Simplifying life...Ways to OUTBOX

Having had to move three times in 4.5 months, has really made us attempt to learn how to re-evaluate what exactly we have in our home. Now that is completely easier said than done. Yes, we moved crap. Yes, we had that screaming 4 year old telling the movers..."WHERE ARE MY ROBOTS? (a.k.a. Transformers) They are on the truck right? You didn't leave them, right?". Though some of them were broken and missing pieces, this mini-human was not present at the packing of such beloved items, so before complete and utter melt down occurred, we needed him to be apart of the removal process. So, I have come up with 9 ways to help guide our mini-human to purge some of his things. 

Every month or two, I look through all of their toys, and then I decide...

1 Does this thing work?
2 Would I replace it if it were broken or lost?
3 Does it seem potentially useful—but never actually gets used?
4 Was I saving it?
5 Does it serve its purpose well? 
6 Has it been replaced by a better model?
7 Is it nicely put away in an out-of-the-way place? 
8 Does this memento actually prompt any memories? 
9 Have they ever used this thing?

If this criteria can not be met, into a playroom OUTBOX it goes. After a couple of days, I let the mini-humans in and we go through the box together. I do not tell them we are getting rid of it. I tell them that we are going to take it to the place where "SANTA's elves come and pick it up". I know crazy method, but hey, no one is taking the fall for the "Land of Misfit Toys". I have tried the "Since you don't play with this anymore, we need to give it to someone who doesn't have toys to play with" and well, in my ever-so smart, ever so remembering...Everything 4 year old way...I have gotten the witty retort, "But that toy is not perfect, and that is not fair to give someone a gift, that doesn't work." But my ultimate, take the toy away retort, was "Mommy, please don't sell my..." so better to have them involved in the process than have the toys just disappear. 

So what exactly is an OUTBOX? 
An OUTBOX, can be anything used for storing crap. It can be a grocery bag, a box, whatever can hold stuff. Even if you don't have children, this can be applied to everyday life. Implementing it is another story. The first step is to put something in. This "drop zone" doesn't have to be left where you can see it constantly, because the primary focus is to get it in there. Then after sometime, if you haven't pulled it out to do anything useful with it (I give it a week or two) then on your next errand out of the house, the outbox goes to and then POOF! Life is a tad bit simplified and you get a little tax write off. I first had tried dumping the OUTBOX immediately, but then after discovering that I still "had" that, I found something useful to do with it, but had gotten rid of it. Thus negating my anti-consumerist way because I needed to go out and buy it again.

Now, what is currently in my OUTBOX?
- Some Misfit toys (of course will make it to the trash, before going to be donated. I agree with my kid, who wants a broken toy!)
- Some Kitchen stuff (Since moving into our new house, our kitchen is ummm...a wee VERY large bit smaller than what I/we/us are used to...Plus, when you have learned that you can live without 2 graters, 5 colanders, and quite a few more pots and pans since you can't fit them in your miniature cupboards...)
- Baby crap that we have never used, like a door knob cover made for a certain type of handle that we have, but found out in the fine print that it is not to be used on exterior doors. 
- Some Christmas decor that we haven't put up in 2 years, that doesn't meet the above criteria

Things to Accomplish for 2013

2013 is going to bring some major changes for our family that our 2012 whirlwind will be just a blink and an interesting story to remember. So my plan is to try to implement some EASY changes into our daily lives that will make life go a little bit smoother for all of us!

Some of my January Goals...

 * Out is going to come the digital calendar!

    - need to get into the habit of using SIRI a bit more on the reminder factor!

 * Meal prep days are going to become more of a necessity rather than a convenience

    - the freezer is really going to get a work out!

