decluttering

REASONS TO DECLUTTER

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Having extra stuff in our lives, in our spaces, causes anxiety. Everyday when we walk into our spaces, we must process what’s going on. All five senses are engaged to subconsciously make sense of our surroundings. I think this is true for everyone to a degree, but this is particularly true for people who have been through trauma. Our spaces can be a sanctuary – a safe haven, or they can be a place of chaos, causing unrest in our minds and bodies, which causes anxiety. This was my initial main reason I began my own decluttering journey. To create tranquil spaces in every corner of my home. Spaces that calmed my nervous system, not triggered it.

I have been actively working on decluttering my home for over 10 years now. I have seen a progression in why I choose to declutter. At first it was to calm my spaces. Every room in my home was overcrowded with stuff. I disguised it as coziness, but the truth was it was just clutter. As I continued on this journey, I realized that having less physical possessions gave me extra time to do other things. I wasn’t spending as much time cleaning and organizing my spaces. Having less possessions gave me mental clarity. I began to declutter more because I saw the value in having more time and mental clarity. I could be more intentional with my life.

Down the road, I began to realize the buy/declutter cycle. As I continued my decluttering journey, I saw the value in being more intentional with what I brought into my home. I realized that the impact of all of my decluttering wouldn’t be sustained if I kept bringing new possessions into my home. That’s when I did my first no buy year, back in 2019. I had changed my spending habits after that year, but slowly old habits began to creep back in and in 2025 I decided to do another no buy year to reset my spending habits. I am hopeful as I look towards the future as I feel this had a big impact on me. As we become more intentional with our spending, we begin to see how much money we can save just by eliminating some spending which allows for freedom!

Now I see a new phase on my horizon. I see another reason to continue the decluttering process. I am realizing as I look around my home that I have a lot of things that I use, but I don’t use often. I am realizing that it is selfish of me to hang on to things I don’t use often because these things could bring someone else joy! On one of my recent YouTube videos, a loyal subscribers Jenny, made a comment which really resonated with me. It was a video where I was cleaning out my husband’s office. I had several things that I got rid of that day that I had been debating for a while and I also had a piece of home decor that I decided to display instead of leaving in the closet. She said, “it’s poor stewardship to hold on to something that you don’t use or display when someone else would be grateful to have and enjoy it now.” That really stuck me, and challenged me in a good way! I have upped my decluttering progress to the next level with this idea in mind! I need to be realistic with myself of how often I will really use items.

This month in January I am playing the minimalism game – where you get rid of one thing on day one, two things on day two and so on. I’m not being strict about sticking with the number of items each day. I am just collecting things as I see them and I’m hopeful that I will reach that 465 items number by the end of the month! I know this seems lofty, and even I’m not totally confident in my ability to succeed at this challenge, but check out my YouTube channel at the end of the month to see if I was successful! I will be sharing the process over there. I always have my YouTube channel linked at the bottom of each post. That video will be out the last Sunday of the month.

We all declutter differently. We declutter at a different pace and the amount we own and are willing to let go is different. But with this in mind, I think the best piece of decluttering advice I could give is to know why you are decluttering. Knowing your why can help motivate you to keep making a part of your routines. Can you relate to wanting to calm your space? Maybe you want to save money, or just be more financially responsible. Or perhaps you realize that you can bless others with the items you don’t use as often. Whatever the reason, it is good to know your why! Decluttering can be exhausting, both physically and emotionally. But it is so worth it in the end!

This is the YouTube video I shared in conjunction with this blog post.

MY NEW YEAR’S GOALS

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There is something so satisfying about a fresh start. The new year is a great time to think about fresh starts. The new year is an organic fresh start. It seems silly that one day to the next could mark the beginning of something new or different, but the calendar changes to mark a new year, which can be a great time for new beginnings. That is why so many people make new year’s resolutions.

The last few years I have incorporated new habits and really pushed myself outside of my comfort zone.  Two years ago in 2024 I decided to focus on travel and that year I took several trips. Including a solo road trip! Last year I ended up taking several trips as well, and moving into 2026 I already have 4 trips in the works! At the end of 2024 I started a new habit of lifting weights at the gym, and now nearly a year and half later it has become part of my weekly routine. In 2025 I wanted to focus on reading and walking more. Both of these habits I have successfully incorporated into my routines. If you have been around, you know I also did a no buy year in 2025. I was not fully successful, but I made huge strides with my spending habits and I know this will carry over into my future.

