**this is a picture of what we gathered up yesterday, take note of our hamper repaired with duct tape that saved us a few bucks lol
Declutter
We took on a
HUGE endeavor, purging our house. This
took ONE WHOLE YEAR! It took this long because we have touched every item we
have.
Today is a
great day to start. I am doing a re-visit today. Before the Christmas items get put away, I
will decide if all the holiday things truly bring me joy. There are some ornaments on our tree that
no longer bring me joy, and I plan to
get rid of them.
To make room
on my bookshelves, all of our knick knacks were packed away. As I put them out
to their year long spots, I will see if they bring me joy.
I don’t know
about you, but I was guilty of buying a few gifts that just weren’t necessary.
My husband really doesn’t want the Toronto Maple Leafs gumball machine. We will sell it. Ask your kids if they received anything that
they don’t think that they will play with. My kids got a few things that they
don’t think they will use, and I returned them to the store a few days
ago.
To some of you reading this post, you
may think this is harsh. We try really hard to use the things we have. We don’t want to be tripping over items or moving
things to clean that we don’t even like. We have all been there, by March the
kids have so many toys they don’t even play.
As you put
away laundry, take a check on how many pairs of PJS you have, or sets of sheets
etc. I noticed that one of my kid’s had
4 sets of sheets. THAT’S CRAZY! This is after I thought we purged
everything!
Take a
laundry basket and go through your house and challenge yourself to fill it up.
I was extremely motivated to do this by the
possibility of financial gains. I had a
goal to sell $5 of items a day. Do the math, that’s $1825 a year! That is more than one month’s mortgage
payment as an extra payment. The goal was achieved and then some! I tracked how
much money was in the jar in my day planner.
Less stuff to move when cleaning was a fringe benefit.
As I touched
each item, I asked myself if the item serves a purpose, or brings me joy. If the answer to these questions was yes, it
stayed, and if not, away it went.
This is a
great way to build up your Emergency Fund or make some extra payments to pay
down debt.
No item was
safe. There is a great documentary I recommend if you need a little motivation
on Netflix
http://www.theminimalists.com/netflix/
Join Guess Who's Cheap on Facebook, and on
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