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GETTING ORGANIZED FOR THE HOLIDAY SEASON

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I can’t believe it but with November here, the holidays are just around the corner! The holidays can be a stressful time with all the extra activities, parties, gifts, and holiday food prep. The best way to navigate the season with grace is to be prepared. This time of year is a great time to get spaces decluttered and organized, which will help to make the holidays run a bit more smoothly. I have some decluttering tips for you as we approach the holiday season.

The first tip is to assess what holiday decor you have prior to purchasing new decor. It can be easy to fill your cart with all the new must haves as you peruse the isles of those big box stores, but I think it is best to be more intentional when bringing new holiday decor into your home. Get those holiday decor boxes down prior to shopping, make a decorating plan, then declutter items accordingly. Determine what types of new decor pieces are necessary, or perhaps even consider not bringing in any new pieces this year!

The next tip is to spend time decluttering kids toys, games, puzzles, and crafts. I remember when my kids were young, I always wanted to prepare for the influx of new toys. For most of us, we have a limited amount of space to store these items. The toy closet, shelf, or bins are natural boundaries. Assess what you have, what is on your kids’ wish list, and what you notice they have outgrown or no longer play with. Depending on the age of your children, you could include them in this process. Perhaps you could make a game of it and give a box to each child to fill with toys they no longer love to donate to a women’s shelter or foster care home so those children can get “new to them” toys for Christmas.

Cleaning out, decluttering, and organizing high traffic holiday spaces is another tip. Spaces like the kitchen, the coat closet, and the guest room are areas you can prioritize on getting tidied for the holiday season. Make sure all the kitchen cabinets are tidied and everything is put in the correct spot, making holiday cooking and baking more efficient. Go through the coats, hats, scarves, and gloves determining if there is anything you could declutter. Find the items that don’t have matches, or items that your kids have outgrown. Again, donating them to a charitable cause like a women’s shelter or foster home early in the season would be a blessing for them! Make sure your guest room has clean sheets, bedding, and towels. You can also restock any toiletries or extra items you keep on hand for guests.

Another tip is to set up an area dedicated to gifts, gift wrapping, and holiday cards. Having a dedicated space for these items will help to keep things organized so you know where everything is. Having a space like this set up will help so that you know exactly where to place the gifts, wrapping paper, and cards when you purchase them.

Lastly, I wanted to share a few tips for any of you who are dealing with extra stress during the holiday season, whether it’s a loss of a job, a big move, a sick loved one, going through a divorce, or dealing with aging parents. There are a variety of things that can add even extra stress to an already busy and chaotic time of year. First, learn the art of imperfect hosting. You don’t have to go all out when hosting holiday gatherings during a stressful season. Keep things simple and focus on the relationships and conversations over elaborate meals and decor. People remember how you make them feel in your home, not how your home looks! Give yourself grace. Especially as a mom, I know I can be hard on myself to make sure everything is magical for each holiday season and celebration. Do what you can with what you have. Even if you can’t execute your usual holiday traditions, I’m sure this year will be memorable! Lastly, be sure to set aside time to relax. In difficult seasons of life it is hard to be intentional about setting aside time to relax, but it is so important when navigating a challenging time in life especially if it intersects with the holiday season. If you would like to read an entire blog post on tips for settling into a new home during the holiday season, check out this blog post that I was featured in by Monica DiSchiano for even more detailed tips!

FINDING COZY WITHIN MINIMALISM

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Fall is my favorite time of year. Perhaps it’s because I have lived in Austin for almost 25 years and fall signals the beginning of cooler weather – a much needed reprieve from the months of oppressive heat. But fall is also the time of year we can embrace the cozy vibes. Warm coffee, cozy blankets, fuzzy pillows, and fragrant smells of fall baking and fall candles.This is the time of year that can be so tempting to get caught up in the current of consumerism. It starts with the beginning of the school year – new clothes, new shoes, school supplies, then trickles into new fall decor, new candles, Starbucks new fall flavored drinks. Then we roll into the holidays – Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. With these come more spending. We all want our spaces to feel cozy! But today I want to talk about something I’ve wrestled with for years: how to create spaces that are minimal and cozy. Some of this spending is inevitable. But I do think we can create cozy homes with what we have.