 * Pinterest is probably going to see a massive increase do to needing to organize my IT life

     - apologies in advance!
 * Kids activities are going to have to be set up the night before rather than in the morning
    - busy boxes galore!
 * Mommy's filing system is going to be simplified...
   - Bye Bye Piles
 * Walgreens.com is going to see an influx in picture posting
   - I am not going to just be able to wait a month or two to post pictures to print
 * Create an OUTBOX
   - just a box where stuff can land that needs to be donated

OH and if you are in Harris Teeter Territory...Super Doubles are going on this week! All the way up to $2.00 will double and what is even better....IT's Chicken TIME!!! Buy 2 Get 3 Free! We went last night armed and ready! How did we do? Well, spent almost 2 weeks worth of money on groceries but...

$192.48 Spent, $217.83 Saved     =   $410.31 worth of Groceries for less than $200! Not Bad since we saved more than we spent, which is always the main goal! Over 50% savings!

Out with 2012

2012 was a whirlwind for our family. So for a year in quick review, lets see how it went!

Cloth Diapering became a success, well except the fact that we forgot to take teething into consideration and had our ups and downs! We bought a total of 5 packs of disposables since our quest into cloth land commenced.

Potty Training Success: We have completely trained day and night! Woo Hoo props to Monk for no more turds!

Getting Crafty: We implemented an entire month to doing crafts and using what was around the house, rather than going out and buying the stuff to do it. We had fun, the kids had fun and better yet...Michaels' didn't see a dime!

As for the goals for the Pantry, Freezer and Decluttering...

We moved three times! Once in June, from our humble abode in Raleigh which we had lived in for 6 years! Again at the end of September, from our ever so lead paint poisoning row house in Old Town into a storage unit. And finally, we moved into our new house in Alexandria, Virginia November 1st. Mr. BBH took a job in DC with ABC. Other than our housing mishaps, it's been a good move for us as a family. We get to spend so much more time together and his schedule absolutely rocks!

Moral of the story, we found out that we can fit our entire life of a family of 4 into a 10 x 30 storage unit and have plenty of room to spare. Everything but the freezer and pantry food stock went in. We successfully cleared out our pantry 5 times this year! Granted 3 of those times, were completely unplanned for, but success! As for the freezer, well we only have some soup and steak left in it, and well...it's still at my cousin's house awaiting pick up. Gosh do I miss it, I just don't understand how people can live without one. This has really made stocking up on meats and veggies more of a hardship. Why, one thing we did not take into affect was the cost of living increase with our grocery bill. We have had to double our monthly spending of $200 a month on groceries. I still can't fathom sometimes when I am grocery-ing how much things, even with coupons are here! Some items are double the price!

I know that some maybe curious as to how Christmas spending went for us... well the receipts have not been tallied, but we did so much shopping online! But as for my money saving adventures, I got ripped off by UPS and USPS for those packages we had to mail! But in my humble thrifty ways, I had to call a friend of mine and tell her not to let her son be around when our box of Christmas gifts came. We had them delivered to her house and well the company I ordered from who shall not be named...OOPS AMAZON, wanted $20 for Gift Wrapping, I asked her to wrap it for me. Corny and cheap I know, but that would have been 1/4 tank of gas to be able to go and visit them!

Day 109: De-cluttering Laundry for 2012

Everywhere I look these days, I find too many things that have a home and it is not in it and then there is stuff that is just lingering around because it doesn't have a home yet. There just aren't enough hours in the day for me to find homes for these "things".

I knew when we brought our mini-humans into the world that along with them would come stuff. I swore to myself that all of their "stuff" would be contained in their own rooms. Did it happen? Nope. As with everything else, I am finding it everywhere. Be it the 3 year old, who wants to play with his toys in the living room or the 9 month old who needs his own containment area for his own safety. So where do I find myself lately?

I wish that I could blame it on the holidays, birthdays and other special occasions but what it honestly boils down to is...I would rather play with my kids than do chores. We only have one chance to have this one day and well laundry can wait. The only problem is...I spend the day picking up from everything that we have been playing with that I just don't have the energy to pick up after the normal stuff.

