The purge

Before I get into my massive garage sale, I wanted to say thank you, thank you for reading this at all. And thank you to all of my friends that have messaged me, snapped me, or texted me and showing your support! You guys honestly don't know how much it means to me to know that you like my blog and that my words are meaning something to you. It seriously makes my day, every time!

Okay! So...the sale. *THE* sale. Guys, I did good. I got rid of SOOOO much stuff. I knew I had a lot. I knew it would be a huge sale. But I was honestly still just in shock when I had it all laid out in front of me. Cory and I spent last Friday setting up for it. We had to borrow so many tables from neighbors and family members...and we still ended up having to lay a lot of things on the ground, we just had way too much.

I'll be honest, I hate having a garage sale. I get frustrated every single time. I know people go to garage sales looking for the absolute best deal possible, but it can get old when you have something that you spent $30 on, marked for a dollar, and someone says "Would you take 50 cents?" (insert eyeroll emoji)

I used to not entertain those offers out of annoyance. Because I was stubborn and thought "for 50 cents, I might as well keep it!" Not this time. This time, I was giving things away! haha. Every kid that came to my sale was offered a small toy (or even a large one). I was surprised at how many sweet little kids said "no thank you" when I offered them any hotwheel of their choice...and I actually loved their style! haha. A kid after my own heart...not bringing home something because it didn't excite them! Good for you, first grader!

I took almost any offer on anything. Most things were only a dollar, no matter how much I had spent on it. It was more about getting those things out of my house than money. Money was just a bonus (a $400+ bonus!!) I took fifty cents on plenty of things that would have normally made me want to punch someone for having the nerve to offer so little. I gave the biggest discounts to people that bought the most of my clutter. You want 19 pairs of shorts crammed in your dresser?? BY ALL MEANS...TAKE THEM!


Prepping for the sale was a headache, I am not going to lie. My house was ripped apart for a solid two weeks before the sale. Clothes were everywhere as I tried to go through them and still do laundry and still function in other areas of my life. Also not going to lie about the fact that my house still isn't clean. Plenty of things that didn't find a home yet are on my counter. And every morning I tell myself that today is the day I am going to officially find it all a home, but then I have to work and manage my rugrats, so it just hasn't happened. But everyday, I am a little closer to being done!

There were moments of just absolute terror when I opened totes that were stuffed with clothing that I had, for whatever reason, decided time and time again that I couldn't part with. Maybe it was too small, too big, not in season, whatever. And it was all just sitting in my garage. Obviously, I hadn't been missing anything in these totes, since the existence of these clothes was a surprise to me when I pulled the lid off. This sale was different. It all went. It all needed to go. No matter what reason I had for storing it away before, it didn't matter this time.

G O O D B Y E

One tote is worth mentioning. I pulled the lid off and I just couldn't believe it. There must have been at least 40 pairs of VS shorts in there. After my weight loss, I am sure most would fit me again, but I took one look at them and knew that this was a moment that I needed to just decide to let it all go. The thought that at one time, all of those shorts were shoved into my dresser was just mind-boggling, and I knew that if I wanted shorts, I could go buy a couple of new pairs that really excited me, and I could keep it simple. Get one or two pairs. Not FORTY. So, in a way, it was like a reset button. It was me saying goodbye to those clothes and the feeling of having all of those clothes. And it felt so good. I got rid of every single pair. Most sold at the sale for $1-2. A handful ended up in one of the two trips to the DMV after the sale ended. It all felt good. it was out of my way!

And let's talk about the feels. It felt good to give a child a toy. It felt good to see teenagers buy really nice name brand clothing for next to nothing. They were excited about the things that had been shoved in a corner of my garage for years. They would wear that VS tank top to the gym and get compliments, and that was good for me. There was one lady who came and bought a pair of flats and a little VS coin purse from me. She came back later in the day with her daughter...her daughter must have been 8 or 9...and she was already wearing the flats, and paid for more shoes with her own money, that she pulled out of the coin purse her mom had bought from me earlier. That coin purse was a freebie YEARS ago for spending x amount of dollars, and it had sat in it's original packaging in a drawer that whole time. And there it was, a bright and shiny pink...and she LOVED it. That was oddly good for me to see.

