Christmas is now 3 months past and all traces of twinkling lights and pine needles have been washed away with the spring rain. While the decorations may be packed away in storage bins, we still carry the memories of how we celebrated; how we took the time to appreciate the people in our lives. It is a beautiful thing, that come December every year we are overcome with the spirit of giving. But while all other remnants of the holiday are gone, there is very likely one place in your house where holiday clutter lingers: the bathroom. Why the bathroom? Pause for a moment and reflect on the thoughtful little “Advent Angel” and “Secret Santa” trinkets you received. See where I’m going with this? Homemade soap, lotions, perfumes, peppermint Chapstick and body wash galore! So often the appreciative little gifts equate to a cluttered bathroom come the new year. And why not? It’s a useful gift that is easy to pick out. Everyone uses soap. And if you live in the midwest, you are going to need lotion. The bitter wind is enough to make anyone’s hands chapped. It’s the perfect gift! So what happens when after 5 years of Advent Angels you have an entire linen closet stuffed with leftover holiday toiletries? This week, I decluttered the bathroom and my most overwhelming task was sorting through extra self-care items I’ve accumulated through gift giving. I don’t want to come across as ungrateful. I really do appreciate it when someone takes the time to pick something out just for me. It’s such a kind gesture, but how long do I hold on to these items, knowing I may never use them? The Miscellaneous Bath Products This first step is the largest category, but I tackled them first anyway. Before you even pull out all of the items, I recommend the “List it, Keep it” method. Take a seat and record what you need in your bathroom in terms of daily self maintenance. What is your favorite shampoo and conditioner? What body wash do you use? Do you need a special face wash? What about toothpaste? Is there a particular brand of moisturizer you use daily? Don’t worry about makeup yet. We will get there. For now, just list the basic self-care supplies you need. Then go into the bathroom and pull out EVERYTHING. Only replace the items on your list. What I kept:
And that was all. All together, about 9 items. Let me tell you how many items I had left...over 100. I’m not kidding! So many different varieties of body wash and moisturizers. How many bars of soap from Disney World with imprinted Mickey’s had I collected?! Those that were unopened and high quality I donated. The rest went to the trash. Styling Products and Makeup The next largest category I sorted out was makeup. A true minimalist probably doesn’t use any makeup or styling products. I’m not there yet. Again, I used the “List it, Keep it” method. I sat down and thought about my daily routine. What do I use to get ready? Here is what I kept:
It may sound like a lot, but it all fits in two tiny drawers in my bathroom. I didn’t keep 5 colors of blush and lipstick. Just those that I use everyday. The one exception is that I kept 1 bright red lipstick that I often use when acting in a community theatre production. The rest was tossed. It was way beyond the expiration mark anyway. Bathroom Appliances Tied into a beauty routine is bathroom appliances. Really think about everything you need for your hair. Do you really have to style it every day? If so, great! Do your thing, but maybe you can pare down the items a bit. It turns out I had three curling irons. Three! What I kept (Mostly only used when I have a show I’m working on):
Linens
The easiest category to sort was the linens. Luckily, my aunt Kathy got me a set of turquoise bath towels for my birthday this fall. So, I kept that set and maybe 3 extra towels and the rest I donated! Now my linen closet looks wonderful! I kept a variety of washcloths that I use for cleaning the house in a small turquoise bin right next to the towels. What I kept:
Miscellaneous When cleaning out your bathroom clutter, you will of course come across other items. After all, you probably have to share the bathroom! My best advice is to keep storage separate. I have three drawers, my husband has three. Maybe one shelf in the linen closet is for you, one is for your kids. The Shower One last reminder. You don’t have to keep a million different cleaners on the edge of the tub. If possible, come to an agreement and have everyone in your family use the same shampoo and body wash. Or, have each member of the family use little shower caddies with their supplies. Growing up with 3 sisters, there were always WAY too many bottles of shampoo in the shower. We probably should have gone with a bring-your own in and out or share the one kind method. Happy Spring Cleaning!