One of my New Year's resolutions was to keep a handle on the laundry. For the month of January, I look back and think that I was pretty successful. Then on Monday, I walked into the laundry room. Ok I lied. I had to push and pull my way into the laundry room. I have been doing laundry for 4 people and a potty training puppy for 3 whole days now and well, after cleaning up the bedrooms I can probably add another day or two. Embarassed...yes...tired...yes...but I think that the whole neighborhood just decided to drop their laundry off at my house and pray that I would just not notice.

It's not that our children have too many clothes, because that is not the case. Each of them had a load and a half. I could possibly see the fact that we had guests in the house for well over a week, that the number of towels, blankets and sheets grew. I can also see that the children and I were gone for almost a week so we have that laundry too, and I can also see that we have a puppy that we are potty training right now. Do Mr. Bacon Bringer Homer and I have too many clothes...yes.

So what am I doing to simplify this task I desperately abhor?
A new system is going into play around here at Chez Stoneford. Monk is old enough to turn his clothes right side out when he takes them off and well Mr. BBH and I can too. So, I am instilling a your own laundry load system. I found that doing it this way, affords less time to fold and an easier time of actually putting the clothes away. No more sorting into five or six different piles then taking the to their desired locations. wash, dry, fold, go to ONE specific place...Load by Load laundry! Wish me luck!

I also went through all of the kids clothes and dumped. I had one empty laundry basket and into it went the clothes that were too small or I just would never let them wear. Since the kids clothes are easier to monitor...they are constantly changing sizes, I really don't have to worry about out of season clothes for them. Mr. BBH and me....different story. I went through all of my clothes in drawers and dumped. I found Maternity clothes still hiding out in there as well as clothes that I should never wear again. We need to donate these things before they go out of style and no one wants to wear them! When Mr. BBH gets home tonight I am praying that he will do the same! I am also hoping that we can tackle doing this to the Master Closet this weekend.

Today, I also tackled the linen closet. Gone went the ratty pilled towels, the sheets that we never use and those pillowcases that no longer match the sheet sets and the comforters that haven't seen a bed in a year. 

Discosure: I can't part with my down comforters though. Just because it was really pleasant this winter...in to a space bag they will go. 

Now back to that linen closet...it serves a dual purpose, not only does it hold linens, but the top rack is home for those taken away toys for naughty children. Better Homes and Gardens recommended a plastic container library. With this concept along with our taken toys, we will just dump them into the container and bring them out on rainy days. Personally, I prefer for Monk to earn them back, but I am just going to do that for the entertainment center dumping ground. We will see how it goes. Hey if anything, there will be less toys to pick up in the playroom!

Before leaving to go for Grandma's birthday and Grammy's surgery, I decluttered the play room. The trash bags came out when the kids were napping and into them went those toys that I can stand, the ones that are too young for Monk but too old for the Gator and reorganized and simplified. I toted them up to the attic and they are awaiting the next consignment sale to find their forever homes! I was recently reading Real Simple to try to find ways to simplify our life. I hope that I got something from it, but actually applying it will be another story.

Where I am in the De-cluttering world...
one 1/2 Bath, one coat closet, two kitchen counter dump sites, one pantry, two freezers, one top of the fridge, one playroom, 3 dressers, children's bedroom, one sitting room and one laundry room! Yeah, I wish I could say the garage or storage room, but hey some of us just can't change overnight but we are on the right path...I hope.

For my locals, the end of April is Alley Cats & Angels semi-annual yard sale....

Day 79: Mommy's new Addiction

If you haven't found it yet, Pinterest. OMG! It is fabulous! It is like having one place that doesn't clutter your house or your computer that stores all of those things that you either jot down or are meaning to get around to jotting down by just clicking pin when you come across something really cool online. I had heard about this website from someone that I honestly disliked with a severe passion and well avoided her recommendations like the plague. Well finally here I am in the New year, trying to try new things and well I have a new addiction! This website has motivated me in ways that I don't truly think I could possibly put into words.