I wanted to talk about what I want to do now that my no buy year is over. I definitely want to be more intentional with my spending. The one practical rule that I decided to make for myself is that I can’t purchase more than 3 items each month. This will include items for events or trips. I really wanted to put some boundaries on myself so I don’t slip back into old habits. Something else I am thinking about doing is getting coffee out less often and choosing local coffee spots if I do get coffee out. I honestly don’t get coffee out that often. I only allow myself once a week unless I am traveling. But I definitely want to start trying out more local coffee places instead of getting Starbucks.

In 2026 the main thing I want to focus on is less entertainment. Throughout this year I have been working on “mono-tasking” more often. Not always listening to music, podcasts, YouTube videos, or Marco Polos while I’m doing other simple tasks. I’ve been working on focusing on one task at a time in order to be more present in each thing I am doing. In my paper planner there was space to plan out my year – my goals, values, and priorities. I actually purchased the exact same planner for 2026 because it helped me to stay on track. In this planner there is a space to write a word for the year. I decided my word would be “focus.” I feel like at this time of my life it is easy to lose focus. Not only am I dealing with the effects of perimenopause, including struggling to stay focused mentally, but I also have more margin in my life and it can be easy to fill up the margin with things that don’t make a difference ultimately. I don’t want to keep feeling like I’m wasting my life.

Recently I watched a really great video from Ryan Holiday. I really love his content. It is very inspiring. He does a great job of sharing ideas that come from the Stoics in a really relatable and digestible way. He talked about this idea, which came from the Stoics – Memento mori. This is a Latin phrase which means “remember you must die.” I know, I know, this is rather morbid. But it also is so true, and something I think most of us don’t really want to think about. But the idea is if we do “remember that we must die,” we may be more intentional with our time. I feel like I am a work in progress with regards to truly living intentionally, but hearing this phrase ignited in me a new resolve to truly pay attention to everything that I am doing with my time. I know I won’t be perfect and there will surely be times when I don’t feel well – either physically or emotionally making it more difficult to do meaningful things. But my point is that I can more regularly focus on doing meaningful things. Things that are in line with my values and priorities, like spirituality, physical health, relationships, and personal growth.

I’m going to kick off the new year with this goal in mind to focus on less entertainment by doing a challenge of course! I love putting myself up to a challenge! And this time my husband is joining me in this challenge. I asked him a few years ago if we could do a challenge of removing the tv from our bedroom. Back then he was not keen on the idea, but we decided to do this together as a form of fasting. Our church does a 21 day fast at the beginning of every year and it can be anything you choose to abstain from. We are going to quit watching tv at night, which has become a very ingrained routine for us! I’m looking forward to seeing the difference it makes for us as individuals, but also for our marriage!

With New Year’s resolutions, a switch can’t necessarily be flipped and all things are new. But if you keep making small changes, year after year. These things will become part of your everyday routines and life.

Here is the YouTube video I shared in conjunction with this blog post.

NORMALIZE A NORMAL LIFE

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For today’s Thoughtful Thursday post I want to talk about an idea I recently heard about from another YouTube creator, normalizing a normal life. I follow her channel because she does a lot of reaction videos to overconsumption, especially amongst influencers. As many of you know, I am doing a no buy year in 2025 as a way to challenge myself to prevent overconsumption in my own life. I think when we are constantly exposed to content online where people are showing shopping hauls or restocks (often with unnecessary stuff, or stuff you could not possibly use before the expiration date), we begin to think overconsumption is just normal. We also are exposed to people who seem to lead out of touch lives. I get that some of these videos are purposefully overproduced, but it really can get in your head none the less!

In addition to my no buy year, I have been pursuing minimalism for over a decade now, slowly but surely decluttering our home. And more recently I do feel like I have gotten pretty ruthless with decluttering in the pursuit of a more simple life. In today’s message I just wanted to encourage you that it is okay to lead a simple life. It’s okay to have a normal life. I truly believe that there is beauty in the mundane if we allow it or see it.

