A bunch of random thoughts to start this month out right:
- I hate looking at a trunk full of items headed for the donation center. I’m happy to pass things on to those in need, but I can’t stand the thought of money wasted. How many times did we use that serving platter? Did we ever use these coffee mugs? Ugh. All the more reason to accept second hand clothes and toys as often as they are offered. I’m now second guessing every purchase including food related ones. If cake mix and brownies are on sale I’m still not buying them. I don’t bake often enough to use them.
- I’m making progress on reorganizing and decluttering. I’ve combed through the kitchen, dining room, living room, hall closet and pantry. I feel so much better about the use of our space now. I no longer have to reach around things we don’t use in order to complete daily tasks. Although I hate seeing that trunk full of stuff I’m happy to get rid of things we aren’t using.
- I’m tired of junk mail. This week I set aside ten to fifteen minutes a day to ask companies to stop spamming me. No more unwanted insurance solicitations and catalogs. It’s just one more thing to sort, process and recycle. I dread the increase in junk that comes through our mail slot as the holidays roll around.
- I unsubscribed to every unwanted email I received this week. I’m tired of wasting time deleting emails from my inbox.
- I failed at getting my two year old son to thank everyone for his gifts this past weekend. Yes, I know he’s only two, but I really want him to be a gracious receiver. Instead of thanking the gift givers, he ripped open box after box and then went off to play with a deflating balloon. Ugh. Better luck next year.
- On the topic of gifts I set aside half of the gifts my son received. He’s perfectly content exploring the new toys I unwrapped and opened and I think he’ll be more excited to play with the rest later. He was actually most excited by an old, hand-me-down toy from my nephew. Another reminder of #1 above, stick with second hand toys when possible.
- I’ve renewed my list of complaints. If I’m unhappy with a service at a local or chain store I send out an email. I also send out compliments when appropriate. I don’t know if these ever make a difference, but I like to think someone else won’t have to go through a thirty minute wait in the deli line or receive a sandwich with one cucumber, one tomato and one ridiculously tiny piece of turkey.
- I recently stopped delivery of the newspaper and finally cleaned out my coupon binder. I consolidated two binders down to one and that one is only half filled. I was wasting time clipping, organizing and sorting coupons that I never actually used in the grocery store. In this case time is much more valuable than saving money.
This month I plan to focus on cleaning out the rest of our house, making more conscious decisions on spending and enjoying the time freed up from no longer needing to sort mail, delete unwanted emails and clip coupons.