When I first started pursuing minimalism, I thought, “I could never be a minimalist.” I love decorating our home and making it feel inviting — that didn’t seem to fit the minimalist mold or minimalist aesthetic. I have been pursuing minimalism for over a decade, and I’ve realized minimalism isn’t one-size-fits-all. There’s no single definition, no box to check. To me, it simply means living with the things I use and love. With that in mind, here are the ways I keep my home cozy and inviting while still leaning into minimalism.

Finding the balance is one of the most important things. Balancing minimal and cozy hasn’t come naturally — I love decorating, but I don’t want my spaces to feel cluttered either. For me, it’s been a process of trial and error: setting up decor, living with it, and deciding if it feels right. The longer I’ve pursued minimalism, the easier that balance has gotten. And over the years I have found I actually enjoy a more minimally decorated home. Each person needs to find the balance that works for them!

Rotate instead of accumulate is something that has helped me on my minimalism journey when it comes to decor.  I do have holiday pieces like my stash for fall and Christmas, but most of my decor could work year-round. I have found just rearranging it for a new look helps curb my decor shopping. Moving pieces to a different room or setup keeps things feeling fresh without adding to my collection of decor. I also lean toward decor that transitions well across seasons, so I’m not packing everything up every few months.

Cozy isn’t always about stuff.  One of the biggest shifts for me has been realizing that cozy doesn’t have to mean more things — it’s a feeling you can create. This is the idea behind hygge (pronounced “hoo-gah”), a cultural practice that originated in Denmark and is embraced across the Nordic countries. It’s centered on engaging the five senses: layering different textures with pillows and blankets, using ambient lighting, playing calming music, lighting a candle, running a diffuser, or having something baking in the oven. A home-cooked meal or a warm loaf of bread can make a space feel cozy all on its own. Cozy minimalism is also about the people in the room. Creating a space where friends and family feel welcome — prioritizing conversation, hugs, or curling up together under a blanket — often does more for that inviting feeling than any object could. If anything, too much stuff can get in the way of those moments.

Order creates calm in your home.  A cozy space is also an orderly one. Clutter in our physical space tends to create clutter in our minds, and that’s not exactly peaceful. A clean, tidy space naturally feels cozier — and that’s a lot easier to maintain with less to take care of in the first place. When I first started exploring minimalism, the sparse, stripped-down spaces I saw in blog posts and videos didn’t appeal to me at all. But I’ve learned there’s a real balance to strike — and that minimal and cozy can absolutely coexist. I’d love to hear from you in the comments! Are you working toward that same balance between minimal and cozy? Or how do you make your space feel cozy for fall?

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

4 TIPS TO DECLUTTER SENTIMENTAL ITEMS

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For today’s Thoughtful Thursday post I wanted to share about how difficult it is to declutter sentimental items. On my YouTube channel I shared the process of cleaning out our attic space and decluttering sentimental items and last week I shared a video of my daughter and I decluttering her sentimental items. It was tough. I wanted to share with you some tips before you start decluttering sentimental items.

Tip number one is don’t start with decluttering sentimental items. This should be one of the last categories of items you tackle when you are on a decluttering journey. I have been on a decluttering journey for several years, so I have truly built up my decluttering muscles before tackling this big project. Decluttering is a skill that is built over time and with practice. It does get easier over time to make decisions about what you want to keep and what you want to declutter. Saving sentimental items for last just makes sense because it is the most difficult thing to declutter.