Part of the reason I wanted to discuss this topic now is because as we come up on the holidays, we may feel more inadequate than any other time in the year. We may feel like we aren’t doing enough family activities, or we don’t have enough holiday decor, or the right decor. I’m here to remind you that you don’t need to go out and buy all new holiday decor with the theme of the latest trend (cough cough Ralph Lauren Christmas cough cough). I do love to share my holiday clean and decorate with me videos on YouTube to inspire people, but I never do it with the intent that they would go out and buy the same things I have. I just want to get people excited about the upcoming holiday season! And most of my stuff I couldn’t link if I wanted to because I have had it for many years, or it is a vintage or thrift find! The holiday decor you have is good enough! One thing I like to do is style my existing decor differently every year so it feels fresh and new!

I have always tried to be authentic on my YouTube channel, and share as candidly as I can here on my blog. Yes, I do like to edit and present it in such a way that hopefully is artistic and interesting, but I am sharing my real (and normal) life! I do wish normal lives were more popular on social media. It does seem like the easiest way to become successful online is to have a non-normal life. Maybe a normal life is not interesting or exciting, but I’m okay with that. I will continue to pursue a simple, quiet life. I think a majority of people in the world lead a normal life, so I am just here to remind you that it is okay if your life feels normal or ordinary. Don’t let what you see on social media steal the joy of your beautiful, normal life! Embrace it and appreciate it!

Here is the YouTube video I shared in conjunction with this blog post.

BEING PATIENT

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For today’s Thoughtful Thursday I wanted to talk about being patient with people. Being patient with people in general, but also being patient with our spouse, children, or any other housemates when it comes to decluttering. My husband recently helped me go through and declutter items in our garage as some of the things belong to him. I have been wanting to do this decluttering project for quite a while, so I have had to be patient with my husband as I waited for him to have the time and bandwidth to do it. I have to say, I have not always been a very patient person. I am someone who likes results, so I struggle to be patient with the process. I am learning though that there is so much growth and goodness that can happen in the process and in the waiting. 

When it comes to decluttering, I really think we all have our own pace. Whether that is because we don’t have much time to devote to it regularly, or because we are the type who needs to really think through and sit on decisions for a while. I know my husband doesn’t have a lot of time or bandwidth to devote to decluttering because of how demanding his job is, so I have been patient with him with regards to going through his things. I can’t even tell you how many times I have cleaned out our garage for my YouTube channel and mentioned “I will need my husband’s help to declutter more in here.” The only reason I am really starting to push him is because we are talking about downsizing, and I don’t want him to have to go through all of his things in a short period of time. I do feel like it is much more manageable to declutter a little at a time. In the end, this really didn’t take that long. We spent about 30 minutes on two separate weekends to get this done.

It’s not always easy to be patient with our loved ones as they have their own decluttering journey. As I have mentioned so many times before, decluttering muscles are built through practice. Just like we can’t force our loved ones to go to the gym and workout, or do anything for that matter, we can’t force them to declutter. They have to want to do it for themselves. I have found that just by being an example, and my family experiencing the spaces in our home that are more minimal, it has inspired them to start decluttering. We must let it be on their own time.

I find it important to be patient with others with regards to decluttering, but I also find it important to be patient with others in general. This is also something that is not easy. Oftentimes we have our own timeline and we want others to conform to our timeline, but that is just not how it goes. One thing that helps me to be patient with others, especially those closest to me like my husband and kids, is to remember how slow paced I myself can be with making changes in my life. I want others to be patient with me as I grow, learn, and change, so I will offer that same patience. 

I remember when I was younger in my marriage how impatient I would be with my husband (and then later my kids) when we were trying to get out the door. I was raised in such a way that you arrive 5 minutes early or you’re late. My husband is someone who takes his time doing anything. Which is actually a good characteristic. It usually means things are done well and thoroughly, but it can mean he isn’t on time. He has learned this about himself and now knows to shoot for being ready 15 minutes before we actually need to leave. But I used to get so irritated about it. Even if I didn’t express my irritation to him (I am sure I did at times, at least in heavy sighs and eye rolls) I had this bad attitude about it in my heart. At some point I realized that we could be late with my having a bad attitude, or we could be late with me having a good attitude – realizing it is better to protect our relationship and my heart attitude than to be on time somewhere. And, he eventually realized that he had to give himself more time than he thought to get ready. But I share this because my heart changed before his behavior changed, and that was for me how I wanted to show up in the world. I had to learn to be patient.

Being patient with others means recognizing that they are on their own life journey towards growth and change, or perhaps stuck in a cycle of stagnation. But either way, we are not in control of others and their choices. We are only in control of the choices we make. If we keep focusing on doing the right things for ourselves, I think this will inspire those around us. I am sure you have heard that kids do what you do not what you say. I think anyone within our sphere of influence will be affected by our behavior. Hopefully we can be a positive influence to motivate and inspire. But we must be patient as they maneuver through life and make their own decisions.

