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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.

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 MARCH RECAP

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Okay friends, for today’s Thoughtful Thursday post I wanted to share with you about how my no buy year has been going. And also to share with you a bit about my March challenge in which I was walking everyday in March.

So, at the top I will say I have continued to succeed in my no buy year! So yay!! Honestly, I am wondering if I wasn’t hard core enough with myself. There are still a lot of things that I purchase that others may say is a luxury. For example I do still get coffee out. I have put a limit on myself of one per week and I feel good about that, so I have continued that practice. The things I was focusing on for this no buy challenge are specifically clothes, shoes, accessories, and home decor. Maybe for one of my monthly challenges I will get more hard core for that month?

Y’all, I felt like in the first couple of months I was having all of these revelations, and here in March I don’t necessarily have any big epiphanies to report. As an all or nothing sort of gal, I really like that I don’t even have to think about if I will spend money on these categories I have designated as part of my no buy year, I just don’t do it. I like having that firm rule for myself, making it really simple.

I did want to share one struggle that happened this month. Although I did not purchase anything I wasn’t supposed to, I found that there was this one week that was particularly challenging for me, and it was that week that I made some decisions on a couple of items that I have been putting off purchasing. I could feel in my heart that even though I had thought it through and was sure of my decision, I think I pulled the trigger BECAUSE of my emotional state of struggling. One item was new sheets for our bed, which really was long overdue. I didn’t really need to make a decision about this, because we loved the sheets we got last time so we wanted the same ones. But that day I was just processing some tough feelings, and ended up going into West Elm to get the sheets. I think there was part of me that bought them for the same old reasons I have shopped in the past – to ease my anxiety or negative emotions. This was something that was on the list of things I could purchase because I knew we needed them, but reflecting back I just don’t like my heart posture.

The other item I purchased that SAME WEEK was a computer bag. I talked about this in my first post discussing my no buy year, this is something I was going to allow myself to purchase because I was still on the hunt for a computer bag that would meet all of my needs. I had been looking at several different bags, but finally just took the plunge and purchased one. Once again though, reflecting back I might have made the decision just because I wanted that dopamine hit to make me feel better. With that said, I have no regrets and I think I chose the right bag because I love the one that I got! So, the take away from this month is to continue to be self aware and reflective as I do make purchases!

The other thing I wanted to talk about was how I did with the walking challenge in the month of March! So, I have a confession: I skipped two days. Currently it is still the end of March so hopefully it will only be those two days I miss. BUT, I have made it more a part of my routine to walk regularly and that was my hope for this challenge. It was actually a challenge though! There were some days that I really didn’t want to do the walk, but I did it anyway! I think the most difficult days are the days I lift at the gym because my weight lifting sessions are pretty time consuming and my muscles feel fatigued after those workouts. Moving forward, I do want to walk on the days I don’t lift for sure

For my April challenge I will be challenging myself to living with a more minimalist closet. I removed several items from my closet to see how it is living without so many clothes. I have done this challenge in the past, but previously it was more extreme and more of a capsule wardrobe, which I learned I do not like. So this is more in between capsule and what I had in my closet. You can see that process in the YouTube video I created in conjunction with this blog post!

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


NO BUY/LOW BUY FEBRUARY INSIGHTS

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Hey friends, for today’s Thoughtful Thursday, it is the last Thursday of the month, so I want to give a recap on how my no buy/low buy year has been going so far. I did want to report at the top that I was successful for another month! Well, I know we still have a few more days in February as I type this, but I don’t anticipate having any slip ups the next few days.

The first realization I had this month was noticing my tendency to overbuy multiples when I like something. I guess I kind of already knew this. But going through the process of decluttering on a new level and not bringing in new items, I see it more clearly. My leather earring collection is a perfect example. Now, to be fair, I have been collecting these earrings for over 10 years, and there was a time when I was wearing them everyday. But, I don’t need as many as I had. I think before decluttering I counted around 30 pairs? Which is really quite ridiculous! I could wear different earrings every day of the month! I did declutter a handful of them, giving them to a friend who also really likes that style, but honestly could probably declutter more. The earrings are not the only category of items I have this struggle of overbuying. I know I have several pairs of shoes that all look very similar as well. I need to be more mindful of this when purchasing items moving forward after my no buy year. I think this was just a sign of the habit of shopping, and always wanting the new and shiny! 