Also, the friends that came over and bought sacks full of my clothes or my kids' clothes, it was so good for me. To know that they really wanted it or even needed it...and that I could help in a small way, was so good for my heart. It felt good. And I hope they all love the stuff they got from me.

I got rid of probably 6 of those big yellow trash bags (you know the ones the kids sell?) FULL of just my clothes. Either sold or donated. Don't miss any of it!

There is a stack to the bottom left, that's all one size of shorts. I was crazy! haha. And SO many baby clothes

Just look at all of that stuff! This was early in the sale. I took the picture before people started showing up. I had even more that I hadn't brought out yet. 

Thanks for reading!

Before- Bedroom

Okay, I'll be totally honest, this isn't even a legit "before" since I had already purged some stuff from our room. (Mostly clothes in the closet so far) And this was after picking up obvious junk that was just laying around our room. This is our room on a good day. Pretty embarrassing. I hate our bedroom. We bought paint, painter's tape, new curtains and rods, and tons of other stuff because we were going to completely remodel it. As you can see, that never really happened. Two kids is what happened. And all of that stuff that we bought has just been sitting around, waiting for it's chance to shine. The walls are mostly bare because I didn't want to hang anything until everything was painted and ready. So it's cluttered with stuff, but not decorated...worst of both worlds.

Look at all this stuffffffff. 

The saucer is needed if I ever want to take a shower! haha

I made that vanity. I was so proud of it. Spent a ton of money on little clear storage cases to organize my massive amount of unused makeup. PS: I still just use my essentials that all fit into a small bag. 

Had Cory put a rack up a couple years ago, because I had that many scarves. Seeing this shows me how much more work I have to do. They all need to go! And that poor jewelry box is about to bust open! (ask me how often I even wear jewelry...and when I do, it's always just a baby teething necklace)

But I have a goal...and that goal is to FINALLY get this room looking more comfortable. More finished.

Like I said, there was already some things purged, if you can imagine, I used to have even more scarves. There is still vacuum-sealed storage bags of clothes under the bed that I haven't even got to yet. There are things that just make me want to cringe when I see...books that really should be somewhere else, sunglasses that I have dusted more than worn, makeup that has never been opened. It all needs a home, either in my house or somewhere else. But it's gotta GO!

My goal is to just have one dresser, that Cory and I share. I used to use SEVEN drawers (the dresser was all mine and I used one of the drawers in Cory's chest of drawers, too). Can you just think about that for a minute?? Haha. I had SO much stuff that I couldn't fit it in a large dresser and half of a full size closet??

W H Y ?

Why did I need it all? No idea. Looking back, I can actually remember a lot of purchases. I can remember thinking "Oh, that's cheap!" or "I could use one more tank top." But it was all just stuff in the end. I used it once or not at all. If I did the math on all of these clothes, I am 100% sure I could have taken a vacation to Australia with that money. And that honestly just breaks my heart. I could have seen a new part of the world, I could have had those memories...instead I have too many yoga pants and some tanks with tags still attached. *eyeroll*

Lesson learned though. I'm done. I want to feel at peace when I lay down at night. I don't want to look at the curtains that I have yet to hang. The painter's tape that has been there for months. The vanity mirror that we never installed because we needed to paint first. No wonder I always felt stressed. Look at all that unfinished stuff that surrounded me every day and night. How in the world can you relax when you have a bowl full of sunglasses that need to be dusted and a large jewelry box that has unworn necklaces falling out? "I can't sleep, I need to organize that."

So here goes, guys. I will show you what it looks like when it's done. It's going to be a while, since I will have to order a new dresser and have it delivered. But you will see the change!