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We’ve all seen it: The tupperware commercial where the woman gets attacked by dishes. And we’ve all experienced irrational rage when drawers get clogged with tangled spatulas and measuring cups. So how do you keep a fully functional kitchen without all the crap? Well friends, this is what I’ve learned so far when it comes to a Kitchen Clean-Out. Those of you who know me might be skeptical of this post. ‘You don’t cook!’ You might be saying. Correct, I didn’t cook. BUT, did you see the salmon I whipped up this week? Delish! Just because I’m not an expert cuisine artist doesn’t mean I don’t use my kitchen. Where to start? Mugs and Miscellaneous Cups When cleaning out my kitchen, the first to go were the mugs. Disney world mugs, gifts from students, gifts from other teachers, cups from the Overture Center, cups from the Badger games, etc. I had a double cabinet worth of unused mug-like cups. What I kept in the end:
Next Up, Everyday Dishes I had one rule when I cleaned out my kitchen. Everything must coordinate. It looks better and feels better. So I have enough dishes to serve 4 and enough glasses to serve 6. What I kept: (See the Slideshow below for pictures)
Then, Pots, Pans and Baking I don’t cook a lot, so I can get by with very little. I don’t have special pans and pots for every delicacy. But I found I did have way too many of some items. Do I need three 9” pans? Do I need 3 griddles? I love grilled cheese! But I never make 6 at once. So they went to the donation center! What I kept: (See the Slideshow below for pictures)
All of these items fit in the drawer under the oven or in my white drawers. The Most Important De-cluttering Category
Appliances The true secret to a clean kitchen? Fewer appliances! Nobody needs a food processor, smoothie maker AND a blender! You don’t have to have 4 crock pots. You don’t need a rice cooker if you have a pot. It’s that simple. And two microwaves? Really? Is that necessary? Sort out what you really need. Clearing out the appliances will clear out the kitchen. As you look at each one, ask yourself: What do I cook in this? And, can I cook the same thing in a different item I already have? Some examples: Instead of a panini maker and a countertop grill, compromise with a George Forman. Instead of a pizza cooker and a toaster oven and a 4 piece toaster, keep the toaster for bread, use the real over for the pizza and small dishes. Do you eat waffles every saturday? Fine, keep the waffle iron. But could you make due with pancakes on the griddle? Store what you keep. The best piece of advice I received about keeping a clean kitchen is so simple and so obvious. Once you have decided what to keep, find a cabinet to store it in. The toaster is in the small cabinet with the spices. The blender and the George Foreman are on the bottom shelf in the pantry. The crock pot is in the hidden cabinet on the other side of the peninsula because I only use it once or twice a year. The hand mixer is with the baking supplies. As soon as I am done using the item and it has been cleaned, it goes into the cabinet. It doesn’t live on the kitchen counter, ever. The only one that I keep out is my Keurig, because I use it so often. It has it’s own little counter beside the fridge; a space I never use for cooking prep because it’s opposite of the stove. Other Items in the Kitchen Food Sorting out your non-perishables is going to be easier than you think. Here’s what to do:
Linens/Paper Keep a nice decorative basket in the pantry or in a cupboard to keep hand towels, dish rags, bibs, and table clothes. If you stack them up on the shelf they will inevitably fall over and look terrible. Also, designate a drawer for important mail like bills and W-2s. Never leave it on the counter. When you get the mail, toss the junk and keep only what you must in the drawer. When the drawer is full, it’s time to sort through it all. Kids Stuff I am not a mom, so I don’t know what it’s really like. But is it possible for your child to use the same plastic bowls you do? Do you have to have 10 sippie cups or would 3 do? And do you need to keep all the kiddie dishes and utensils once they get to 4K? They use metal in the cafeteria at that age. The advice I found that made sense to me was this: Designate a kids drawer. Preferably one of the larger bottom ones to keep all of their items. That way you don’t have to try to fit them in the nicer cabinets with your good dishes. (And they can start putting their own dishes away because its in their reach!) How is your closet clean-out going? Need some extra tips? Here you go!