I know I have shared this in the past, but I will share it today as it is relevant to this conversation. There was definitely a time when I had unhealthy spending habits and used shopping as a way to cope with anxiety and stress. Early on in our marriage I was very frugal and a lot more intentional about what I purchased because my husband’s income was modest, and we were living solely on his income. But looking back, I see that as he progressed in his career and his income grew, our spending just kept creeping up as well. Regardless of how much we make, I want to be very intentional with how we spend our money, and in particular what comes into our home. It’s honestly not just about the money anymore, it’s about my desire to live with less. I shared a Joshua Becker quote over on Instagram this week that said, “We don’t buy things with money. We buy them with hours from our lives.” And this really resonated with me. As someone who has primarily been a homemaker for most of my adult life, I am weary of taking care of stuff and I am just wanting to simplify!

Another thing I have been thinking about this month is wondering if this no buy year has been a springboard for me to implementing other healthy habits. I mentioned in last month’s recap that I am also doing a challenge each month this year in addition to the no buy year. Honestly, the challenges seem so simple because I know it’s only going to be one month as opposed to the entire year! In January I chose to eliminate alcohol and I decided to roll that into February. And then in February I chose to give up sugar for the month (which has definitely been more challenging!) But overall, I feel like doing this no buy challenge has given me more of a desire to make healthy choices in life all around. In March, instead of eliminating a possible vice from my life, I am going to challenge myself to walk every single day in March. I have been walking more often, but I would like to make it a daily habit. Walking more is one of the goals I wrote down for my year, so this is a way to build that habit into my daily routines. We’ll see how it goes!

But I did want to talk about something that surprised me a little even though it should not have. In February with the  no buy year, no alcohol, plus no sugar, I realized I had eliminated a lot of my go to vices if I was having a rough day. It was a good thing that I was almost forced to experience those negative feelings without covering them up with something else. It forced me to choose a more healthy or positive way to deal with these feelings – like talking to friends, journaling, or taking an Epsom salt bath at the end of the day. It has been good to learn to replace these negative coping mechanisms with more positive ones.

Like I mentioned at the beginning of this post, I did not fail this month BUT I did experience some temptation. Remember last month when I said I told myself to scroll past the ads on Instagram. Well, I have not been listening to myself! Those Instagram ads just get me! They are always showing me ads for clothes and that is for sure my main vice as far as spending goes. So I need to get back to being disciplined about scrolling through ads!

The last thing I wanted to share is that I really feel like my creativity is in overdrive! I think this is because I have that extra time and bandwidth that is no longer focused on shopping. I have been working on fixing up our home and while I should be getting some practical things done around our house, I just can’t help but come up with different design ideas! Last month I shared a little makeover in our back entryway, and I have some other ideas for other areas of my home, so stay tuned if you like that sort of content!

Okay friends, that is all for this month’s recap! I am shocked and also so thankful for all of the insights I have had so far this year, month two into my no buy year! If you are doing a no buy year, I would love to hear how it’s going for you! Or just let me know your thoughts on my thoughts today!

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

DECLUTTERING CONFESSIONS

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Okay friends, for today’s Thoughtful Thursday I wanted to share a few confessions about my decluttering practices. One thing I have been thinking a lot about is authenticity online. I think it is okay to have some boundaries online, but it is definitely a tough balance to keep some things private while still being authentic. There are parts of my life that I keep private because it has nothing to do with the content that I share. My aim with my blog and YouTube channel is to inspire and motivate people. My content is about cleaning, decluttering, and organizing. SO, with that said I want to share my confessions about decluttering as I think sometimes I think I can make it look simple.