NO BUY YEAR SEPTEMBER + OCTOBER RECAP

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Okay friends, for today’s Thoughtful Thursday post I wanted to share how my no buy year has been going. This is actually a recap of September and October since I didn’t share the last Thursday in September. I will say right up front that I have continued to struggle. I briefly mentioned at the end of September that I had another slip up in September and purchased a couple of fall tops. And then in October I purchased a hat. I’m not sure if this is considered clothing or accessories, but I kind of feel like it is! The last few months have been so much more difficult than the first part of the year for sure. Maybe I am losing momentum!

I did want to be fully transparent and tell you I also purchased some clothing items for a costume I wore to a friend’s birthday party in September. I decided halfway through the year that if I needed to purchase clothing for a specific event that I would give myself a pass, but there was part of me that felt bad because I did purchase items for the costume that I would use in the future for more than just the costume. Which makes sense from a minimalist standpoint – for the items to have multiple uses – but it still made me feel like I was cheating or finding a loophole as an excuse to shop.

All of this has me thinking about the future and what I might do moving into 2026. I feel like I still haven’t fully broken my shopping habit, or my mindset around shopping. I feel like I have just been “white-knuckling” it these last couple of months, but I want a true heart change. I don’t just want behavior modification. That is part of why I did this whole no buy year. I thought about doing something crazy and doing ANOTHER no buy year in 2026, but truthfully I just don’t think this is realistic for me. I have been thinking about rules I could set up for myself moving forward. I realized that for the last several months I have purchased one or two things each month. This was still difficult compared to past shopping habits, so I am thinking that I will limit myself to two items per month. Let me know your thoughts or ideas.

Something else I wanted to address is the clothing and accessory items I got sent to me from brands for my YouTube channel. I do really appreciate this and I have been enjoying the items that these brands have sent me, but I realized when choosing which items I want, and receiving the package in the mail was so similar to how I feel when I purchase new things. I’m not saying I will turn down free items in the future, but once again I am just evaluating my heart on how I feel about new things, and I want to be as candid as possible as I feel like this holds me accountable.

Something else I have been thinking about over these last couple of months is the buy/declutter cycle. I know I have shared my thoughts about this in a previous post. It is just something that I am contemplating again. I do think that it is a fine line, and perhaps dangerous line, when we begin to declutter items from our homes. Especially when we get to the point where we are trying to pursue minimalism and getting rid of large quantities of stuff. This could potentially cause us to shop to replace some of the things we have decluttered. It is definitely something to keep in check when we begin a decluttering journey.

I know for myself, a lot of the things I declutter is simply a result of being married for 29 years, raising three kids, and two dogs over the years. I have decluttered items that no longer serve us in this life stage. Although I know some of it is from over consumption, and by this I just mean I have too many things in certain categories for my own personal liking and what I want to have on hand or what I have bandwidth to take care of. I have been honest about my struggles in the past with using shopping for the wrong reasons, and that is exactly why I am doing this no buy year!

The other category of things I declutter quite often is items that I am replacing. I do try to be intentional with when and why I replace items from around our home, but once again I would like to keep myself in check and evaluate if I am just making excuses to shop. I like pondering these things and having these conversations online to help challenge myself to more responsible spending habits!

Okay, that is all I have to share for this week’s thoughts and for this month’s no buy year recap. I hope this was encouraging or inspired you in some way! As always, I like to hear your thoughts on my thoughts so leave me a comment and let me know! 

Here is the YouTube video I shared in conjunction with this blog post.

NO BUY YEAR AUGUST RECAP

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For today’s Thoughtful Thursday post I wanted to share with you how my no buy year has been going for my August recap. I know I am a bit late in sharing my August recap! The short story is I failed AGAIN! Y’all. For whatever reason it is really hard to go 365 days without buying any clothes! Once again my failure was with clothing. This is solidifying the fact that my biggest struggle when it comes to shopping is clothing. I did purchase 2 pairs of jeans, once again because they were on sale and once again 2 pairs in order to get free shipping!! Tell me, do you add more items to get free shipping or is it just me?? The other thing I purchased, which honestly can’t decide if it’s a fail, is a new pair of shoes that I can wear in the water. The water sandals that I had I recently wore to a water park all day and I had horrible blisters. I think it’s because I have had them for so long the material, which is like a shoe string type material, got messed up to where I couldn’t un-tighten the string material from the bottom of the sandals. So, really I am just replacing something that was worn out.

