unnecessary things.
Whew.
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Bella
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I want to move to a much smaller home, with a huge backyard as we are a small family. I hired a professional organizer/cleaner to help me with the A,B, and C's. This is what she said...
1) Clear out/clean out the garage.Put up a table/area where you can put garage sale/charity items.
2) Clear out/clean out the basement. Throw away, or put items out in garage for sale or charity. Measure a *very* small area in basement- and make that the area where you store items you want to keep. ALL ELSE GOES TO THE GARAGE AREA TO BE SOLD OR GIVEN AWAY.
3) Room by room, send to trash, basement or garaage.
Sounds so simple huh??
It's been two months, and we still haven't fixed the garage door to carry out her plan. So...count me in *this* plan!
Christy
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ann@home
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We are also moving in about 6 mos and I have been slowly purging the kids clothing (no more babies!) and my own. It's amazing that getting rid of 2 garbage bags of clothes doesn't seem to make a dent in closets 
I've really tried to organize the kids clothes better since they wear the same clothes anyway, and get rid of unwanted/unworn items-even if I like them!
I also realized I don't need a ton of holiday decorations even though they are fun. The kids make so much each year anyway....so I've gotten rid of things without any real meaning or memories. Do you realize so many people have 6-10 totes of just holiday decorations used for just a month or less? Yikes!
I agree about the books-I can't part with most of them! But I've been purging some.
Paper! ug! I went thru just 1 drawer of my file cabinet and my in-box and had about a 1 ft tall pile of paper-seriously! Old catalogs, mags, papers, receipts, etc
It doesn't seem to make a dent but I feel better for it and know that eventually I'll start to see results.
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ann@home
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I have to share this story too. I met a new friend about 4 yrs ago and the first time I went to her home I was amazed at how uncluttered it was. It wasn't just about cleanliness, it was a calm and free of chaos type of home. She had bookshelves full of books and a cabinet full of art supplies, but they were not spilling all over and they had a small area of toys-not piles of them all over.
Even by their bed there was no cluttered nightstands or piles of clothes.
The counters were always clear and there were no overflowing magazine racks or piles of anything. (Like at my house )
It was the most comfortable "feeling" house I had ever been in!
I asked her finally how she did it! How did she stay so uncluttered? She laughed and said while a move across country helped, it was really a conscience effort and a lot of work at first. You really have to train yourself to realize you don't need more art supplies-even if they are on sale, and you only need so many outfits a week so why have 50 shirts?
They thought about toy purchases very carefully and had many waldorf type things that would last a long time and serve multiple ages.
I have strived for this lifestyle ever since. I have not made it yet, it really is hard work! I hate to admit how materialistic I appear to be-mainly with kid stuff. But I'm working on it.
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Ann, Full-time Mama of a 10yr old Lego master, 7yr old DIVA, 4yr old King of the Mountain and one more in June '09!
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LLMom
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I think clothes would be the first to go for us. We have way too many. SO many generous people have given to us but you can wash more, especially for the kids since they grow so fast. A few outfits is all they need.
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Tami
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Theresa, I'm in! We moved a year ago, and had quite a time of it, but what a difference it made to let go of so much.
I learned a lot of lessons from the experience, particularly in the area of simplicity. It has colored/changed my way of thinking about things very much since that time.
I can't get into detail now, because of tending to my dh and family but I will add more at the end of the week. Thursday becomes my Monday, and it is already filling up.
This is so timely for me, Theresa, as we still have a storage room that someone provided, but we now need to have it vacated in a few months.
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God bless,
Tami
When we are crushed like grapes, we cannot think of the wine we will become. (Nouwen)
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Cindy Mac
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I don't have much time to write now, but we are going to be moving soon as well. I started this and it has been a lifesaver for me - someone telling me what to do...gotta love it!
