Uncluttered me!

Here it is, Wednesday already.  It felt like a forever day, but at the same time, Wednesdays are usually a good day for me.  Work tends to be busy, and that's ok.  It's also the day a week's worth of work is picked up on the truck - so my entire area feels very clean after he's made the pick up.  And I like that feeling!

Have you ever noticed that sometimes its hard to get ahead of the clutter?  No matter how many times we tell ourselves "If only I was organized enough...."  when in fact, I think that's too difficult because we have too much stuff.  Clutter in our 'space' can make our minds feel overly cluttered too!

It's hard to avoid the fact that to live is to consume.  Our society, our culture, runs on consuming things.  While we can't avoid that altogether, we CAN limit the amount of stuff that comes into our homes.  To do that, we need to rethink our purchases, realizing that they cost far more than the price on the sticker.  Each purchase also requires time and energy once they're inside your home.  Question your purchases; ask yourself if its really needed; ask yourself if there's a place to store it when you get it home; and how much extra work will this possession add to your life? 

If you don't have easy, ready answers -- maybe you shouldn't be buying it!!

I've been on a No Buy code for the month of December.  While all buying can't quite stop, I slowed the process way down.  I did purchase a little outfit for my granddaughter, a shark steam cleaner, and two cabinets for the garage (but only because I had a one time offer of 20% off everything for one day only).  It hasn't been too hard to resist purchasing anything else -- who wants to stand in those long lines?  Ugh!

My plan for January, in order to reduce purchases, is to take an inventory of the canned and dry goods I have on hand, make sure they're not outdated, then plan meals around using up the old stuff before buying any more.  I know there's a box of spaghetti noodles in the cupboard, and a can of sauce, there may even be some meatballs in the freezer.  So there's a meal without having to buy anything (except maybe french bread??  that always goes good with italian meals!)  There are probably some cans of tuna, maybe some elbow macaroni - Tuna Casserole!  Or ... with a little milk, butter and flour, I can make a white sauce and have creamed tuna on toast.  Well, you get the idea.  Time to use up some of the old, and not buy anything for the time being!

Same with the little dabs of lotions, potions and creams in my medicine cabinet  -- use up what's there! I'm betting other women out there have the same kind of problems I do:  I want to try new products to see how well I like them.  But, I'm beginning to think that its better to stay with classic, time tested, tried and true products rather than buying things we aren't sure will work.  Lotion is a good example of that.  I'm not diligent about applying it on a daily basis (and I should be!), and I tend to have several different kinds.  But my last purchase was good old fashioned Jergen's, which I will stay with from now on, and stop buying the "latest and greatest". 

It isn't difficult, once you put your mind to it, to decide to buy less. 
Free up some space, have a place for everything, and get uncluttered!