Articles for Thought

I ran across these articles last week and they both have encouraged me to push my simplifying a little further.

This first article talks about the book, Life at Home in the Twenty-First Century by Jeanne Arnold. The book is a study of families and the possessions they own. I have put the book on hold at a local library, but the article gives an insight into the book. The part that struck a cord with me was a part where a mother mentioned that she would be saving all of her children's toy for her grandchildren. This encouraged me to get rid of a few more toys that my kids don't play with or find sentimental. Here is the article: https://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/2012/07/09/new-study-says-american-families-are-overwhelmed-clutter-rarely-eat-together-and-are-generally-stressed-out-about-all/G4VdOwzXNinxkMhKA1YtyO/story.html

This other articles from Psychology Today discusses the link between stress and clutter. This also encouraged me to get rid of more stuff that isn't necessary. https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/fulfillment-any-age/201705/5-reasons-streamline-your-life

Both articles gave me the push I needed to get rid of more stuff that isn't necessary.
Happy reading (:

Comments

Decluttering-Getting Rid of Facebook

I have a month left of maternity leave. To say that I'm overwhelmed is an understatement. I've spent the last year decluttering my house. I recently realized that I need to declutter my social media as well. I don't have a Twitter or Instagram. I only recently got a Snap Chat. I joined a decluttering group about a month ago. At first it was very helpful. I was glad to find other people who were on the same journey as I. I noticed a few shared blogs of their journeys. I thought that was a fantastic idea and shared three posts of my own. It was then announced that posting your own blog wouldn't be allowed. I panicked. I felt like I was in trouble, that I did something wrong. I am in a state right now where I am struggling postpartum so what some may have seen as not a big deal, was a big deal to me. I apologized for sharing my blog, trying to explain that my own posts would be too long so that's why I shared it. But I continued to panic, and with fight or flight, I...

We're debt free! We Paid Off $39,000 of Debt in A Year and a Half!

$39,359.38 to be exact! In 2016, I took a year of maternity leave which forced our household to rely on one income. This was a big life alerting moment as we were barely making it. After looking at minimalism stuff for inspiration to declutter, eventually I was lead to Dave Ramsey, which let us to enroll in Financial Peace University. We are now debt free and also have completed baby step three, which is having an emergency fund. Here is what we owed: Couch- $710.05 My daughter's saxophone: $1324.30 Credit card #1: $2166.17 Credit card #2: $4,009.05 Credit card #3: $9,833.40 Car: $18,072.65 Braces for Our Teen: $3,243.76 Since November 2018, we have been debt free! We do have a house payment, but we can finally breathe a little! If we can do it, so can you! Communication is important! Here's some tips from a former blog I wrote that on how we were able to get out of debt . And to update, we did finally cut our cable! Thanks for...

Kitchen Decluttering

It's so important to take before pictures! I recently decluttered my kitchen a bit more, but I wish I had a picture to compare how far I've come. My counters used to be cluttered with so much stuff. There was a pile of paper always by the sink and the wifi was also located there. It was all such a mess! There was hardly any free counter space and it always looked so sloppy! I took some pictures of what my kitchen currently looks like, but I wish I had more before pictures so I can remind myself that our kitchen is so much more pleasing to the eye now than it used to be! If you are starting a minimalism journey and you want to watch your progress, I suggest taking pictures! Decluttering is like losing weight; you reach a point where you feel like you can't see a difference, but you know you have been working so hard to change. Then you see an old photo and realize how far you've come. This has been how I feel with decluttering. I feel like there is still so much jun...

Simplifying My Life

Search This Blog