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Mackfam
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I purge yearly (during Lent) - going through every single room of the house with brutality! It is refreshing, and allows us to live uncluttered. It really forces me to think - what is really necessary in this room? Is it simple? Is it serving its purpose (like are there shoes stored in the kitchen?) I find it very liberating to give away so much, and it keeps me detached! I like to work one room at a time.
I have discovered one tool over the past year that has really helped me in pulling it all together - don't know if you already use one or not Theresa, but it might be helpful for you in terms of bringing a few essentials all together. I was really inspired by a post of Kim's at Starry Sky Ranch on her Home Management Book. If you scroll down - look at her right side-bar - she has a whole section of downloads to put together a Home Management Binder. Here's mine. It is a real help in terms of keeping the home organized. All lists go in here, all wants/needs for the house, medical info sheets for all the kids, contacts, family budget, menus, school plans and overviews, I even keep a running list of library books I want to check out and a list of books I want to look for at the used book store that are out of print. The Home Management Book brings all of the essential, important pieces of information together in one place so no matter where you move, your routines are still recorded. Right now, I'm really working on my menu section, and trying to simplify our menus, eliminating all cookbooks (like Stef) and streamlining the kitchen part of the daily duty. Thought I'd mention this tool of Kim's since it has been soooo helpful to me in pulling things together.
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Jen Mackintosh
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amyable
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Great ideas so far!
We are getting pretty radical here - or we are TRYING but time and energy are not always cooperating (along with relatives/friends who send too much our way, lol).
I hope I'm not repeating too much -
If you will have good internet access, you don't even need ONE cookbook. Have a small file with your favorites. Anything else, even questions like "what do I do with this cut of meat?" can be found online when you need it. Better yet, eat simply prepared whole foods and you hardly need recipes. :)
It is OK to miss something you have gotten rid of. That is human nature. That DOESN'T mean you should have KEPT the item. Things can become "part of us" and there can be a grieving process when they are gone.
Especially in the kitchen, think of items that do double duty. Do you really NEED an ice cream scooper (or 4) if you have a spoon? No (unless you have arthritis or something - of course remember your own personal needs). Maybe it makes nicer scoops, but how spoiled is that? "I must have my nicely scooped ice cream or I won't be happy" LOL That being said we do own 2 - I haven't convinced DH yet! You get the point though - you don't need 6 knives if you only ever use 2, you don't need a rice cooker if you have a pot and a stove, etc.
Clothes - track what everyone wears for two or three weeks by always returning freshly cleaned clothes to one side of the closet/drawer. Since we do laundry at least 5 times a week here my girls wind up wearing the same favorites over and over. Other stuff can go!
If you have a source for cheap replacements for clothes(yard sales, end of season consignment sales, etc), keep very little between children, esp. the farther apart in age they get.
Kids don't need many toys - go radical here too. Yes they may complain when you get rid of X, Y, or Z - but your kids complain about plenty of things you make them do, right? You are just being the mom. Take control of your household and do what you need to do.
If I'm having trouble getting rid of something, I think about women in 3rd world countries who live with very little. (Get out a book like Material World by Peter Menzel and see how little people can survive with. And here I am fretting about a pair of shoes I will never wear again (they made me walk funny because they were loose slip-ons - but they are my only black heels, oh no! LOL) I realize how silly I sound about stuff when I think about how little the rest of the world has.
On that note, DO NOT compare yourself to anyone in this country, even for a second, when you are thinking about what you need to keep and what can go. God has gifted/blessed your family with it's own needs, and most of America is thinking not of needs but of wants. Stop looking at TV, stop looking at magazines, stop reading catalogs, and you'll decompress a bit from all that 'gimme gimme' feeling. 
I think the biggest hurdle for some people can be "sentimental value". The sentiment is in your memory, which you will always (hopefully, lol) have, not in the item itself. If you enjoy trips down memory lane, take pictures of the items, or write about them in a journal, then you can just revisit that instead of a large item you don't really need in your house - or many small ones.
