Less is More – I Purged and Now I Love My Home

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Lately I haven’t been enjoying my home, despite remodeling it to create an open concept (which I do LOVE).  I have been feeling high strung and like there is always something to do: clean, cook, pick up, organize, file. I have been letting that control my emotions and time. So I started thinking about why this may be happening.  Our house is on the smaller side so there’s not too much to really clean.  I quickly realized that I may need to embrace the idea of less is more.  

Less is More North Phoenix Moms Blog

I was thinking about what I like about other people’s homes and I remembered a neighbor of mine that used to live down the street. Our kids grew up together and we became good friends. I realized that whenever we’d go to her house to play I always felt calm and peaceful … so strange with four kids under 4 running around. But then I realized it was because her house was simple and minimal. Again – less is more. Seriously!  She didn’t have a gallery wall, or tons of decor pieces, or the need for more than the necessities, AND I LOVED IT!

Fast forward 2.5 years and I’m finally understanding the freeing feeling of getting rid of STUFF. I purged, at minimum, 7 trash bags of “stuff” to Goodwill. I took a few bins to resale locations and I’ve organized a few other bags to give to friends that have littles I can pay it forward to. I have one small gallery wall which I’m debating on switching into a “plant” wall and the rest of my walls in my main room are empty. It feels so good! All our baby stuff is out the door, or almost out, and the kids’ toys have been scaled down.  I did decide to store and keep one bin of toys and also one bin of books to rotate. My house doesn’t feel like it’s controlling me anymore and I’m enjoying being in it with the items I have.

Another aspect of our life that has been like purging is our budgeting.  We recently did a “no spend September” which was mentioned in this series on Financial Freedom. I believe this has a lot to attribute to how I feel in general and how purging the desires to spend has helped my well being. We didn’t spend anything other than food, bills and gas for a month. I believe we ate out 3 times but that was the extent of our wild spending. At the end of this I can tell you I feel much more freedom from consumerism. Less IS more! I wasn’t bringing in things during a time of mass upheaval and I wasn’t consumed with desires to buy things. There were a few moments where I really had that urge to buy, but I resisted and it felt really good. Ladies, I haven’t been in TARGET for over a month and it feels so good!!!! I told my husband we should continue this a little bit longer to help us really learn our patterns, sharpen my grocery shopping skills, and just keep “stuff” out of the house.

Here’s to learning minimalism and purging unnecessary wants to fulfill necessary needs.

Have you ever purged large quantities? How did it make you feel? I’d love to hear experiences from those of you who have done something similar!

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Jen
Jen is an Arizona native, born in Flagstaff but a Phoenician since childhood. She has been married to a man who encourages her to take risks. Jen and her husband own Phoenix Photo Booths, an idea which stemmed from the desire to have a photo booth at their own wedding. She has 2 children, Amelia and Henry, who keep her busy every day. She enjoys local festivals, workshops, brunch and a good coffee date. Traveling Route 66 is a dream that she hopes to accomplish along with finishing the Arizona Trail with her husband. Camping and road trips are a few of her families’ favorite pastimes.

4 COMMENTS

  1. I am a total purger! When I was a kid, my parents actually instituted a no spend policy with us from October- December so we would really appreciate the gifts we received at Christmas. We do the same things with our kids and I have noticed how much more creative and appreciative they are when they know they can’t just go buy something new. Such a wonderful perspective- thanks for the reminder!
    Michelle
    Local Shoppe

  2. Jen, It runs in the family! I am purging the house of everything I don’t “need” or “love”. I am selling, donating and throwing away so much that has been weighing me down. I vow to not replace the items and to purchase locally whenever I can for necessities. Thank you for inspiring me to keep going!

  3. Great blog! For me purging is a monthly routine. It can be a really hard habit to start, but once your in it – hard to stop because it feels so good! My house is pretty minimal but when you have kids there will always be more and more stuff coming in. I grew up in a household of semi-hoarders and I remember as a kid feeling overwhelmed by all the stuff everywhere. Right around age ten I decided to make my room a sanctuary from the chaos. My motto back then “when in doubt, toss it out”. Now that I am older I modified it to include or donate/recycle. I LOVE your idea of a “no spend” month! So going to try to accomplish that this January.

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