Reverse Shopping

One of my resolutions this year was to de-clutter my house to the extreme while avoiding bringing new items in. By de-cluttering, I mean I want things OUT of my house for good - not just packed up into storage. When we pack things away, we aren't getting rid of the problem; we're only shuffling it to a new location and hiding it in a container.

A lot of people suffer buyer's remorse when it comes time to part with items. We have those pangs of guilt -
"But I spent my hard-earned money on it!"
"I needed it at the time."
"I might need it again!"
All of those may be true, but so what? I suffered from all of those claims, and I finally came to several realizations. That money is already gone, you don't need it anymore, and if you do need it again, you can probably scrounge up another one.

Right now my family is very blessed by the fact that my husband has a secure job with a predictable paycheck, but we've been through enough times when that wasn't the case, so I hate the idea of wasting money, especially when I've already spent it. Rather than donate half the contents of my house, I decided to sell what I could to try to earn back some of what I'd spent. I call it "reverse shopping," and it's become rather addictive.

I used to do the standard yard sales - load it all up on tables, mark it cheap, and watch it get hauled away. But in the past couple of years, I've discovered Facebook garage sales. I just have to photograph everything, list it with a price, and meet the buyer who claims it. So far my transactions have been very smooth, and over 2 years, I've had about 300 transactions. I usually meet people at the grocery store, or if I know them, they stop by my house. I get more publicity since there are 11,000+ people in the garage sale group, and I can get a better price, especially for new items or groups of similar items.

I'm not money-hungry though, so I don't sell everything. In fact, I give a lot away to family and friends. I have also donated a lot to help local organizations. I'd rather see things really help someone than for me to get a few bucks from it. Selling so much has also helped me really learn the difference between "need" and "want," so items I think people may "need" often get donated first.

So how is this affecting my house? I've been clearing out every room and making space. I've even tackled the storage rooms I used at my parents' house, and I've cleared out almost everything from there except some Christmas decorations and baby clothes. And I haven't missed a thing. I had so much stuff that wasn't used on a daily basis, that I never fully realized I had it anyway. Now I'm down to a select number of clothes and kitchen utensils, and I use what I have every day. If it's in our house, it has a value. This reverse shopping has also helped decrease my desire to go out for conventional shopping. I don't want to bring things into my home if there's a possibility I'll have to get rid of it later.

How do you get rid of your things? Do you sell or donate?

Prairie Style (Lack of) Shopping

One of my new year's resolutions was de-clutter my home "to the extreme," and I've been doing just that. For years now, I've been doing annual de-cluttering sessions in my home to get out all the excess. But just as soon as I clear it all out, it starts piling back up. This year is different. This year I'm breaking the cycle by preventing things from coming in while I'm sending them out.

Why am I de-cluttering? After all, my house is pretty tidy, and it's pretty small, so we don't have junk rooms or junk drawers because every square inch of our house has to be usable. I am de-cluttering for a move towards simplicity because I feel like my life is ruled by stuff. Sometime around the new year, I realized that a good portion of my time is devoted to buying, cleaning, and putting away stuff. A lot of it is stuff I don't need.

How did I get all of this stuff? Shopping. I love(d) shopping. My mother and I used to hit clearance sales ever week. Nothing gave me a greater thrill than finding clothes 75% off and dishes 90% off. Who could refuse such bargains?  After all, I used coffee cups on a daily basis and wore clothes everyday, so I'd put everything to good use, right?

Wrong.

I had 20 coffee cups in the cabinet, and we barely used over half of them. Clothes would get worn just a few times. Christmas decorations never got used because I had too many. These things weren't "needs," so I didn't make much of an effort to ensure they got used.

About a month ago, I had a revelation. While falling asleep one night, I had the phrase "you need less but you need more" on my mind. I don't remember hearing this anywhere, and honestly, I'm not sure if God implanted it my head or if it was just my subconscious dwelling on some things I'd read, but either way, I knew God would agree with it. I had placed too much emphasis on stuff in my life and I had ignored how it affected my family. I should have recognized there was a problem when Prairie Girl always requested to go to Wal-Mart when I asked her what she wanted to do for fun.

I'm taking steps to reduce my shopping habit. I try to only go shopping one day a week, and on that day, I try to visit as few stores as possible. When I go into a store, I have a list and the necessary coupons in hand. That list has been carefully prepared at home and only includes things we don't have at home and things we need. We have a running list of things we want, and we're taking time to contemplate the and find the true need for them. Currently on that list are things like stainless steel water bottles, a couple of books, and dress pants. I don't spend time lingering in stores either. I get what I need and get out. Looking at things may not be the same as buying them, but too many times I have found myself coveting dishes or dresses, and that's not something I want to do.