Here is my favorite quote to keep my thoughts in perspective. It's from Happy Are You Poor by Thomas Dubay:
Quote:
| "We read in 1John 3:17-18 that if a man has good things and does not share with the needy neighbor, he cannot be loving God. Or as Saint John the Baptist bluntly told his listeners, if you have two tunics, and your neighbor has none, give him one. One may profitably wonder what the Baptist would have said of the man or woman with dozens of outfits in the closet? I hear thunder on the horizon." |
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I also read somewhere recently about being a better witness to the Gospel life if we don't have a ton of STUFF around. You can also care for others better if you are not constantly caring for *stuff*.
I guess I've talked (too much) less on specifics than on mindset, but I think it's mindset that allows each person to do what they need for their individual family, not a prescribed "this is how you do it" that most people will abandon halfway because it doesn't "fit" them. I just try to think of the things above as I go through each room, each item. It really helps.
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Amy
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The Highly Sensitive Homeschooler
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Cay Gibson
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Seems like simplifying and decluttering are hot topics this time of year. I've been wanting to do a grand sweep of my own house...if only real life commitments would quit coming at me long enough for me to do so.
A couple of posts I've read this past weekend:
The Walled Garden: She uses St. Benedict's Rule as a guide.
Titus2Mom discusses: Summer Projects
and
On to the Refrigerator: "I used to feel a bit guilty if I asked the girls to help me with these kinds of projects. The Lord has shown me how beneficial this work is for the girls, and therefore caused me to see it as a blessing in their lives rather than a negative. They are learning to enjoy working. They are being prepared for a future role as a wife, mother, and homemaker. In addition, we have time together and a clean refrigerator that the family notices and comments on."
A Mom's Corner: Benefiting from Summer Chores
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Cay Gibson
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Rachel May
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amyable wrote:
| On that note, DO NOT compare yourself to anyone in this country, even for a second, when you are thinking about what you need to keep and what can go. God has gifted/blessed your family with it's own needs, and most of America is thinking not of needs but of wants. Stop looking at TV, stop looking at magazines, stop reading catalogs, and you'll decompress a bit from all that 'gimme gimme' feeling. |
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A friend I knew in Hawaii went to Australia when we came here. She moved here last week and was sickened by the size of EVERYTHING. She said being away from America fo 4 years was a huge shock and continuing motivation to live simply. Her house echoes.....
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Rachel
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Mary G
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Rachel May wrote:
amyable wrote:
| On that note, DO NOT compare yourself to anyone in this country, even for a second, when you are thinking about what you need to keep and what can go. God has gifted/blessed your family with it's own needs, and most of America is thinking not of needs but of wants. Stop looking at TV, stop looking at magazines, stop reading catalogs, and you'll decompress a bit from all that 'gimme gimme' feeling. |
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A friend I knew in Hawaii went to Australia when we came here. She moved here last week and was sickened by the size of EVERYTHING. She said being away from America fo 4 years was a huge shock and continuing motivation to live simply. Her house echoes..... |
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When we were in Europe -- in a small village -- it was amazing the difference in lifestyle. Clothes don't get washed as often (and are made of better materials), everything is bought to last and be passed on (your could get great things at the local charity flea markets), 'fridges were small so you got fresh stuff every day (except Sunday, when shops were closed  ), kitchen appliances were small in general and you just made do .... when we first moved into the flat, all we had was a 2-ring electric plate (we did eventually get a stove/oven and a microwave, but they thought we were CRAZY!). It truly is amazing what you can do without ...
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MaryG
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St. Ann
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Oh yes, Mary! We too have a small fridge! I have a second small fridge in the basement and a freezer. When I visit my family in San Diego every couple years I am always a bit astonished. I have a long way to go to really have a decluttered, simple home, but I am working on it.
I am working on our basement right now. Charity or trash? That is the question! I need a solution for all of our shoes. I could open up a children's shoe store. I am considering those stackable plastic bins with lids if the lids are on loosely????
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Stephanie
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4Real Forums : Tea and Conversation
Topic: One year to simplicity