My first confession: there are some items that I do not remove from my home right away. For the most part I actually remove all items I declutter from my home after collecting enough to take to a thrift shop. BUT, sometimes I have items that I am struggling to let go and I will stockpile those items in my laundry room cabinet. Typically these are items that I have a sentimental attachment to, but I do think it’s best to get rid of them. It does help to separate them out and keep them down there because I think it begins to break that attachment.

With regards to the stuff that I have decluttered, but really ends up in quarantine, I have a story to share with you. Recently I decluttered quite a bit of jewelry. This is one category that I really struggle to truly let go of it so I have quite the pile just quarantined in my laundry room. Unless I give it away to someone who I know will enjoy it. In this last round of decluttering I sent several pairs of large leather earrings to a friend who wanted them! But the other pieces I added to the growing pile that was still left in my laundry room. I decided to go through the jewelry really quickly to see if I was still feeling okay with letting it all go. I came across this bracelet that had the phrase “Choose Joy” inscribed on it. I actually purchased this bracelet along with a similar one that read “create” many years ago at a local boutique here in Austin. In general, I do not often wear bracelets. I find they just get in my way when I am trying to do everyday chores. I believe that is why I chose to declutter these bracelets. I was not wearing them often enough to warrant keeping them. But when I came across that “choose joy” bracelet, the meaning hit me a bit differently than when I purchased it. The artist who created this bracelet probably intended for the meaning to be a reminder to choose joy everyday. But this time when I read the message I thought to myself “choose joy” huh. Choose myself. Once again my name provides a double meaning for me.

I feel like one thing I have learned over the last several years is to quit putting myself last. Quit constantly putting everyone else’s needs and desires ahead of my own. Not in a selfish way, not in a rude way, but recognizing that it is okay to have needs and desires. Suddenly this bracelet’s message meant more to me than it previously did. AND, you guessed it, I did retrieve this bracelet from the declutter pile and I’ve been wearing it! So if you are really hesitating to follow through on decluttering something, or a category of things, it’s okay to wait until you are fully ready to let go!

My next decluttering confession is that I have had regrets on items that I have decluttered. But, honestly, it is only one category of things that I truly have regret for decluttering and that is the physical copy of Bible studies I have gone through. Usually after I am done with a Bible study I just recycle it unless it was something really meaningful and I thought I would revisit the information later. I wish that I had kept these as it might be a neat thing for my kids or grandkids to look through one day. I especially regret all of the inductive Bible study materials I got rid of. If you’re not familiar with this type of study, it is looking at the words used and cross referencing the Hebrew words for the Old Testament and the Greek for the New Testament. I have done this type of study for 15-20 books in the Bible over the years. I really wish I had kept all of those materials. BUT, I guess I can start over and save them moving forward!

My last decluttering confession is that I do experience guilt about the wasted money I spend on items I am decluttering. I have spoken about this before, but I recognize that it really is a privilege that I can declutter. I recognize that some people are more hesitant to declutter because they can’t easily financially replace items if they change their minds. I know that at one point in my life I used shopping as a way of coping with stress and anxiety. This is exactly why I chose to do a no buy year back in 2019, to reset these toxic habits. And I saw this habit creeping back in, especially over the past year, so I decided to do another no buy year this year. I do wish it had not taken me so long to learn that this was a coping mechanism. I don’t like how wasteful I was in the past, and I don’t like that I was on that consumerism hamster wheel. But all I can do is make better decisions moving forward!

I hope you found these decluttering confessions interesting! Let me know if you have any decluttering specific questions for me and I can address those in a future blog post. But as always, I would love to hear your thoughts on my thoughts today! Let me know down in the comments!