To review from Tuesday's Post, there are 4 primary methods you could use to guide you on your quest for a clean closet: 1. KonMari Method 2. Capsule Wardrobe 3. Project 333 4. Plan it on paper I used the plan it on paper method. Now that you may be mid-way into your closet purge, here are a few bonus pointers. Have fun decluttering! Basic Closet De-Cluttering tips:
Happy Spring Cleaning! Spring cleaning time! Next Monday is the official first day of Spring. Let's get our butts in gear and declutter the house together. For the next month, I am going to tackle a new area of the house each week. Wish me luck! Let me know how your de-cluttering mission is going in the comments. What is a minimalist wardrobe? What does a well-organized closet even look like? These were the questions circling my mind as I browsed the internet, reading endless blogs on minimalist living. My philosophy on buying clothes up until this point in my life has been: ‘the cheaper the better.’ Thrift stores have been my specialty. After all, I was paying off those student loans! But now I see the flaw. When you buy cheap, you buy a LOT. Basic fact: I have too many clothes. And they aren't even high quality! There are a variety of approaches to clearing out a cluttered clothes closet. Everyone has a method they swear by. Below are a few of my favorites. 4 Methods That Helped Me Clean Out My Clothing Closet 1. KonMari Method: The first step in Marie Kondo’s method is taking everything out of your closet and drawers. Build your own clothing mountain. Then, carefully select each item from the pile one-by-one. Hold the piece in your hands and ask yourself, “Does this item bring me joy? Does this item fit?” Ask yourself, “Will I wear this in the next month?” If the answer to any of these questions is no, it goes to the donation center. (http://tidyingup.com/) 2. Capsule Wardrobe: In the blog Unfancy, I learned about this method of keeping your clothing quantities under control. Developed by Susie Faux, the idea is to build a small wardrobe of clothes that all coordinate together. The original idea was to build 5 outfits out of maybe 12 items and that’s it. Others have expanded this limit but the general rules still apply. Rather than a closet of 10 colors, you build a small collection of neutrals with 1-2 accent colors. Or if you love color, you choose a few to focus on and choose pieces that go well together. In all, you have only about 30 items and they all coordinate in a variety of cute outfits. (http://www.un-fancy.com/) 3. Project 333: Similar to the capsule wardrobe, you commit to wearing the same 33 items for 3 months in a row. First, pick your 33 items. This includes clothing, accessories, jewelry, and shoes. Then, put everything else you own away. Lock it up, hide it away. Project 333 is more of a therapeutic and eye-opening experiment since Courtney from Be More with Less doesn't demand that you donate everything else immediately. (http://bemorewithless.com/project-333/) 4. Plan your ideal wardrobe on paper: This was my method of choice. Without even opening your closet or a single drawer, make a list of what you would include in your ideal wardrobe. Split it into categories: What dress pants do you need? What jeans? What dresses? What undergarments? What casual clothing? Write it all out and feel free to add details of specific items from your closet that you know you want to keep. Once you are done documenting everything you feel you need in your wardrobe, begin the purge. My Closet Clean-Out I originally began sorting my closet using the KonMari method, but it wasn’t working. I still had too many things! So I switched to the “Plan your wardrobe on paper” plan. And I loved it! More detail on Method #4: Once you have created your list of ideal items for your wardrobe, take a deep breath and open the doors to your closet to see the wonder of a mess you have created. Take it all in. Appreciate that your closet will NEVER have to look this messy again. And begin. Move everything out of the closet and place it on your bed or in piles on the floor. (This is a good time to dust and vacuum that closet, BTW). Once you have removed every stray sock, replace the items on your list. ONLY the items on your list. No cheating! I recommend printing out your list so that you can mark things off as you go. One by one, put the articles of clothing in their proper place. Once everything has been carefully hung and/or folded, take a look at the mess still cluttering your bedroom. You will be amazed by the number of items left over. Of course, at this point in the clothing purge process you will inevitably come across an item or two that pull at your heart. You immediately gasp as you grab a particularly sentimental item, “Oh I LOVE that shirt, I can’t give it up!” And you clutch the beloved item to your chest. But let’s pause. Ask yourself, if you love this item so much, why did you forget to add it your list? And when is the last time you wore it anyway? If you really do wear it all the time and want it, keep it in there. It’s your closet! It’s your choice. But really consider each extra item carefully. (This may have been the Lorillee Lippincot method but I can’t quite remember where I the initial idea came from. http://lovingsimpleliving.com/) Reality Check Does my closet actually look like this? Most of the time, yes. As mentioned in Entry #2, I am still having trouble getting my laundry routines under control. Usually for a few days there are a few extra items on the floor to the right of what you see in the last image. And I still can't bring myself to actually fold my pajamas after every use. I'll get there. I’m a failure! A true and utter failure. I went into Ash Wednesday with a true determination to change my way of eating. I had a plan and a goal. I was going to be different. And then on Saturday evening I went to the movies...and there was popcorn...and dark chocolate with almonds. Mmmm. My favorite. Oh, if only I had the resolve of someone who knows what they want and goes out and gets it. This trip to the movies was the first of many poor choices this week. I didn’t feel too bad about the popcorn and chocolate (no butter, and dark chocolate, not milk).
