I'm torn right now between frugality and cleanliness; a minimalist lifestyle. I'm serious.
Maybe you all have some helpful insight for me?!?!?! Please?
I grew up in a hoarder home. My husband and I have inherited THREE lifetimes of "stuff" from relatives of his that have passed away. Minus things that other relatives of ours wanted.
My husband is the only child of his divorced/ single father who passed away from Leukemia a few years ago. His dad lived in a small trailer but he was also a rather OCD collector of antiques so we inherited a LOT of things; some very nice, some very valuable, all of which there's not much use for in our home. (I say all of that but I'm not able to get rid of any of these things as they do belong to my husband and they are what he has left of his dad so... it's case closed).
What I do have some control over is all of his grandparent's stuff that's still scattered all around our home more than 10 years after we purchased it. We bought his grandparents house, the house they built in the early 1940's. His mom grew up here. The home has always been in his family. But when his grandparent's passed and we purchased the house his family only took what they wanted and everything else stayed. I can hardly complain about this as I am quite frugal and I delight in being able to use, for example, very old measuring cups that just so happen to have been in my kitchen as opposed to buying new ones when my set broke (the kitchen was pretty much fully stocked with all sorts of old utensils that I use to this day). I've been able to sell some things on esty, old cups and glasses that now have some value. As you know if you've read through my blog I find things of use around the house, a giant old box of trash bags that enabled me to not buy trash bags for a year, bins for container gardens or flower pots, you name it, I've been finding use for random nonsense.
I read posts about de-cluttering, clearing out the waste, minimalist living; I LOVE these ideas. Because I grew up in a hoarder home the thought of a semi-empty house, all clean and clutter free, and cute and simple just makes my heart do happy leaps and giggle with glee (yes, my heart can giggle). But, we have all this stuff, stuff I've wrangled with the idea of unloading for years. Now maybe some tub or bin in my basement won't be useful to me for another three years BUT three years from now when I need it I won't have to buy one if I already have one. <- See the hoarder-ish logic there? But I'm absolutely not acquiring any new things, so it's not like I'm hoarding things myself.
The minimalist in me just wants to get rid of everything and live a simple life. I don't even like stuff. The frugalista in me wants to keep everything exactly where it is for the day in my life when it will become of use. I guess, in writing this post I'm realizing that maybe what I need is to just be more organized, to go through EVERYTHING and put everything in it's place. Maybe have a spot, ONE spot (like not scattered all over my entire home) for "future use" stuff and respective homes for currently useful things. I think I'm just super unorganized. Balance... right? I need to learn how to be me, a frugal minimalist with the free spirit of an artist. I can be an adult and be all those things together, right?
I think I can, I think I can, I think I can...
Now, you have to take what I say with a grain of salt - I am the total OPPOSITE of a hoarder - because of how I grew up, I don't put value on "things" like other people do (I wish I did, but in my house if my mother found out you liked something it suddenly got "ruined", "broken", etc.) BUT.....that being said - how long have these things been in the house and have you ever had a need to use them? What do they say, if you have something over a year and don't use it, let it go?
ReplyDeleteBut again, I am not attached to anything except my husband and my kids....I tease my husband who is an avid photographer and has photos back 40 years that we are going to have a big bonfire when he is gone.....he doesn't find me amusing :)
Right, I've been wanting to do like "they say" for awhile now.
Delete"Hm, have I used this in the past year?"...
But now I'm starting to wonder if my values line up with "theirs." Like most people would say, "it's only three dollars. Just get rid of that thing which is taking up space and three years from now when you find you need it it's only three dollars." But I'm now at a point where I think I value the $3 (very figuratively speaking) more than the space the thing is taking up. And then my conflict comes from wanting simplicity in my home; a minimalist sort of atmosphere.
I'm really re-thinking things right now. I've always dreamed of living in this quaint very simple home. But maybe that's not really entirely what I want. Ah, inner feelings, coupled with marketing, online stimuli, pinterest, other bloggers telling you how life should be, how life is better, or best... hmmm...
People can give you all kinds of advice (I'm great at GIVING it), but ultimately you have to do what is best/right/helpful for you and your family!!!
ReplyDeleteP.S. I really would have a bonfire with the photos but my daughter said she would take them so they are safe :)
haha! I'm glad she's going to rescue your hubby's photos for him someday.
DeleteI'm actually the one who got to "hold onto" all of my grandmother and grandpa's photos when they passed away. Which, actually is odd because they have a million kids and grand and great grand kids. I guess no one else showed interest in all the photos. I love having them though. Gee, I am a hoarder :) Just joking! I love having so much of my families history at my finger tips. The old photos are so special.
Introducing myself to you via the Federation! I look forward to reading your blog.
ReplyDeleteThis year I have a goal of giving away one box of small items or one large item weekly to try and get rid of the excess. I have been really good about doing it, but it seems my stuff is procreating in the closets and attic.
Hey HEY a fellow blooger! Thanks for the visit.
DeleteI think I'm trying to figure out my goals right now. I'm going to just start getting rid of stuff that for certain I won't need, like books we have that I will not read again, and stuff like that.
Good post as I think that is the dilemma so many face. Me, I know It is more disorganization because chances are I won't find it three years from now if I need it anyway at this rate.
ReplyDeleteThanks. 'm really brainstorming right now. I do think I'm realizing that I don't want to just purge so much as I'd been dreaming of but I think organization is the key. That is where I need to start for sure!
DeleteI'm a long time reader (aka lurker, sorry!) of your blog posts. I just wanted to say I'm in the same boat as you on this topic. I hold onto stuff that I think I might need, "just in case. Sometimes I go through periods of decluttering, but then stuff accumulates, particularly stuff related to events, birthday cards, event tickets, etc. And I hold on to a lot of that stuff. I think you're right that it's all a matter of balance. The one thing that I gladly admit that I do "hoard" in a sense is books. They're not stacked so high they'll fall on me, or that you can't see the floor, but lets just say I have far more of them than I can read in a reasonable amount of time. :)
ReplyDeleteWell I'm glad to have you "lurking"
Delete:)
I personally feel like books are a good thing to keep around. I mean, just the idea of having your own small library is such a romantic idea of sorts. I'm really struggling to hit a balance when it comes to holding on for what if and letting go because it's just too much but I think books are a safe place for me to start because I have quite a few books I got several years ago that I really no longer want. If I do not have the desire to read it again I don't think it needs to live with me any longer (and my husband does not read).
I hold on to tickets to but I'm getting better at getting rid of cards at least.