Y'all know how much I am into decluttering our home and lifestyle, well this website gave me the green light into tackeling those places that I oh so much dreaded cleaning out. Starting small my patootie. In my kitchen we have the smallest counter next to the stove reserved as our overflow area. Most people have a drawer in their kitchen devoted for the catch all junk and we do too, but having 2 small children, I just don't get "round 2 it". I admit it I am a pile person and a clean it up really fast by just putting everything in a bag and stuffing it away out of sight. This place is comprised of just well we didn't know just what until today...coupons that I picked from the blinkies at the grocer, magazine articles for ideas, toys that needed to be "fixed", recipes, mail, cards, chargers and batteries... you name it this is where it lands...landed. Over the course of adding that new bundle of joy into our home, things have gotten a little out of hand. The junk drawer and counter overflowed it's way to another counter, the hall closet and the end of the entertainment center. I couldn't take it anymore. Out came the trash bags. Gone. Out of the house. Clear counters, clear junk drawer, clear hall closet.

A New Year brings a fresh new start here at Chez Stoneford, and well, the old went out with yesterdays news. Literally. Pinterest is giving me that place to put all this stuff hopefully into one little place except for those broken toys that need fixing and those cell chargers. Paperless billing is coming our way and a trash can next to the front door for junk mail to be drop directly into. An envelope into the car seat carrier has been placed to put those blinkies and a fresh start has begun!

Disclosure: My new addiction, I vow will only allowed to be followed when the children are napping.

Day 22: Anti-Consumerism comes to a Close

So how did we do on our first 365 Changing the Way we do month-long Challenge? Personally we did great. Here are a few things that we learned to appreciate along the way.    

Saving $$$ and Spending less afforded us more time as a family, more volunteer work, ability to eat what we had on hand, retrain our brains on the way we think about stuff we spend $$$ on!

Gas:

-Without the usual outings to the multiple grocers & pharmacies, you know, some of us can't just shop at one to get everything we need. One trip to the farmer's market every 2 weeks and one to the grocer for milk.
-No unnecessary gas guzzling trips for fast food for lunches or quick suppers
-No driving around the block or leaving the car run in the driveway when our children wouldn't sleep or fell asleep in the car

Time:

-We gained more time as a family
   - We gained 12 more hours with Mr. Bacon Bringer Homer. I know it doesn't seem like much, but  
     really it was. That time not spend running around town, afforded us the luxury of lounging at home.
   - We learned to really utilize family movie night. Blockbuster gives out free codes each week on sites
     such as southernsavers.com and coupondad.net. We would blow up the air mattress and pop a bag
     of popcorn and Voila!
   -We worked on projects around the house together. Monk enjoyed setting up the playroom and
    putting decorations up for Halloween.
 
-We re-learned the joys of cooking together
   - Having missed this past-time, we had to get creative on some of the meals that needed preparing.
     So, it took some thought and opened up more communication for us as a family as to what and how
     we were going to make our meals and we did it together!
   - We actually ate more and more nutritiously. We were more apt to try new things. Oldies and
     goodies from the farmers market were bought, but if something looked interesting we tried it out.
     Last night we had purple sweet potatoes! They sounded interesting, looked very interesting and
     tasted Grrreatt! But we came up with more combinations for food and new recipes were born!

-We volunteered more hours for our favorite cat rescue Alley Cats & Angels alleycatsandangels.org
   -We got re-involved with cleaning the petsmart adoption centers. Yes. We did this with 2 kids in tow.
    So it can be done! Monk has learned the art of caring for animals that are not ours, and that they too
    need time, attention and maintenance.
   - We did this between once and twice a week, and that little hour and a half went along way in the
    lives of these kitties!

Clearing out:

-We cleared out most of the stand-up freezer
   -Those dreadful potatoes are down to 2 bags from 10!
   -Wow, you really can put together a dinner straight from the freezer in 20 minutes!
   - It is primed and ready for the winter soup, stew and veggie collections!