The good news is that I have become more self aware with my feelings or state of mind when I was tempted to buy something. I talked about this last month, but once again I purchased those jeans when I was feeling down, basically like I needed a dopamine hit. I guess I am still struggling to turn to more positive avenues to get that dopamine. I am working on more positive habits to raise my overall mood. Mid-way through August I decided to start walking first thing in the morning before my morning coffee to get my blood flowing and to get sun on my face first thing. I do feel like it is generally helping with my mood! I am trying to give myself grace though. After these 2 more items, that comes to a total of 6 items for the year! That is less than one item of clothing per month! Even if you count the sandals, bringing it to 7 items, that is still less than one item per month. Speaking of the sandals, the difference I could tell with the sandals versus the jeans is that I didn’t do it to get a dopamine hit to feel better. I purchased them to replace something that was no longer working for me. This is why I’m on the fence as to whether the sandals constituted a fail.

Okay, now let’s move on to talking about the wins this month! I always decorate for fall at the end of August, so I have already decorated for fall and I did not purchase any new fall decor! Not even a candle! When I was decorating my fall porch, I really could have purchased a new door mat because ours is not in great shape. And the layering mat under our door mat is really no longer my style, but I decided to go with it anyway and not purchase anything new. In addition to that, I really could use some sort of greenery or foliage for the large planter on our front porch, but once again I made what we had work!

I was not at all tempted to purchase new home decor for the inside of our home, however I did contemplate buying a fall candle because I currently only have two scented candles and neither one is a fall scent. I decided to just use the one I got last year for Christmas and I will leave it out all fall and then into the holiday season. If I burn it out before the holiday season is over I will purchase another one.

There was something I wanted to chat about concerning this topic of fall decor and fall candles. There is nothing wrong with buying new decor for fall, BUT I did want to encourage you that you don’t HAVE to buy new decor and candles for fall! I feel like being exposed to social media and influencers, we are sold this idea that in order to get into the fall vibes we must purchase new things. Like part of getting into the fall feelings is going out and shopping. Experiencing fall doesn’t have to include shopping. Bringing fall feelings into our home can come through styling the fall decor we already have on hand, burning candles, baking fall treats, wrapping up in a cozy blanket in the evening with low lights on, or making yourself a fall inspired drink. Some YouTube videos or Instagram Reels that are fall inspired are centered around shopping, so I just wanted to remind you that those fall feelings can come from other sources than shopping! I have found that I have had to get more creative with what I already have on hand, and to me that is more fun!

Well friends, that is all I have to share for this Thoughtful Thursday! I hope it was encouraging or inspiring! I always like to hear your thoughts on my thoughts, so let me know down in the comments!

Here is the YouTube video I shared in conjunction with this blog post.

THE BENEFITS OF SLOW DECLUTTERING

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For today’s Thoughtful Thursday post I wanted to talk about something that might not be a popular or trending idea with regards to decluttering. I wanted to encourage you that it is okay to declutter slowly, over time. It seems in the decluttering genre online, there is a lot of content around decluttering quickly. I see titles like “I decluttered 90% of my possessions in one day.” Or “Follow these easy steps to declutter quickly.” I think it is common in our culture today to want things done quickly and easily, but the most lasting and sustainable results will come from putting in the work. There is no magic pill, no shortcuts! You have to put in the reps!

There are several reasons why I think decluttering slowly could be more beneficial than decluttering quickly. The first reason is just a practical one: time. We all only have so much time in a day. Many of us have full and busy lives and don’t have large chunks of time to set aside to declutter. It is much easier to declutter a little bit at a time. If we just set aside even 10-15 minutes a week to declutter, we are more likely to get it done because that feels more manageable than spending half the day decluttering.

Another reason it is good to declutter slowly is the reality of decision fatigue. Just like we only have so much time in a day, we each only have so much brain bandwidth to make decisions. I’m sure we have all experienced days where we were exhausted just from all the little decisions (or big ones) we were making all day long. When decluttering a lot of items at once, that is obviously a lot of decisions. At some point we reach a place where our decisions aren’t as clear or confident as they were at the beginning of the day. When we declutter a little at a time, we give our brains time to rest. 