Come up with a goal in your home. An area you can improve. Start small, if you need to. Maybe just declutter a corner of your room, or your office desk, your counter-top...whatever. You will feel a difference, I promise.

Thanks for reading.

Mother's Day

This time last year, I was making a post on a personal blog about how my Mother's Day went. And it was very similar to today. Without knowing anything about minimalism last May, I for some reason, didn't want any gifts. Which was very odd for me. I was a person that was pretty much never without wants. I have been for as long as I can remember, I always wanted things. A new nail polish, a necklace that I likely wouldn't wear, a new graphic tee, a new rug...it was just constant. But something started changing in me, I don't know why and I didn't know at the time that I would be here this year...writing this blog about wanting less.

Again this year, Cory let me sleep in. He got up with the kids (rascals woke up at 0645 today! Poor Cory!) and let me snooze until almost nine. My body needed it. Char has been up all night for months at this point, and Cory and I are working for every minute of sleep we can get. I didn't get any gifts, but I honestly didn't want any. This is going to sound cheesy, but Cory shows me that I am important every single day. It never comes down to me needing any extra love on one day a year, he is always taking on just as much as I do. So right now, he is taking a nap with the kids while I clean up a little and get some work done. I am being 100% honest when I say that I don't mind that this is my Mother's Day. Actually, I love it. This is such a tough time in our lives with two small kids, both of us working full time and fitting all the other stuff in somehow, and I know he is just as tired as I am. So I am glad he sleeping, while he has the chance. It comes so rarely that either of us have a chance to relax enough to nap...so I don't mind one bit!

I spent the weekend enjoying some simple things. I took my time swishing mouthwash, brushing and flossing my teeth, which if you're a mom, you know how nice that can be! I went to my Aunt's retirement party as Cory went to a friend's 30th birthday party. We went for a walk with the kids to enjoy the sunshine. And Jack got some time in at the park. It costs me zero dollars to do these things. It adds no clutter to my life. And it brings me more joy than any patterned rug ever did. Jack loves dandelions and loves giving them to me and Charlotte. Watching him be so generous with his "flowers" is so good for my heart. I can see he is a lot like Cory with his giving nature. He just wants to see people happy and he would give up a prized dandelion to see his sister smile.

The only thing I can think of that I want is a less cluttered bedroom. I have been reading about the inability to relax when you are surrounded by clutter, and I think that is part of why I have trouble sleeping, especially at a chance when I could nap with the kids. It was so easy to look around and feel like "I should get up and clean, this place is a hot mess."

 Marie Kondo explained that you should come up with a solid goal when decluttering. It can't be as generic as "I want my living room to be less cluttered." It needs to be one specific goal that you work to obtain and here is my goal : I want to downsize our clothing enough that Cory and I can share one dresser, I want to get rid of the second dresser in our room, and replace the nightstand we currently have. Then I want to repaint our room and I want it to have enough space that I can have a large, standing mirror that sits on the floor. And I want little twinkly lights to hang over the mirror. I want it to feel open and light. And I want to feel relaxed when I lay down at night.

So what are your goals for your home? What would make you feel better when you lay your head down at night? Your goals don't need to cost money. Just think of a specific goal and do something everyday that gets you closer to having it.

Happy Mother's Day!
Thanks for reading.

Debt

Guys, you all have me so excited about this. I was already over the moon about making some changes in my house but seeing you guys have the same issues and goals is making me realize how important it is to talk about this and hopefully get us all on the right track.

Cory and I spent a lot of energy last year paying off our debts. We got well over 10k handled last year and now that I am officially not dumping a ton of money on items that aren't necessities, I know we can completely close the lid on our debts soon! Which has me absolutely giddy.

You probably have thought about wanting to pay off debts (if you're already debt-free, give yourself a pat on the back for being awesome!) but you probably don't realize how much it weighs on you. You also probably don't realize how much having clutter and stuff in your house can weigh on you. It isn't until you lighten the load that you realize how hard it was to carry. That's why I encourage you to look at your surroundings at home and start to get rid of things you don't need. It's a huge step towards seeing where your money goes and it allows you to feel the air around you actually being lighter. I know that sounds crazy, but I swear it's true.

