Week One

Did you ever think that the reason the modern household can't live off one income is because we spend more, live bigger, and value less?

Sure prices have gone up over the years, but even so few of us know how to live within our means, much less below them. We are living in larger homes with fewer people, therefore they cost more. We spend more time "making a living" than actually living. If we all just paired down and got rid of the things we don't need or use and didn't go out and buy something else to replace them we might be able to enjoy the purchases we've made and value the time we've saved.

I'm just as guilty as anyone for buying something, hanging it in my closet, never wearing it, and then selling or donating it a few years later with the tags still on it. This was never more apparent than on my recent venture to purge my closet. The pile of clothes to get rid of was actually about the size of our queen size bed, including height. I have to admit it was overwhelming how much money, time, space, and energy  I've wasted with just those clothes. So much so that the pile is currently still sitting in the bedroom floor. Part of me had to leave it there because I was overwhelmed and didn't feel like I could mess with it at the time, and the other part needed it to sit there all week making it difficult to live with to make myself truly understand how we've been living with unnecessary things. Once I move the pile out it will feel like a whole new bedroom. It will be freeing getting that pile out of my life. The pile may be a metaphor for the pile of unwanted, unnecessariness in my life, but I'm a visual person so I think I finally "get it".

Our tree out front has tiny blooms on it so I guess it's time for spring cleaning as well. How appropriate to deep clean and declutter at the same time. I'm excited that living with less also means cleaning less. The plan this week is to finish the bedroom completely, decluttering, and cleaning. We shall see if that gets done. I think I'm just going to stick with a few things on my weekly to do list. Seems like that will give me more gratification when I actually finish the list in a week instead of carrying over 20 things to the next week.

I really was expecting to make more headway with the decluttering this week but I guess I wasn't ready to jump right in, hence the pile on my floor. Our daughter was sick with RSV this week as well so between taking care of her and trying to get some sleep there wasn't even time to do laundry and dishes. She is doing much better now but still has a slight cough.
We have a lot going on right now so I'm not sure how much will get done this week either. Dr. appointment Monday, Court on Tuesday, taking care of the girls during the week ( just earning some extra money for that dept payoff), and Jason possibly going back to work insurance claims after all the storms this past week.

When Jason goes back to work that'll mean we can actually start progress on the getting out of debt. With the job(s) he's doing now we are just paying bills, with him going back to work we could actually pay off some things and start saving. When he goes back to work we will have the money for me to start my business and start making money while still being a stay at home mother. I'm so excited to start my business and even more excited about the income potential without havig to join the workforce again.

I hope the week to come brings lots of nice surprises. I'm ready for the good things to start happening.