Adjacent to this idea that our decisions might not be as sharp when we declutter quickly is we are less likely to replace the stuff we decluttered when we declutter slowly. Our decisions are more informed and it gives us time to really determine what we are loving and using. Sometimes when we declutter quickly, we have regrets about some of the things we let go of and then we want to replace them. Not only is this is a waste of money, but also is not eco-friendly as some of those items may have ended up in a landfill. On the other hand, we may just feel the need to fill up our spaces when we declutter a lot at once. It can be a shock to go from having a lot of possessions to little possessions, and this could fuel a desire to purchase more.

Lastly, decluttering slowly builds decluttering muscles in a more sustainable way so that regular decluttering becomes a habit. Decluttering slowly gives you time to really learn the skill of decluttering. It gives you time to evaluate what you really use and love.

Don’t get me wrong, I think there is a place for decluttering large quantities at once. Maybe you are moving and need to declutter a lot at once, maybe a loved one has passed away and you need to go through their things and declutter a lot. My point here is that for the average home, it might serve you better to declutter slowly over time.

If you follow me on YouTube, you might have noticed I KEEP DECLUTTERING on my channel. I really thought I had gotten to a good homeostasis point, but I realize it is just because I am decluttering slowly that I am still going. Even with doing a no buy year and bringing less into my home this year, I am still finding things to declutter. I’m finding things over time that I realize I thought I used or I thought I really loved, but in reality I don’t. I have kind of wondered if maybe not bringing things into my home has given me the time, brain bandwidth, and awareness of my stuff to make more ruthless decisions! This is also a reminder that it may take several passes in each area of your home, so keep decluttering!

The video I shared on YouTube in conjunction with this blog post.

NO BUY YEAR JULY RECAP

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Okay friends, this is the last Thursday of the month, so that means I’m sharing my thoughts on how my no buy year has been going so far and for this month. I didn’t share a post in June because things were just kind of going along smoothly and there really wasn’t much to share. I think it helped that I had two get-aways during that month – one to celebrate my husband’s birthday and then another to visit friends in Tucson, and so I think I was distracted from being tempted by buying things. With that said, I will say right up front that I failed AGAIN this month! I will share more about the details and also talk about why I think this month was so hard for me.

I shared in May that I purchased a couple items of clothing, so I felt like I failed in May. Although I was able to somewhat make the excuse that I purchased the items for my trip to Tucson. I didn’t have a caveat for trips in my rules because I didn’t even know I was going to plan that trip. Well, once again I purchased a couple of items of clothing. One was a skirt that was very similar to a skirt I borrowed from my daughter and really loved! And I decided to purchase a second item to get free shipping – now that’s just being wise with my money right?? But the only justification I have for this purchase is that the skirt was on sale and that really got me. Also, I purchased it from a boutique where they don’t restock items. Once they sell out it’s gone. I knew I would like it because I loved my daughter’s skirt. But I still consider this a fail for me for this month. I will say, the further I get into the year, the more difficult it becomes to stick to my rules.

I don’t want to make excuses as to why I cheated this month. I will take full ownership that I failed. One lesson I have learned in life (that is still hard for me as a recovering perfectionist) is that failure isn’t all that bad. Failure leads to learning and growth, that is if we allow it to. I always like to evaluate my failures so I can make better choices moving forward and so I can see the lesson in it. This month has been tough for me. There have been lots of changes happening, most of them are good changes but it’s difficult for me to deal with change. I have backed off on posting on YouTube as I have decided to pursue growing my organizing business again, and while this is a good thing, it is a change. There are a couple of other things going on in my personal life that are also creating changes, but again all good things! With these changes, it has caused my anxiety to spike and my overthinking and rumination to move into high gear. As I have mentioned before, shopping is definitely one of those vices I run to when I am feeling stressed. All month long I have struggled with looking at clothes online – walking right into the place of temptation – instead of choosing healthier ways to handle my stress. So the lesson learned is that I need to not mindlessly do things, but to be aware of when I am feeling that stress, or at least aware when I am starting to run back to familiar places for comfort.

One of the reasons I did a no buy year was in order to really deal with this habit I have of shopping to feel better or to alleviate stress. So I must be more on guard and aware of those moments so I can choose a healthier option for dealing with my stress. This is a difficult thing for me because I do tend towards perfectionism… can we really always make good and healthy choices, or is there a balance in there? Let me know your input down in the comments.

