Hello 2012

I'm about a month late on this one, but its given me time to adjust.  I have one major over-arching goal this year (call it a resolution if you will): I can't buy anything new*.  Now, see that asterisk? Let me 'splain:

* I can buy most "consumable" goods: food, toiletries, cleaning supplies, gasoline, medicine, a massage, etc.
My usual food rules still apply (whole, local, sustainable, blah, blah).  While I don't think I'll need to buy much in terms of person and cleaning supplies (I have a stock pile and I make a lot of my own), I've allowed myself the wiggle room to get my dishes clean come November.

* I can buy, barter, or accept donations of new-to-me-used things.
I have enough of everything I need.  But if that changes, I can buy used from garage sales or thrift/consignment/reuse stores (although with all the concerning things I'm learning about the Salvation Army, this option is getting harder to find).  I can also take used items of the hands of friends and family (like every couch I've ever owned).  Or I can barter, swap, trade, etc.

* I have an emergency clause.
We need new headlines in the car? There's a small fire and we lose all our pillows and underwear?  The fridge/stove/dishwasher/laptop break?  Okay - but we're taking the path-of-least-consumerism.  We would do any repairs we're able to do on the vehicles. We would replace our old burned pillows and underwear with the most sustainable ones we could find.  We would repair any damage we could do the appliances, look for used, etc., before buying new.  (The TV does not count and would not be replaced...gasp).

Why no new stuff?  Why this year?
Why not?  Our house is cluttered and hard to keep clean.  Our budget has been expanding each year and we want to keep it in check in order to pay off our student loans and save up for a house as soon as possible.  We want to move soon and we certainly don't want to move all of this crap to a new location!  I want to be happy with what I have.  I want to feel free from the pressure to improve my life with stuff.  I want to spend more time with friends and family.  I want to reduce my impact on the environment.  I want to live a simpler lifestyle so that after I graduate I can take the job I love instead of the job that pays best.


I addition to this year long goal I have monthly focuses as well.  In January my goal was to find a new internship and get settled in there.  Check - I'll tell you all about it later.  In February my goal is to stop gaining weight!  I've gained roughly 10 pounds a year for the last 6 years and I'm well beyond sick of it. While my eventual goal will be to decrease my weight, I'm starting small by adjusting my eating and my walking with the short to goal to halt that dial.

Declutter like mad

I cannot believe how fast last month came and went.  A large part of my disbelieve stems from long work hours and a weekend trip to Ohio, which both ate into an already shortened month.  Decluttering took a back burner...but it was not too late!  With my work hours back to normal and a full week + weekend, I overcame procrastination and purged my belongings.

I brought very little more than I realized into the house last month.

The short of it (Long of it at the end of the post, for records) - Out & In:

• 8 body spray/lotion/wash bottles > 4 skin care system bottles
• Rice cooker and flatware caddy > Coffee Mug
• 2 dried ink pens > Ink pen
• 2 pairs of shoes > Set of crocheted dish towels
• 2 pairs of jeans > Set of reusable wool dryer balls
• Pair of jeans + glass vase > New (gifted) glass vase
• Hamster bottle + wheel > Knife Sharpener
• Hand-held grater + steamer basket > Mircoplane
• Bamboo Salad bowl + Utensils (2) + Travel mug > 2 reusable travel mug

In addition to this list - Sammit and I finally unpacked and organized our guest bedroom and office.  We filled 9 donation boxes and loaded them into the car.  We organized closets.  We swept and hung paintings.  I'll post before and after pictures later this week when everything has been tightened up.

Next weekend we hope to tackle our bedroom and the upstairs bathroom.  Remaining on the list: The upstairs closet, known as the Angel Closet, the living room, dining room, kitchen, downstairs bathroom, coat closet, basement, garage....oh goodness.  I also have to go through 3 large tubs of clothes.  Ack!  But it sure feels good. 

The long of it:
I bought a facial cleanser/moisturizer set (4 small sample bottles) replaced all the body spray/lotion/wash that I got for Christmas this year.  I brought 8 bottles of unused body stuffs into the lab - made available to any of our students who'd like to smell like a vanilla cupcake or a pomegranate (?).  I'm particular (and minimal) about what I use on my parts. 