So far I've drastically cut down my shopping. I've only bought absolute necessities like food and medicine. We haven't bought toys or clothes or gadgets. I even returned some things that I'd bought before Christmas because I realized we didn't need them. The great news is, we haven't suffered a bit. Since I've been spending less time shopping, we've spent more quality family time together. Instead of shopping, Prairie Girl and I have worked on projects, watched movies together, and cooked together. And Prairie Dad loves that we're not spending every weekend at a mall.

Something else has happened since I cut back on shopping. I've realized how much we have that we don't need. And as less stuff comes in, more stuff is going out, probably because I don't have new stuff covering up the old stuff. I'm simplifying routines and routines are becoming easier. We're discovery how, much like people who lived on the prairie, we don't need multiples of a lot things, and there are a lot of things we just don't need at all.

Bringing home lots of stuff did not bring us happiness. Time is bringing us happiness. More time is what we needed. Time to love, time to laugh, and time to live.

Where is my Underwear?

Before: Too much stuff that not in its proper place

I de-clutter my house at key times in the year. I do one good sweep at the beginning of the year so I feel more prepared for new possibilities. But I don't dive in and do it all at once. I start with small projects that can be effective yet done quickly.

This time around, I decided to start with the chest of drawers in my bedroom. It's all mine, so I can go through it by myself and rather quickly. I like to start at the top and work my way down. The top drawer is devoted to my underwear, slips, socks, perfume, and the phone and iPad chargers since the drawer is next to the outlet.

When I opened up the drawer, I found a HUGE mess. Despite my organizers, nothing was in place, and there were things there that didn't belong. Not to worry though! I have an easy way to sort through these kinds of situations.

1. Empty the drawer - Get everything out, wipe down the drawer, and replace the organizers to start with a clear workspace.

2. Purge the unnecessary items - It was easy to pick out things that didn't belong - Scentsy cubes, birthday cards, hair bows. Next came things that were worn out like old gym socks. Finally came things that don't fit. Since I have lost so much weight, I had to eliminate some underwear and slips.

3.Only replace what fits - Folding makes a big difference. I love the Youtube videos from Linda Koopersmith, the Beverly Hills Organizer. If things are properly folded, they can fit in the organizers. Organizers also help you know when you have too much. My sock organizer holds 32 pairs, so if is overflowing, I know I have too much.

After: Tidy and de-cluttered. Everything fits!

4. Carry it all away - Things that belong in other places were promptly put away. Things I discarded went in a donation bag. Now don't lose it here - I don't expect anyone to wear my old underwear. But I do know of a local thrift store that recycles anything they can't sell. Fabric can be recycled, and I'd rather see it go on to a new life than go in a dumpster.

When I was finished, I was happy that I'd worked on my resolution to de-clutter and simplify. Now I know what I have and where it is, and I know that I don't need to buy anything, so I won't be tempted when I see pretty fuzzy socks on clearance.

Take 10 minutes, and go de-clutter a drawer!

Confessions of a Sale Addict

I don't want to look like this anymore!

I have too much stuff. Way too much stuff. It's not that my house is overflowing with knick knacks or that my closets won't shut - I just can't handle clutter very well, and if something isn't used a lot or loved, it's clutter to me. Now I consider myself an expert at de-cluttering - I've even taught classes on it. I can clean out a closet and organize it in no time. But that's only the solution to the problem.  I need to get to the root of my problem: shopping. Or more specifically, clearance sales.

I love a good sale. I love finding nice things 75% or 90% off the original price. And that's another thing of which I consider myself an expert. I know when and where all of the seasonal sales are, I know which stores have the best selections, and I know how to use a coupon to get something even cheaper. I once found myself in Target wheeling out 3 carts full of toys for my daughter and niece, and I paid less than $100 for a lot of nice things. Key words: a lot.

My house already has everything I need, so why am I always on the hunt for more? Because it's a thrill. I feel like I've won a battle if I can get a Christmas wreath that was originally $30 for just $7.50. But I do I need it? No. I don't. I have boxes full of Christmas decorations. I don't need more sheets, frying pans, candles, blankets, or picture frames. My daughter doesn't need any more toys, and my husband doesn't need any more video games. And yet I return to the stores because that's what I've always done for fun. But it's time to stop.