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

FUN MINIMALISM GAME: SILENCING A ROOM

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For today’s Thoughtful Thursday post I wanted to talk about a concept I recently learned about from another YouTuber. In her video she talked about the idea of silencing or quieting a room. I have been on this journey towards minimalism and decluttering for almost 10 years now and I’m always looking for different ways to level up in order to challenge myself further on this journey. The basic idea of silencing a room is to remove everything from the space (or most things) in order to reset it to square one, and then bring items back into the space as necessary.

I decided to try this technique for the first time in our living room. I know this might work better in a more functional space, like a bathroom or bedroom, but I decided it was a good space to start in our home since this space was fairly minimal to begin with. I did challenge myself to remove items from this space and to live with it for about a month to see how I feel. 

As I pursue minimalism, one of the challenges I have faced is finding the balance between creating spaces which are minimal and easy to maintain while also feeling cozy and inviting. Our living room is definitely one of those spaces I have been working on to create that perfect balance. I was surprised by how much I was able to remove from this space and as I have lived with it for a few days, I still feel like it feels cozy and not sterile.

I do think when we are pursuing minimalism it can be a slow process. I know for me I have decluttered our home slowly and in phases over the last 10 years. I have been married for almost 30 years, so I decided it took 20+ years to accumulate all of our possessions, so it might take a while to declutter them. Doing it slowly and in phases has helped me to not feel as overwhelmed. However, when we are slowly decluttering we may not notice our progress. I highly encourage you to take photos or videos of your spaces as you are on a decluttering journey so you can chronicle your progress. I’m thankful that I have a YouTube channel which has organically allowed me to keep track of this progress as I have so many videos on my channel of how my home has transformed over the past 5 years.

Here is one item I removed from my living room. I am not quite ready to declutter this piece, I was just removing it from the space for now.

Sometimes we can feel like we are not making much progress and that is why documenting with photos or videos can be helpful. But I wanted to share a story with you of something that really made me recognize my progress. Over the holidays I was at a friend’s home for a party. I always viewed this friend as being minimal and she and I have similar home decor taste. Granted I know her Christmas decor was up, but sitting in her living room I realized how minimal my home and home decor was compared to hers. Don’t get me wrong, her home is beautiful, clean, and organized, but the difference was striking to me. I had never noticed how much more decor she had than me being in her home before.

One of the greatest benefits of decluttering and pursuing minimalism is having less to take care of. Less to clean, less to organize, less to manage. When we have less to manage we are able to pursue other things. We have more time to invest in hobbies and relationships, which I find to be far more fulfilling than taking care of stuff.

I am excited to implement this concept in other spaces around my home in order to challenge myself to potentially declutter even more! The more we declutter, the more we build those muscles, and it gets easier! I shared a video over on my YouTube channel of the process of silencing my living room. If you would like to check it out I will link it below!

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

ORGANIZATION MAINTENANCE

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For today’s Thoughtful Thursday post I wanted to talk about a couple of things. First, I wanted to share how important organization maintenance is and I also wanted to talk a little bit about my plans for 2025 for food purchases in light of my no buy year. Of course we have to buy food, but I am just going to be more intentional about it.

So first I wanted to talk about how one tip in keeping your home organized is to maintain your organized spaces. Maybe this is an obvious point, especially for spaces like the pantry that have a high turnover rate. But we can sometimes neglect maintaining our organized spaces after we have done the initial process of getting it organized. Having an organization framework with organization tools will definitely help to make it easier to keep your spaces organized, but they do need to be maintained, and sometimes revamped completely like I did with my pantry as your individual or household needs change.

Our homes and possessions are ever evolving, so we need to recognize how we organize should evolve as well. As we transition through different life stages our needs change. We have different possessions based on what life phase we are in, or based on our hobbies and other needs. When my kids were younger and we had very busy schedules I relied more on processed or pre packaged foods for packing lunches or even to make a quick, easy dinner. My pantry looked very different 10, even 5 years ago based on a different life stage and different needs. Keeping our spaces organized is just one of those homemaking tasks that will be ever present! Like dishes and laundry!