Okay, back to debts. When it comes to focusing on paying off your debts, step one is to make a budget. Do it. You may not think you need to, but I swear you do. Write it all down. All of your bills, include money you spend on gas, groceries, haircuts, birthday gifts you will buy for people, etc. Then add up all your income.

The result will either be: A- you will see that you don't have enough to cover these or barely enough to cover it all comfortably. Or B - you will see that you *should* have enough left each month to start paying off debts.

If you are an A- Sorry, this sucks. But you are in a tough spot right now. This should be eye-opening that you really shouldn't be buying extras.  It doesn't mean you need to feel discouraged. It means you need to get started! You are likely living beyond your means right now. If you are putting things on credit...STOP. Stop it. Right now. Cut them up. If you can't afford it, don't buy it. This goes for everything. Starbucks, birthday gifts, all of it. It will suck for right now, but your goal is to payoff debt, and you need all your pennies for that.

We used to be an A. When Cory and I both got out of college, we had a ton of debt and weren't making much because we lacked experience. We had two large car payments of cars that we had bought years before, quite a few credit cards and two large student loans. We were living like we had a lot, though. We put everything we wanted on credit. We have always had very good credit scores so we always got a high credit limit and that just spells trouble if you are an A.

If you're a B - good for you! This should be easy! All you need to do now is figure out where all that extra money is going each month. If after your budget, you are supposed to have $500 a month left, and you don't...you need to take a good look at where that money ends up. You might be surprised at how much a trip to Target, a few coffees a week, and that new graphic tee added up to. That money needs to start going to your debts.

Cut the E X C E S S

Some tips about paying off debts and saving money:

• Cancel stuff. If you have a gym membership, tanning package, etc...Cancel them. You shouldn't be tanning anyway :) And if you have a gym membership you don't use, cancel it. If you use it, then keep it. But it's one or the other. Use it or lose it. If you subscribe to a service like Ipsy, let that go. I know it's only $10/month but do you really use those samples? Or are they sitting somewhere right now, unused? It's adding to your debt and your clutter! 
• Think of each purchase or membership cost as hours worked. It's not just money you're spending on things you don't need, you are literally exchanging hours of your life to make that money. You are paying for that coffee with hours of your life. 
• Cut cable. You don't need it. That time could be better spent anyway. Cable is completely unnecessary, no matter what you say to try to convince me otherwise. 
• Call companies to see what they can do to help. I called Sprint because we were paying for an "unlimited" plan but I noticed how little we were actually using. They were able to change my plan and lower my cost by $25/mo without resigning my contract. It's not much, but if you do this with a few things, it will add up! Call your internet provider, tell them you are looking at cancelling to save money, they will likely have a promotion they can add to your account to lessen the cost. 
• Be honest with yourself. It does you ZERO good to pretend like your Starbucks habit isn't part of the problem. You can live without Starbucks. And $5 for a cup of joe is crazy, in my opinion. 
• Sell stuff. I have mentioned this before. But do it. If you are de-cluttering, this is a double good idea! Clear your home and pay off debt at the same time! Sell on ebay, Craigslist, have a garage sale...and put it all towards a debt. DO NOT BUY MORE STUFF with that money!
• Stop eating out! Go to the store, buy enough fruits, veggies and meats to eat for the week. You will spend $60 for the whole week rather than $20+/day to eat fast food. You'll lose weight and be healthier. TRIPLE WIN!
• With credit cards, always pay more than the minimum monthly payment. Double it, if you can. 

Look up Dave Ramsey. You don't have to buy his books or pay for one of his classes to figure out the gist of his program. He can get a little extreme. He talks about eating rice everyday or getting a second job delivering pizzas. Some of his ideas just aren't as feasible when you have kids or other obligations. But if you can do those things to quicken the process, good for you! If you can't, then you need to really kick it into high gear with making sacrifices. I know it doesn't sound fun, but you'll love the result. 