How we Paid off $40K in 10 months.“We’re Debt Free!” Ever listened to the Dave Ramsey show? At least once per episode they invite a family who has followed The Total Money Makeover to do their 'Debt Free Scream.' They travel to Nashville for their moment in the spotlight. Some couples are making $120K a year while others are only making $30K and are truly inspiring. The Beginning For Christmas 2012 my husband Ben got a book from his father. The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey. Honestly, I didn’t notice or remember him receiving this gift. But this was around the time that I had to start paying back my student loans. When the time came to pay off the debt, my husband and I sat down and looked at the variety of loans we needed to tackle and wondered: “How much should we pay each month?” With little financial know-how, we decided we might as well consolidate the loans and choose the payment plan that would be the least expensive. It would take 30 years but it wouldn’t be a burden each month. So I started making payments. Enter Dave Ramsey to the Rescue A few months into this process of paying off my loans my husband Ben approached me, “How much are you paying in loans each month, again?” He couldn’t remember where we left it off last time. I reminded him we were just doing the minimum. “Okay,” he said. Long Pause. “Maybe we should try to pay it off faster.” And so our lives changed forever. Ben explained that he had recently read a financial planning book. It was all about getting out of debt so you can live and give like nobody else later in life. I was fine to go along with his idea but once I read the book I was fully inspired. If you haven’t read it, you should. Ramsey’s easy to follow plan matched with really inspiring testimonials is amazing! There are a lot of you who would probably disagree with some of his financial philosophies (no credit cards!) but it’s still worth a read. Why Interest Sucks Once my husband and I actually educated ourselves on how loans really work, we saw clearly the huge importance of interest. I had about $40K of debt. If we took 30 years to pay it off, it would cost us $75 thousand dollars. WHAT?! That’s almost double what I borrowed! So we attacked it. We were able to pay off all forty thousand dollars of my student loans in about ten months. Ben’s dad had graciously paid for Ben’s schooling so mine was all we had. Once we hit that last payment (Right before my 25th birthday!) we were free. Steps we took on the road to financial freedom. 1. We saved $1000 and kept it in savings for emergencies. If you don’t have an emergency fund in place, your entire plan can get derailed when your brakes need replacing or your dog gets sick. $1000 should cover most small emergencies (or at least provide a quick fix until you can save to fix the real issue.) I had about $5000 in savings at the time we started so I kept $1000 and put the rest to the loans. 2. “Plastic Surgery” as Ramsey calls it. We cut up all credit cards we had. I only had one and Ben hadn’t had any. We each kept a debit card to our joint account. 3. We worked extra jobs. And I mean a LOT of them. In addition to working our day jobs we both had a variety of side gigs. (Pizza place, movie theatre, tutoring, summer camps, etc). We each were putting in 80 hours a week for almost a full year. We hardly saw each other for that entire stretch. But I’m telling you, it was worth it. 4. We worked together. This was MY debt. But as soon as we said “I do” it became our debt. We chose to combine our incomes and bank accounts entirely. We worked together to pay the loans off. For the entire year after we graduated college, we lived on what my husband made. His paycheck went towards rent, food, gas, date night, and everything else. I put my entire income toward the debt. I made a payment every two weeks. The money came in, the money went out. Like clockwork. 5. We didn’t buy new cars. We both had junky hand-me downs we got for cheap from other family members. We’re talking '90s rust magnets that you can hear coming a mile away. Ben’s coworkers would literally make fun of him saying “we can always hear when Ben pulls up!” But we stuck with them. He didn’t replace that car until recently (3 years later). When my car broke down the spring after we paid off our debt, we got a ‘96 Accord (which I’m still driving FYI!) Help along the way: My dirty little secret Of course, I couldn’t have done it without another important person. This is a huge factor that I can’t brush over. Throughout this entire process, we were living at my Grandmother’s house. My Grandma started living in Branson, MO full time a few years ago and hasn't sold her Middleton home. Over this stretch of time, we took care of the house for her but we didn’t have a huge rent payment. Just a few hundred dollars a month. This is a big deal. It would have taken us twice as long if it hadn’t been for her generosity. Of course, you can only live off someone else’s generosity for so long before you start to feel guilty. Once we had the loans paid off and had saved a down payment, we got our own place. All in all we were at my Grandma’s house for about two years.
Reality Check I understand that we were really lucky to come across the Dave Ramsey Plan early on. We didn't have a house, kids, or car payments yet. Most people who do the Total Money Makeover aren't like us. So if you found yourself rolling your eyes at my post because we had an easy start, read The Total Money Makeover. It is possible to find financial peace, no matter how deep a hole you've dug yourself into. Extra Resources: The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey http://www.daveramsey.com/get-started/debt https://www.rachelcruze.com/topics/category/debt-free-living Mary Ann Raemisch Vlog: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkZPM-kedLUiSkdry583bCQ/featured |
My name is Kendra and in 2017, I'm giving minimalism a go. Follow me as I work to declutter my house, my diet and my finances.
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