The next tip I have is don’t rush. I ended up doing this project over the course of a few weeks. I can assure you since I just finished this project that going through your sentimental items is very emotionally and even mentally taxing. It takes a lot of time and energy to make decluttering decisions with regards to our sentimental items. Give yourself the time you need to not rush the decisions. Also, prepare to make multiple passes through your sentimental items. It is good to make multiple passes through all of our possessions, which is why you see an end of the month declutter with me video on my YouTube channel every month and I’ve been doing that series on my channel for years. But it is especially important when it comes to sentimental items. I will certainly make more passes through my sentimental items before we end up moving away from our current home and downsizing.

Another tip I wanted to share is to have a friend or family member help you talk through your sentimental items. It can be really helpful to talk through why you want to keep certain items. Having someone there with you in the process can give you an outside perspective and help you to balance the emotions with a more objective viewpoint. And honestly, sometimes it just helps to talk through things out loud.

The final tip I wanted to share is don’t get “lost in the weeds” so to speak. It can be easy to overthink things when trying to declutter sentimental items. Stay focused on one category at a time. Often our initial gut instinct on whether to keep or get rid of a sentimental item is the right one. It can be easy to go back and forth with this category of items because of that emotional component. Try your best to stay on task and not overthink each decision. I don’t mean to be morbid, but at the end of the day, what is important to you will likely not be as important to the next generations and none of us can take our stuff with us when we go!

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

THE BUY/DECLUTTER CYCLE

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I recently heard an interview between Cass from the YouTube channel The Clutterbug and Peter Walsh, long time decluttering and minimalism guru. If you don’t know who he is, definitely check him out! He hosted a show called Clean Sweep which aired in the early 2000’s and he has a more recent show, Space Invaders. I wanted to share a few points that really resonated with me while listening to this podcast. The overarching theme for this podcast was the idea that we don’t have a decluttering problem as much as we have a consumerism problem. I have known this to be true for myself for a while now. I have done many no buy months over the past decade and did a no buy year in 2019 and then again in 2025. I have talked about the buy/declutter cycle before, so I am well aware of this truth that the problem is consumerism. It was a good reminder and Peter laid it out there and didn’t sugar coat anything, which I appreciated!

The other thought that came to me while I was listening to this podcast is that I feel like I’m not as disciplined as others perceive me to be. This thought came to me with regards to not having the discipline to stick with my shopping boundaries I set up for this year. I shared everything I have bought over the past 6 weeks over on my YouTube channel and I feel slightly embarrassed because I find it to be excessive! My goal was to not purchase more than 3 items of clothing each month, but in February I ended up purchasing 6 items, and 7 if we are going to count a baseball cap. And in March I also purchased 7 items! But I wanted to share because I never want to be inauthentic and come across as more disciplined than I actually am! I know that I tend to be hard on myself and those areas in which I’m disciplined I now view as just normal everyday habits. But I recognize why others see it as discipline. The point I wanted to make is that we all have our struggles, and I don’t want anyone to view me from a skewed perspective. I want to be real with what I share online and show that I’m not always disciplined in every area of my life! I will share some outfits I wore on my recent trip to Vegas, some of the items were items I purchased recently.

Something else that really hit me was when Peter quoted the Bible “thou shall not covet.” I feel like there are some sins that are just acceptable. At least culturally acceptable and this is one of them. When we want what other people have, that is coveting. Unfortunately that is just the influencer culture these days, which is so prevalent. It is an influencer’s goal to get you to covet what they have so that you purchase what they have and then they get a cut of the price you pay. To be honest that doesn’t sit fully well with me given I do have an audience. I want to be mindful of this as I promote brands. 

But with that said, Peter also suggested he didn’t think everyone should become monastic. This also resonated with me. I need to find a way to balance! He was not claiming everyone should quit buying things all together. We just must learn to be intentional with our purchases as it is so easy now to purchase things. We are constantly getting exposed to ads, and you can purchase things with just one click if you can access your credit card through your phone. It is definitely about finding balance.

Listening to this podcast reminded me that I want to get to a place where I don’t want things to come into my home. Most areas I have achieved that, but not with clothing! So it is just an area that I need to continue to be aware of and more intentional with what I bring in.

