Unclutter

I want to share this post from Becoming Minimalist. It is simple, true, and focused.

I had a large pile of things to get rid of just sitting in the corner of our bedroom. Sure, I felt somewhat accomplished because I had sorted it out to be things that we no longer needed, but there it sat and I did nothing with it. Was I going to sell it or give it away? I hadn't thought that far ahead. I kind of wanted to sell it - I mean, it was in fine condition - but that was going to take some work and I just couldn't find the time to sit down and take care of two boxes and one garbage bag full of things. It was on my mind every time I entered our bedroom and I didn't like that. Your bedroom is supposed to be a place to relax and forget about everything else that needs to be done. The pile was not helping.

Then last week, I found a flyer on the front door from an organization who was going to be coming through the neighborhood in a few days and they wanted donations of clothes, household items, toys, anything. And all I had to do was set them on the front porch to be picked up. So I did. I kept a few items that I wasn't totally sure that I wanted to just give away, but most of it went out on the porch on Tuesday. By the evening, it was all gone. Gone from my life and gone from cluttering up my bedroom. By next Tuesday, I'm going to revisit the five or so items I kept out and decide if they are really worth attempting to sell, or if I would prefer to just get them out of my house. And it feels great. My bedroom no longer stresses me out and I really do feel free.

The Car and Debt Issue

One thing that I always hear about living simply in a financial sense is to drive an older, paid-for car. I do this. The car I drive was made when I was 7 years old. We have no car payment on it and that's a great thing to not have to worry about. However, my car WILL die and probably within the next couple of years. Here's where I start thinking that a car payment wouldn't be such a bad idea, and I'll tell you why.

1) Maintenance on the car can end up costing more than the car is really worth. The radiator exploded about a year ago - and I do mean exploded. There was fluid shooting out of any part under the hood where it could escape. We paid for a replacement, which ended up costing only $200 less than the car is currently worth.

2) The car continues to act up in various ways. It will occasionally sound as though metal is grinding, or there's a belt slapping against something. It will sometimes shudder its way down the road, or the engine will simply turn itself off when I come to a stop. Sometimes when I step on the gas pedal, the car will hesitate and then rush forward. Sure...that's totally safe. These things are never constant and the car rotates through which issue its going to have one at a time. These things make me wonder if, when I turn on the engine, it will be the last time it ever runs. I also refrain from driving anywhere in this car that isn't in our immediate area because I'm afraid the car will die and I will be stranded an hour away with two small children.

3) It is a gas guzzler. This car is a beast - which is probably way its lasted as long as it has, but seriously....."road boats" do not get the best gas mileage. Even the minivan that we rented for a trip got better gas mileage than my station wagon. Not cool, man.

4) There's no air conditioning, it has a terrible turn radius, and it is old. Not exactly the most stylish for a hip, young mom on the go. Now, these are selfish and are not reasons to buy a new car (unless you live in in Texas or Arizona or somewhere where you really do need AC in your car).

So here's the dilemma: Do we wait until the car kicks the bucket? Or do we avoid the most likely inevitable event of the car dying mid-intersection and purchase while it still runs? This is one instance where living simply gets a little tricky.

Some Simple Changes

So I'm slowly learning (and I do mean slow - I've had this blog for over a year now), that I really need to schedule blog posts if I want them to done regularly. If I don't, I just end up with a gigantic pile up of pictures and notes about projects and then it becomes overwhelming to tackle. For now I'm going to jump right in with three simple things that I've done - two are organizational, one is decorative and was a fun way for me to put my Pinterest time to good use. :-)

My first little change was done after yet another attempt at cleaning out my beauty items. "When did I buy this?", "Did this always smell this way?", "I wonder how long is too long to keep foot cream?", etc, etc. So I found a list of the standard shelf life for common beauty items and printed it out (you can find it here at Real Simple). I then found a clear sleeve from an old binder, put the list in, put double sided tape on the back of the sleeve, and attached it to the inside of one of the cabinet doors under my sink. I also have begun writing down the month of purchase for each item so its easier to keep track of how long they've been in there. Easy peesy! And now I feel completely at ease rubbing lotion on my face because I know exactly how long I've owned it.

The second change required my hubby's help, but it took maybe an hour out of his day. I've always hated my spice cabinet. And when I say spice cabinet, I mean cabinet next to the stove with all of our spices tossed in. While I like the idea of a spice rack, I don't have that much counter space and any wall space that could be usable for a wall mounted one really can't be considered part of the kitchen. 

But then I realized that there was some space under the microwave. Hmm. So I had the hubs grab a piece of leftover wood from a former project, cut it the correct length, sand it, and paint a clear coat on it. Once it had dried for 24 hours or so, he screwed the board into the bottoms of the cabinets on either side. Viola! Little spice shelf. It's right there where I need it, I can find everything immediately, and dare I say that our food has become more flavorful ever since? Turns out being able to actually find the spices is pretty important if you want to use them. As the glass spice jars become empty, I've been cleaning them to peel the brand labels away. I am so excited to create clear labels for them all! It will be cute, clean, and standard - and my OCD will love it. 

Here's the third item and something that I had tons of fun doing. Maybe you've seen that DIY gigantic ruler on Pinterest? Not only is it a fun decor addition, but a great way to measure your kids' height and keep it forever. I decided to make one. Once again, I took a piece of board from a former project and had the hubby cut it into the right length (I chose 6 ft for mine), and then sand it down.

 There it is. Waiting to be turned into something fabulous.

I carefully measured out each inch (I did begin the measurements a little over 1 ft and then ended it a little over 6 ft, based upon where it was going to be hung on the wall), stenciled in the numbers, and then filled everything in with black craft paint. After it dried, the hubby used a stain that brought out the beauty and natural grain of the wood.

And there it is. I am happy knowing that I made that and it's a unique addition to our home decor.

The littlest things really can make a big difference.