I did want to share a win with you today! Last week I went into Home Goods to look for some coffee syrup. Random side note here, but this is a great place to find coffee syrups at a discounted price! But I noticed while I was there, that I was not at all tempted to look through home decor, blankets, or pillows. While in the past I might have been tempted to look, this time I was not and it was quite the contrary… instead I really was repulsed by the idea of bringing more things home. I don’t know why I don’t feel this way about clothes yet! Make it make sense! BUT, back to my trip to Home Goods. I was browsing through the food, and then I went to the section with organizing tools, just to see what kinds of things are available in case this is somewhere I might want to shop for clients. This was on a Sunday, so the place was packed. People everywhere pushing carts full of stuff. I couldn’t help but feel like I had taken the proverbial “red pill” (IYKYK) and was aware of the truth. The truth that none of this stuff would make you happy. As a matter of fact, once you walk away with your purchase the dopamine hit is done. Did you know that dopamine is released during the actual shopping part – it’s the thrill of the hunt, which is human nature. But shopping is short-form dopamine, meaning that up feeling won’t last long. And then you are left with this item or these items that you now need to take care of – clean, organize, and maybe one day make a decision about decluttering it. It’s a silly cycle that happens if you think about it. You want that dopamine rush so you shop, but once you purchase it and bring it home that rush is over, then you declutter to make space for more stuff. I want off this crazy merry-go-round! Not that I will never buy things again, but it’s just good to be aware of all of this! And we work hard to make this money that we are basically using to buy stuff that we often don’t need and it creates more work for us!

Okay my friends, that is all I have to share for this month’s no buy year recap. As always, I love to hear your thoughts on my thoughts so let me know down in the comments.

Here is the YouTube video I shared in conjunction with this blog post.

NO BUY YEAR MAY RECAP

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It is the last Thursday of the month, so that means I am sharing with you my recap for the month of May in my no buy year. And y’all, it was a rough one! I’ve definitely been struggling more as the year progresses. So, I would call the month of May a failure month! I did purchase a few items of clothing this month. Some my conscience could justify, but others I could not really justify. I mean, I have excuses but I felt like it was a failure. As with anything in life, when we fail, the important thing is not that we DID fail, but it’s how you handle the failure. It’s easy to give up when you have a failure. But I think it is important to just keep moving forward with your goals. So, you hit a bump in the road – that is not a reason to give up completely.

Okay, so I’m sure you want to know the details, right? Or maybe I just feel the need to share the details so I can tell you all the reasons why I failed so I feel a little more justified. My first failure was something that I was able to talk myself into being okay. For those of you who don’t follow me on Instagram, I did go to the Malibu Barbie cafe here in Austin with a couple of friends. We were going to all wear pink, as you do to a Barbie cafe. I only own two pink shirts and both of them are very muted pink, not very Barbie like. So I decided I would go thrift an outfit for this occasion. One thing I didn’t think of with regards to the no buy year is different occasions that would come up that would require me (or that I would want to) buy clothes for. I did feel better that I was thrifting the clothes. 

So right when I walked into Savers, on the first rack in the front, which was a sale rack, I found a bright pink Barbie shirt! Part of me thought this is perfect. I should just go with this. But did I do that?? No. I thought it would likely work, but I wanted to look for other options. I had in my head an idea of what I wanted. I was thinking of a pink crop top or camisole type top to wear with a skirt. I found a couple of other pink shirts that might have worked, so I grabbed those. Since you can only do exchanges at Savers I decided whatever I didn’t use I could give my daughter to exchange for whatever she wanted because she loves thrifting. I also came across a top that I really loved and it was a good brand in good condition, but also a top I thought my daughter would like so I purchased that as well, although I did end up giving it to my daughter. ALSO, while I was looking in the intimates section for a camisole I came across this slip skirt (really just a slip, but a popular look for skirts right now). It looks very similar to a skirt my daughter has that I have borrowed from her in the past and really love! At the moment I justified purchasing it because I thought I could wear it with one of the tops for the Barbie cafe, but in reality I know I just wanted it! The fact that it cost $7 made it even more difficult to pass up!! I did end up wearing the Barbie shirt, but with a different skirt. I gave the other two shirts to my daughter along with the receipt so she could exchange them for whatever she wanted. I could justify the Barbie shirt, but also buying the skirt I view as a failure for this month. Although, speaking of events – I am going to a concert this week with a friend to see my favorite band perform and I plan on wearing that skirt! Does that justify it??  Probably not, but I like to pretend that it does.