I've de-cluttered my house more times than I can count. And I'll do it again this year. But here's the difference. This year I pledge to buy less so the de-cluttering will remain effective. I know, easier said than done. But here's how I'm going to do it:

Limit my shopping trips. If I'm not in a store, I can't buy things. Like many people, I run to the store if I'm out of 1 or 2 things. Unless it's a true emergency, like if Prairie Girl needs medicine, I'm going to limit my store errands to once a week.

Make lists of needs and wants. I'm going to list what we really need in the house and what I want. If we need something and it's on the list, I won't feel guilty buying it. If I just want something, I'm going to wait and think about it.

Ask myself questions. For each item that is on the "want" list, I'm going to ask myself 3 questions: 1) How will I use it? 2) Do I already own something like it? 3) Will I use it/keep it for a long time?

This mission isn't about money. I believe in in living frugally and saving money, but this is about clutter versus simplicity. Simplicity makes me happy. Cleaning, moving, and storing stuff, no matter how cheap it was, doesn't make me happy.

As the year progresses, I'll check in and let you know what I'm doing instead of shopping. I know my family is excited about the prospect of free Saturdays and fewer Wal-Mart trips. Now surely I'm not the only one with too much stuff. What about you?

The Dead Dishwasher

Of all the things I've ever discussed on Facebook, I never would have imagined that my dishwasher would be one of the more controversial topics. About 2 weeks ago, my dishwasher died. We've had it about four years, and the poor thing has never sounded quite right. It's always chewed, coughed, sputtered, and groaned its way through every load, and it got worse every time. Since I am always on a mission to de-clutter and simplify my life, I contemplated not replacing but just removing it and finishing out the area for extra storage. And therein lies the controversy. How can a person live without a dishwasher?

The answer is: very easily.

Before giving my husband my official answer on whether we'd buy a new one or not (because that would be more cost effective than repairing the current one which was our first choice), I decided to take a trial period on handwashing. Upon announcing this to my personal Facebook feed, I was met with an outcry of diverse feedback. The dishes won't be clean, it will take too much time, I can use it as bonding time time with family who helps, it will be more efficient. I never realized dishwashers could create such love 'em or leave 'em attitudes. I decided to do my own research and tests, and this is what I found:

Research results
1. There is no universal consensus on which is more effective for cleaning dishes. There are too many variables on water temperature, soap, water usage, cleaning time, etc. It also depends on the electric dishwasher and person being compared.
2. There is also no consensus on which method is more green. Again, there are too many variables.

An evening's dishes on the drying mat

Home test results
1. My dishes look cleaner. There aren't bits of food dried on to the plates or rust spots on my utensils. I don't have to re-wash anything.
2. I find handwashing to be rather relaxing. A little Pandora radio and I am all set to listen and enjoy. It remind me of my childhood when my job was to clean up our kitchen. It was a mental break that I loved, and I find I still do.
3. My kitchen is cleaner. Even when I used to run the dishwasher, I still had things I had to handwash like my daughter's special character plates, bakeware, stoneware, and cookware. Many times I'd just leave them setting around for a day or two, especially if I was running the dishwasher because I couldn't get enough water pressure for the sink if I tried to do both at once. Now I just wash up everything at once.
4. It made me de-clutter my kitchen - again. When you wash everything right after you use it, you find you don't need as much. Before, we'd go through 6 or 7 coffee cups in two days because they kept winding up in the dishwasher waiting to be cleaned. Now we have 2 or 3 at most in the sink, and usually it's just one. So I went through all of my dishes and utensils and narrowed it down.
5. My electric bill has gone down. We track our weekly electricity usage online, and while I'm not sure just how much the dishwasher contributed, I do know our bill has dropped by several dollars and all other usage factors are pretty stable.
6. I haven't seen a bug in a week. The thing I really hated about using a dishwasher is that it usually had dirty dishes in it instead of clean ones. There are only 3 of us in the house, so we never used a lot of dishes to begin with, and it would take 2 or 3 days to make a full load. This attracted bugs who saw the dishwasher as a buffet. Since I stopped saving up dirty dishes, my kitchen has been bug free.

Overall, I feel like eliminating the dishwasher has simplified my life. Honestly, I only missed it once, and that was during a family holiday dinner. But we only have those dinners about 6 times a year, so I think I can handle the extra dishes those six times. I know going without a dishwasher isn't for everyone, and I would never suggest someone voluntarily give theirs up. But I would like for everyone to ponder something: how many of our modern appliances are really needed? Could our lives possibly be better without them?