The only thing I really disagree with Ramsey is the order to pay off debts. He says to use the "snowball" effect and I do that too, to some extent. But I think it depends on your personality, if you need to see that first debt paid off ASAP to keep motivation, then do it that way. Personally, I like to pay toward the highest interest loan first. I think of it as money in my pocket by paying a chunk to those loans first. Example : when Cory washed his iPhone, we had to buy a new one from Best Buy, which is interest free. It is our smallest debt, but I still pay bigger debts off faster that have higher interest. I could have easily paid Best Buy off by now, but my focus is the school loans, I want them GONE! But do it however you want. You can't go wrong if you are working toward these goals. 

I will have more on this soon but I have a teething baby on my hands!

Thanks for reading! 

Money

I know I have gone on and on with how I excited I am about this process, but I swear I mean it. And this is the part that I was most surprised by...how I spend money. I always knew I had a shopping problem. Had it before I had kids and I think it only got worse after kids. I recognized it but literally felt like I couldn't stop. A cute dress for Char or a new funny graphic tee for Jack was *all* I needed, right?

Without going into a super long story about my childhood, I will give you the basics. We were poor. Really poor. In high school, I remember Doc Martens being all the rage and I just *had* to have them. I saved my lunch money for months for a pair (you know, the ones that left a little tan on your foot in the shape of a flower). And while I don't fully blame a lesser-privileged childhood for my actions as an adult, I know they certainly didn't help. In school, I always just wanted to be cool. I wanted to be liked...and it kinda never really happened, even when I got the Doc Martens, so don't ask me why I didn't learn this lesson back then! Owning stuff doesn't make you cool. It doesn't make you a good person. It only means you have more stuff. 

When I got out of nursing school and got my first real job, I went a little crazy. Having money that was all mine that I could spend however I wanted was a complete thrill. And the feeling of "I can easily buy this for myself" was something I couldn't pass up. It felt good to feel like I had "made it." That I was an adult and I could get things when I wanted, without missing lunch for 3 months straight. 

Now factor in two kids and my love of trendy fashion for them, and you can only imagine the damage I have done. There have been times where one of my kids had over 30 pairs of shoes in one size. (insert terrified ghost-face emoji) I would pride myself on the fact that I got them all at a really good sale, or managed to stack coupons to get them for half off or something else that still never justified a toddler having so much. Each of my kids have had so much clothes that I had to go to Target just to buy more hangers to get them all in their closet. I made Cory buy a closet kit for Jack's room and install it. 

C R I N G E

Like I said before, I am probably a more extreme case...and I am not proud to admit it, it's honestly a little embarrassing. But I am sharing my story in the hopes that you see that if I can do this, you can do it.  

Purging the majority of the contents in my closet, kitchen,and kids' rooms has completely changed the way I look at new things to buy. Before, I would tell Cory about some new handmade romper I found on Instagram that I just needed for Charlotte...literally daily. In the last month, since reading about minimalism, I have seen absolutely adorable clothing that I still find very cute but I can easily say no to. As a matter of fact, I have become so uninterested in adding to my clutter, that I have unfollowed emails, IG accounts or unliked the shops on Facebook, just because I don't see myself heading down that path again. Don't get me wrong, I still love to get Charlotte dressed. I still love to see Jack wearing some cute sneakers, but right now we have everything we need. When they move up a size, I will check into those favorite shops of mine, but until then, I am not going to waste time staring at them or waste the money on an item that they may not wear. They have plenty. They have everything they need. And they are just kids. 