BUT WAIT, there’s more! I will be going to Tucson at the end of June to meet up with some YouTube friends, and I found a couple of things online that I wanted for that trip. Once again, I didn’t make any exceptions for this trip because I actually didn’t know I was going until after the year started. I consider this a failure as well though because I know I didn’t really NEED anything new for this trip. I just WANTED something new. Let me know if you are the type who buys new clothes for trips! But I think the reality is, I am just struggling as the year progresses. I’m finding it more difficult to resist the temptation to buy things. I also think that it is a slippery slope, and this is true for anything in life. When we give into our temptations, I feel like it makes it easier to say yes the next time. Perhaps that is what was happening for me after purchasing the skirt, my inhibitions were lowered.

This is the skirt I purchased at Savers.

Lastly, I did purchase a rug and drapes for my kitchen nook makeover. At first I did not feel like this was a failure because it’s not exactly home decor. But after talking it through with friends, I realized that I was maybe just shifting my spending to items for a makeover instead of clothes or home decor. Which now we know isn’t fully the case since I also purchased clothes this month! I did also want to purchase some dining chairs for the space, but I will not be purchasing those for now. But stay tuned to see that makeover video hopefully coming up this month!

Whenever we get derailed from our goals, all we can do is start over the next day. I failed this month, but I’m going to get back at it starting today! If you want to continue to follow my progress be sure to follow my blog!

The YouTube video I shared in conjunction with this blog post.

DEALING WITH BAGGAGE

/ OrganizedWithJoy / Leave a comment

So for today’s Thoughtful Thursday post I wanted to talk about baggage. I thought this was an appropriate topic since I recently returned from a trip. As I was walking through the airport with my carry-on rolling bag, my computer bag, and my purse, I was thinking about what a great analogy it was to mental and emotional baggage that we carry around with us. I saw this gentleman on one of my flights and all he had was his phone and a reader tablet. I thought to myself how nice that must be to have so little to manage while traveling. That’s when I got to thinking about how this mimics mental and emotional baggage. How much easier, or lighter, it must feel to walk through life with little baggage.

I actually talked about this idea last fall while preparing to go on a trip. I can link that post here. But I wanted to flesh out a couple of different ideas regarding this analogy of physical and mental/emotional baggage. One thing that struck me on this trip was how much easier it was for me to maneuver my bags through the airport and on the plane (lifting them into the overhead compartment.) I realized my muscles have gotten stronger since last fall with the consistent weight lifting I have been doing. I realized when we deal with difficult circumstances in life and process our feelings around them, “carrying” this baggage gets easier. It doesn’t feel as cumbersome when our emotional muscles are stronger.

The other thing that struck me on this trip is the importance of help or having a community around you when you are dealing with heavy or difficult circumstances. Yes, even strangers have helped me in the past with lifting my bag into the overhead compartment, but my son came with me on this trip and I realized it was nice for one of us to sit in the airport with the bags while the other one went to the restroom, or went to get food or a coffee. It was nice to have someone take the load for a while. It reminded me of the importance of friends and family in life to help us with our mental and emotional load.

The other thing I thought about regarding baggage, is how maybe everything I brought was not necessary. To be fair, I did use everything other than one workout t-shirt, but for the sake of this analogy, I think it’s good to evaluate what mental and emotional baggage we are carrying around and what we could declutter. Y’all know I’m all about decluttering and living with less as I pursue becoming a minimalist. And I can assure you that it takes time! Especially if it’s baggage you’ve been carrying around for a long time and it has accumulated. I have been decluttering and working on minimizing our possessions for many years now! And if you regularly watch my YouTube channel you know that is ongoing! AND, not only do I have to deal with past stuff that has accumulated (like our past emotional baggage) but also deal with the day to day maintenance. We constantly have to deal with things coming into and going out of our homes. Mental and emotional baggage is the same way. We daily have to deal with relational interactions and continual self discovery and growth. It is a constant process.

Recognizing our mental and emotional baggage as something that needs to be “gone through” and processed is the start. Acknowledgment is always the biggest step we can take. And then being aware that it will be a process and not an overnight fix or change!

Here is the YouTube video I shared in conjunction with this blog post.