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

LESSONS FROM A DECLUTTERING CHALLENGE

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Last month I played the minimalism game. If you’re not familiar with it, you can look it up, but ultimately in this 30 day challenge you declutter 465 items from your home! I have played this game a few other times before. Each time I have doubted if I would be able to successfully complete the challenge, and each time after that I have even more doubts as I have less in my home to declutter! This last time I was sure I wouldn’t be able to meet the goal of 465 items and technically I did not just because of the way I counted items. Sometimes I would have multiple of one type of item and I would count that as one or as a “lot,” so I do give myself grace. The way I was counting, in the end I had 405 items to declutter from my home! Although I didn’t technically meet the 465 items, I was still shocked at how much I was able to let go. I did have my daughter helping me with the challenge. Our 29 year old daughter is currently living with us as she completes grad school, so any items she decluttered I counted toward the final number. I was okay counting her things too because they are still leaving my home and one intention I have in 2026 is to help my family members get serious about decluttering their things as well.

I wanted to share what I learned from this last round of the minimalism game. First, I learned that when you’re on the fence about something, typically that means that ultimately you don’t really love it enough to keep it. Quite a lot of the items in this round were items that I have been on the fence about, either for a long time or even just recently. I didn’t really love them, but I also had space for them so I wasn’t letting them go. I know that if I hold onto them they will not be used most of the time. If I pass them along, someone can enjoy them more regularly than they were getting used by me. I did pass some items along to my friends, and that made me feel better about letting them go, knowing they would be used and loved by others. Having this goal from the game really pushed me to be realistic about how often I am using certain items.

I also learned that little by little I am getting closer to my goal of becoming more of a minimalist. I know that term has a lot of stigmas attached to it, so I will explain what it means to me. It means making each of my spaces – even in my cabinets and drawers – feeling like the stuff is easy to manage, but also still feel cozy and inviting. My living room is my plumb line for me, so to speak. I absolutely love how that room feels. It feels so relaxing because I know I use and/or love everything that is in that room. It is easy to clean, and even to deep clean now that it is minimized. The last time I deep cleaned, top to bottom, it took me about 30 minutes. My goal is for every space in my home to feel that way! I feel like I am truly getting there. But I do live with other people, so they have stuff that I may not keep but I have to respect what they want since we share the space.

Next, I learned that we still have more stuff than I think we do! If I was able to get rid of 405 items in 30 days? Clearly we still have a lot of stuff! Now to be fair, we have been married for almost 30 years and we have raised 3 kids and 2 dogs! But I was surprised that I was able to find that much to declutter! I know that it will help tremendously moving forward just being more intentional about what comes into our home. I think sometimes people underestimate that slowing the inflow will have a huge impact on the amount of clutter in your home!

Speaking of inflow, lastly I learned the importance of managing inflow. You may know that I did a no buy year last year. That was specifically for clothes, shoes, accessories, and home decor as these are the categories that seem to multiply quickly if I’m not paying attention. In 2026 I am being far more intentional with my purchases and only allowing myself to purchase a maximum of 3 items in these categories each month. Having these boundaries I think will really help me to stay honest and not slide down a slippery slope. I do want to share with you each month what I do purchase to hold myself accountable! So in January I did purchase a pair of shoes. It is another pair of tennis shoes… I know, I know… I have a lot of tennis shoes! But I do primarily wear athletic shoes and I did declutter a few pairs of shoes in general in my most recent closet clean out. I also purchased a pair of pillow shams that match the lighter side of my bedroom comforter. I really wanted to purchase a new comforter and rug for my bedroom but I decided I don’t really need that. A compromise was to purchase these shams and flip my comforter over!

It felt so good to get that amount of stuff out of my home, so I am very glad I challenged myself to play the minimalism game once again! I hope these lessons are helpful to you on your own decluttering journey!

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

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.

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.