Target has always been a HUGE problem for us. Poor Cory would sometimes go with me a few times a week, knowing that I would search out every clearance rack in the store...for what, I don't know. Just whatever was there, I probably needed. I used to easily drop hundreds of dollars there at a time. A lot of it was things we needed, but a good portion were impulse buys. But I can tell you that in the last month, I have gone to Target three times, and I only got what I went for. I still browsed, to enjoy some mommy quiet time. But I stayed focused, and honestly, even when I found something I loved, I could tell that it would end up being just another thing I have to get rid of later. 

In just this month alone, we have put a TON of money towards our debts (paying off our last medical bill and our school loan is a serious goal of mine!) and I am seriously stoked about it. More stoked than I ever was when I bought stuff, and I didn't even know that was possible. I loved shopping, so I didn't imagine ever loving the feeling of not shopping. But I do. I love it. I love that the goals I have for my family (we want to move in the next couple of years and be completely debt free) will come true now that I am not being sucked into wanting things that only get in the way of those goals. 

I am not telling you to not buy anything. If you absolutely love it, or if you need it, then get it! But when you shop, do it the right way. Get what you need. Only buy what you can afford. Don't waste your hard-earned money on things. Set bigger goals. 

Imagine having all the money you ever spent on stuff you didn't need, imagine having it all back. Imagine how much that would be. What would you do with that money?

Thanks for reading. 

Chyleina

Skeletons in your closet.

Hey there, so glad you're back!
If you have looked into minimalism you know that a big problem area that most people face, often without even really knowing it's a problem, is their clothes. It's the part I have worked on the most so far and I can tell you that it is absolutely life-changing. I know that sounds crazy, you wouldn't think having LESS is better. I have thought for my entire life that if I just had a top to match this or that new graphic tee, my life would improve...but it doesn't. Don't get me wrong, I still love clothes and I still love fashion trends. I like to look nice, but I also like the feeling of knowing that the things in my closet actually FIT me and look good on me. If you're like me, you might have had some body changes recently that makes your favorite shirt from last year a little less flattering this year. The thing is, you will probably pull that top out of the closet every time you go out (probably along with 13 other options, all of them flops as well) and you stand in front of the mirror, hating the fit or the color. Your body has changed, your taste has changed. But you used to love it, so you put it back on the hanger and wait for the day that you wear it again.

It probably won't come.

You are spending time pulling it out, trying it on, hating yourself in the mirror, and then you put it right back to do it again on the next date night. Why?

I am guilty of this. I would literally pull half my closet out, and then sometimes cry to my husband that I didn't have anything to wear that I liked myself in, ruin my makeup, then end up putting on one of the few blouses that I didn't hate myself as much in. Then I had to reapply my makeup! Oh, the waste!

E V E R Y T I M E.

And then after the date, I would come home to a bed with a mountain of unloved clothes that almost reached the ceiling fan. So after having a great night laughing with Cory, I would come home and spend 15 minutes hanging all of that stuff back up to torture myself again.

Let it go, guys. Let it go.

Can you imagine opening your closet and seeing only things that you like your body in? Can you imagine if they were all in plain sight? Can you imagine not spending 30 minutes flipping past hangers and hangers of things that you just know you aren't going to wear?

I'll tell you, it's amazing. I have been able to get ready and out the door in literally a quarter of the time it used to take me. It's simple, I open the closet and there it is, a shirt I love. I pair it with the only pair of jeans I own and I am out the door. I am not late, I am not sweating from stress, I am happy and I am confident in my clothes. Sure, it might be something that I have worn recently, but that's why we have washing machines. Clothes can be worn more than once, and if you really want to get your money's worth out of your clothes, you should love it and wear it more than once, right?!

I know a lot of people are on journeys to change their bodies, myself included. And if that is the case, and there are clothes that you honestly still love, but they are just a little too tight, I recommend getting a box, and putting them away until you reach your goals. No need to torture yourself every time you get dressed. You will get there, and when you do, you can pull out those clothes again. And I can promise you that if you have cleaned out your current closet and loved it, you will pull those clothes out one by one and realize that some of them may fit now, but you will still pass them over when getting ready. And getting rid of them at that point will be easy.