We received a gift basket while in Ohio, many of the items go straight into the donation box, bypassing the 1-in-2-out rule, such as a stress-squeeze foam boat and sailboat cheese knives (there was a nautical theme).  However, the coffee mug and inkpen will stay.  I donated my plastic flatware caddy (doesn't have enough slots for our flatware needs) and gave my rice cooker to a student at work who will get more use out of it than I ever did.  I also tossed two pens that ran out of ink (why I kept them, I don't know).

We received a belated wedding gift-box: a set of hand crocheted dish towels, a set of dryer balls that are supposed to replace dyer sheets (I'll review these and post later), and a stylish glass vase.  3 in, 6 out: 3 pairs of jeans either donated or given to my sister, 2 pairs of sandals that Sammit never uses, and an old vase.

We used the remainder of our Macy's gift card during a sale and brought home a knife sharpener, 2 travel coffee mugs, and a microplane.  I donated the grater I unsuccessfully tried to use as a microplane, a hamster wheel and water bottle (we've been holding on to them since Owen died last Christmas), a bamboo salad bowl & tossers (that I'm going to count as 3 items), a vegetable steamer basket (I like the idea of the veggie steamer, but I have other multi-purpose items that work better), and a less-than-ideally designed travel mug.

February - The Great Declutter

January
January was the month for food changes.  Sammit and I spent three weeks on an eliminate/challenge diet to see if I had a dietary intolerance.  It seems that I do - but there may be more than one culprit.  I've scheduled an appointment with a new physician who is known around these parts for dealing holistically with food problems - but she's also a licensed DO (my ND cannot be licensed in this state, Michigan Law) which means my insurance will cover visits with her.

We aren't ending our food changes now that January is over.  Last night while working on February's goals, Sammit and I cleaned our pantry of foods we won't be keeping in the house anymore (white/wheat pastas, cereals, canned tuna fish with soy in it (?), that year old Duncan Hines cake mix).  Anything that hasn't been used and is within the expiration date is being donated at the bin in our food co-op.  The rest is going into the compost bin.  I will continue to push changes, learn new recipes, and accept that an all-or-nothing perfectionist attitude won't get me anywhere.


February
February is the month for the Great Declutter.  Clearing out our cupboards was a good start.  We also finally moved the bookcases from the hallways to their appropriate locations (the basement and our bedroom).  We also cleaned out all the our bedroom closets and rearranged the dining room.  Right now I have 2 large boxes to give to the Salvation Army with more on the way.

Reducing clutter has always been a difficult process for me, a genetic pack-rat, so I'm taking it in layers.  This first two weeks is devoted to clearing out household items that we obviously don't need anymore (or shouldn't've had in the first place) and getting rooms organized and finally unpacked from the move.  The second two weeks will revolve around a second pass on rooms and should be the actual meat-and-bones of the Great Declutter.

Some guidelines that are keeping me focused:

1) Two things out for every one in.
Meaning, for everything I bring into the house (a shirt, some markers, a picture album from my mom's house) I must put two things into the donation box/trash can/recycle bin.  While I'd like to think the two things going out will be comparable to the one coming in, in reality it will most likely start as, "Oh I bought this pair of jeans, here, I'll recycle this magazine (1) and throw out this gum wrapper (2)."  But progress is progress.

2) It must be functional or beautiful.
Meaning everything in the house must serve a function or bring beauty to the house.  Bonus points for items that do both, like our brown and tan embroidered curtains, or porcelain white cat statue in our  bathroom that holds our toilet brush, or our house plants that add a gorgeous green to rooms and clean our air.

3) It deserves a better home.
 This is used for items that have literally traveled with me from city to city from my childhood home, primarily crafting supplies.  If I haven't found a use for that fabric since I bought it in 1997, I need to donate it so that someone who has the time for it can make it into something beautiful (or functional), instead of lingering in a large plastic tub in the crawl space.