The other thing I wanted to talk about today is how I’m being more intentional with the food I purchase in 2025 as a part of my no buy year. There were a lot of items I used to purchase at Costco that I will no longer purchase. I want to focus on primarily having whole foods on hand and not as much processed and pre packaged foods. This is why I decided to transform pantry into a primarily ingredient pantry so that it was easier for me to see the healthy snack or food options in general at the front of the pantry, or as I like to call the prime real estate area.

The other thing I am going to change is to not purchase so much back stock to have on hand. I don’t mind having a certain amount, but I would like to be more reasonable than I have been in the past. Currently there are four people living here, so I see no need to have a ton of extra food on hand. In general, as I pursue minimalism, I’m realizing the value of not having a bunch of back stock on hand – whether it’s food, cleaning products, toiletries, or beauty products. It’s easier to maintain our organized spaces the less inventory we have on hand! I am being really conscientious about using up what we have on hand before purchasing more and making my meal plans around what I already have on hand. This will require me to buy less. Also, if I want to try a new recipe that calls for an obscure spice or ingredient that I don’t keep on hand, I will see if there is any substitute that would work that I already have. Lower inventory equals less to take care of equals more time and more peace!

Okay friends, that is all I have to share for today’s Thoughtful Thursday! I hope you enjoyed hearing what I had to share today! Please let me know your thoughts on my thoughts down in the comments!

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

 

5 BENEFITS OF MINIMAL HOLIDAY DECOR

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Okay friends, for today’s Thoughtful Thursday I wanted to share with you the 5 benefits of having minimal Christmas decor. I thought this was a great topic for this time of year as we all begin to get our holiday decor out! And before I get into that, just want to make a disclaimer and say I fully appreciate people who like to go maximalist for the holidays! If you enjoy having an abundance of decor for the Christmas season and it works for you then go for it! I just wanted to share the benefits of less!

The first benefit of minimal Christmas decor is that it saves you time! It takes less time to put up the decor and it also takes less time to take it down. Around the holidays is such a busy time of year with extra obligations and events to attend. There is shopping, wrapping, filling out Christmas cards, holiday parties, and end of the season children’s events to attend! Not to mention the extra baking and cooking this time of year! Having extra time is always a good thing, but especially around the holidays!

The second benefit is that you are able to fully enjoy the items you have to display. With a curated holiday collection of decor, you are able to appreciate each piece fully! You are able to focus on quality over quantity, and each piece becomes that much more special. For me, an extra side benefit of this is that you are more intentional about what you purchase for holiday decor, not overspending on decor during a season where there is more financial burden than the rest of the year.

The next benefit of minimal holiday decor is it prevents overstimulation. The holiday season can be a season of overstimulation! This season is a time where excess seems to be acceptable – eating, drinking, socializing, gifts, and of course decor! All of this excess can be very overstimulating. We all have a different bandwidth for how much we are able to handle before we feel overstimulated. I admit that I think I have a lower threshold than most. But with less to visually consume each day, the less you will be stimulated. This is honestly true for decor year round! Overstimulation can lead to stress as well, so this also can prevent additional stress in what can be an already stressful season.

The fourth benefit is that minimal Christmas decor promotes creativity and personalization. With minimal decor, it affords you the opportunity to get creative. I like to arrange my holiday decor differently every year. This helps me to not be as tempted to purchase new decor each year. I like to find not only a different space to style my items around my home, but also styling them in a new way. I chose to style the white ceramic trees on my coffee table this year, which lead to me coming up with this whole white theme idea! Last year I styled these trees on my mantel {{see photo above.}} It also encourages personalization and uniqueness as you curate your collection intentionally and style it in a creative way. There is something to be said for being intentional with what you purchase and collecting unique pieces over time. 

Lastly, with minimal Christmas decor we are able to focus more on the holiday spirit – spending time with loved ones, enjoying holiday gatherings and traditions, or cooking and baking special holiday treats and meals. Focusing more on the essence of the season – family, friends, and memories, instead of getting lost in excessive decor will be more meaningful in the long run.

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