Some tips when taking this on:

• Get rid of any similar items. You don't need two coral blouses. You probably have one that you wear more than the other anyway, get rid of the lesser loved one. 
• If you are going to save clothes to fit into later, get them out of sight, but remember to pull them out again and really go through them before you buy more in that size. I didn't do this and already bought clothes out of excitement. and realized I had 6 pairs of identical yoga pants. YIKES!
• Keep accessories simple. You have your favorites. Let the rest go. You don't need 12 purses. You need your everyday one, and maybe a smaller one for a night out. That's really it. You don't need 40 scarves, you likely wear the same one over and over. 
• Don't spend a lot of money on storage solutions. If you feel like you need a closet kit, then you have too much stuff. 
• If you have reached weight loss (or gains!) goals, don't keep clothes that no longer fit. That will just allow you to feel like you can fall back on them later. Get rid of them and keep up the lifestyle change, and then give yourself a pat on the back! 
• If your clothes have value, sell them! Use the money earned to go on a road trip or pay a small debt. Either will make you excited for the changes you're making. 
• Don't worry about how much you spent on something. I know it's hard when you paid for it and never wore it, but look at it as a lesson learned. Don't let that item cost you more later in time and energy. If you haven't worn it yet, it's a safe bet that you won't wear it. 
• This one should go without saying, but if it has a hole or a stain, LET IT GO. I am guilty of this. I had shirts where a button on the sleeve was loose, but I kept it because I loved the shirt. Never fixed the button, but kept the shirt, and then never wore the shirt because the button was gone. Fix it, if you can. If you have not spent the 5 minutes resewing the button, then you obviously don't love it as much as you think!

I'll be back with more on the closet later! If you need to start small, do that. If you don't wanna dive into the whole closet right away, that's okay! Just go in there and get rid of the obvious. You will love the feeling and it will lessen your fears about the process. 

Thanks for reading!!

Digital

When we think of decluttering, we usually automatically think about our closets that are full of clothes or that junk drawer that has 400 near-dry pens. But something that I have found a great joy in is letting go of digital baggage.

If you're like me you have your work email and personal email...both might be riddled with junk that you automatically delete without a second thought. I usually check my personal email multiple times a day, because I am pretty addicted to my phone (something else that I am working on!) Most mornings, I had a good 30 emails that were mostly promotions from stores like BabyGap or online boutiques that I had subscribed to. All were screaming at me about whatever sale they had going on that day. And it clicked...no wonder I bought so much stuff. I would usually do a mass delete of ones that didn't automatically intrigue me, but I realized that there were plenty of emails that more often than not, didn't intrigue me. Why in the world was I spending my time everyday deleting emails that didn't bring me joy? My inbox was blowing up with things that just didn't excite me. Your time is the most valuable thing you have, why are you spending it reading/deleting emails and wasting your precious time on it?

U N S U B S C R I B E.

I unsubscribed from the majority of my emails. And I already feel better knowing a lot of them won't be back to bother me tomorrow.

Next was social media. I have only deleted one friend from Facebook, ever. And that was a person that was pretty rude to me about how we chose to announce my second pregnancy. I had no trouble removing that person since they didn't have my feelings at all in their mind. And I encourage you to also remove people that have hurt you in any way. Adulting is hard enough, we don't need to be hurt by those that we are just social-media-friends with. It's not immature, I don't think. If you guys don't get along, or if they aren't nice to you in real life, why keep that up on social media? Let that go too!

I have never deleted another friend, because in my view, all of them are people that I like enough to see what is going on in their lives. I like to see them get promotions or buy a new house. I like to cheer them on with a "like" and show support for their businesses. That being said, I have "unfollowed" people that no longer bring me joy. If they are sharing things that are just blatantly false (biggest pet peeve on FB) or if they continuously post racist, sexist, or discriminatory things in any way, I have unfollowed from their general feed. But opted to still get an update for major life events. I still care about that person enough to know if they have a baby, but I choose to not read things that make me upset.

I also unliked many pages that would post in my feed that just weren't relevant anymore. Local shops that I had yet to visit, news sites that friends share from anyway (nobody wants to see the same thing 4 times) and other random profiles. I removed myself from the groups that I had been added to (a lot were without me even noticing) and only kept the ones that interested me still.

I hope that doesn't come across as mean. Because that's not my intention. I love my FB friends (and if you're reading this, you are most likely my friend on FB) but if I don't plan on purchasing something from your online swap page for makeup/scentsy/etc, then I removed myself, just for my own mental freedom. And I honestly hope that if you don't like my blog posts, you won't spend your time reading them. If they don't bring you joy, I hope you unsubscribe. If my weekly pictures of my growing babies (which is almost over!) makes you wanna claw your eyes out, please unfollow me. I won't know any better and even if I did, I wouldn't be offended. Some people don't like kids, and I get that. But my kids are pretty much my entire life, so I can see how that doesn't mesh well with your interests!

So today, if you find yourself scrolling and scrolling, try letting some of it go. You might notice that you are like me and you love the freeing feeling of unsubscribing from what you don't love. Wouldn't it be amazing to only see things that really interest us? Wouldn't that make your day better? Wouldn't it mean less time on your phone and maybe more time in the sunshine?

Give it a shot, if you want!
Thanks for reading!

The Start.

Hey guys! Thanks for stopping in! I have been pretty excited lately about diving into a world of consuming less and living more, so I thought I would start this blog to talk about the process, how it has changed my finances, relationships, and overall happiness.

It all started simply enough for me, I happened to be scrolling mindlessly through my facebook feed and saw a post from the blogger www.minimalisetomaximise.com. I checked out her blog and realized immediately that Elisha's words really hit home for me on so many levels. She was somebody that I envied, in a way. I had never realized how much the things that I was buying were essentially drowning me, I had never made the connection before. But I see now that all of the things that I had bought in an attempt to be happy, were actually the very things holding me back from my goals.

Elisha mentioned other bloggers such as www.theminimalists.com and a book called "Spark Joy: The life-changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing." I immediately bought the book on my iphone (because I really shouldn't add another book to my bookcase, right? If the goal is to de-clutter, then that seemed counter-productive. But take my advice, if after looking into minimalism, if you give her book a shot, buy a hard copy. I have had countless friends interested in reading it and I can't share my iBooks!) The book is short and usually to the point. I will say that the author, Marie, gets a little out there with her line of thinking. She talks about socks like they have feelings, which maybe they do, but it did always throw me off a little. Marie brings up excellent points in WHY we feel the need to buy/keep things and how we need to let those ideas go. She would often read my mind while I was reading it. I would read a sentence and think "I could never do that" and the next line in the book would be "I know you are going to think you can't do it, but you can."

I was H O O K E D.

 The idea just really sank in for me and I jumped right in. I wasn't even done with the book when I started to go through my closet to purge all of the clothes that I hadn't worn in YEARS or at all. It was mindblowing to see how much stuff I had. No person needs THAT much clothes. I even found myself angry, looking at the countless shirts that still had tags on them. Ones I bought simply because it was a "good deal."



I plan to really go into depth about my journey in later posts. And also share a little history on what my house was like before deciding to make this change, and the reasons why I think it ended up the way it did. I have lots of ideas for you guys and I am very excited to share in this lifestyle. I am by no means a true minimalist, and I am not sure that I ever will be, but just in the past few weeks of knowing the difference between wants and needs, I have saved SO much time and money (I realize I might be somewhat of an extreme case).  It has honestly changed my life in a lot of amazing ways! So I hope you check in and get inspired!

If this is something that at all interests you, I encourage you to look at the blogs I mentioned or pick up the book...or even just google ways to live minimally. It isn't just about the stuff in our house, it's also about the planet we leave for our kids! (more on that later!)

Thanks for reading!
Chyleina