-We cleared out most of the pantry
  - We traded in quick take-out for can be made quick in home!

  - The depths of those avoidance foods are gone. Now we just know not to buy them again. Good 

     deal or not!

  - Nothing was wasted. No having to bring out the trash can and dump expired foods in the next few 

    weeks!

- Our garage stock pile 

  - Has plenty of empty shelves 

  - Plenty of empty bags of toiletry items

All in all this was a nice life lesson for our family. 

* We gained an appreciation for our couponing lifestyle that though we may do it out of necessity to save money in the long run, it affords us the capability to be able to take a month off of spending and utilize what we have on hand. Even when you have company!

* We gained an appreciation for trying new things and adapting our eating styles

* We gained an appreciation for repairing what was on hand with what was on hand instead of taking the easy way out and just buying new.

* We learned that the best things in life are actually free and are accessible, you just have to seek and find them. 

* We spent more time as a family. We are teaching our children the value of time together, creativeness and the value of a dollar. We are becoming better parents. 

Day 6: Saying Good Bye to some toys

Our children are no different than most children about their toys. They have toys they love and toys that they think they to keep because they occupy space and consistency within their environment is paramount. In our efforts to de-clutter, we have come up with a list of things that Monk doesn't really play with. I have thought about just migrating the stuff out of the house when he is asleep, but being at that the age of which he notices just about everything, this might not be solution to have a copacetic household. He has become fond of the Toy Story movies and well since seeing the 3rd one, donating toys and throwing away broken ones is a wretched sin punishable by bouts of tantrums and sobbing. Just 2 things that Mr. Bacon Bringer Homer and I just don't cope very well with. Now please, we do not bow down to the mini-human in the house. It's quite the opposite. We don't respond at all except for telling him "we don't hear that voice" and "inappropriate behavior". I have even resulted in taking a video of him throwing the fit and playing it back to him later in the day. We talk about how ridiculous it is to act this or that way. Most times he obliges, but his genes are flowing with a tantamount of stubbornness; he totally gets it from Mr. Bacon Bringer Homer ;).

Good Bye Train Table...This is how our conversation went...

Mr. Bacon Bringer Homer: "Why aren't we doing this while he is asleep?"
Me: "He has to learn that as he grows up and new toys come into the house, old toys need to find a new home."
Mr. Bacon Bringer Homer: "This is so not going to bode well."
...I went up to the playroom
Monk: "ooohhh my train table... what are you doing Mommy?"
DUN DUNT DUN
Me: "Cleaning it up, so that we can get it out of the playroom."
Monk: ...the dreaded "Why?"
...immediately the theme song to Jaws starts playing in my head.
Me: "We have to make room for the toys you got for your birthday, so since you like to play with your trains on the floor, we are going to sell this."
...eyes bug out of his head and hands go on the hips
Monk: "No, MOMMY! You can't get rid of my train table. It's mine and no other little boy can have it! He can't use it. He can't have it."
Me: "Well Monk, we have a new train rug in the garage that we are going to put down instead."  
...Monk promptly got into the table which I had taken the top off and began to stomp around. 

I reiterated the fact that we had a "NEW" rug to use instead. Hoping that he did not put a hole in the table making it unsellable. I finally had to lift the stomping mini-human out, take him down to the garage and show him this "new" rug. So this "new" rug has actually been hiding in our house for well over a year and a half. Coming out for car play and going due to the cats liking it a little too much (apparently the rubber backing is an instant cat attracter for sniffing, scratching, and almost getting peed on. Since the we keep the playroom door closed, keep your fingers crossed no cat gets left in!). So, while I was in the garage with Monk getting this "new" rug, Mr. Bacon Bringer Homer carried it out. Monk carried the rug up to the playroom, I let him pick where he wanted it to go and then all was right in the world again. Whew, tantrum avoided. Rug now loved again. Do the tracks and trains come out to play on it? Nope, the rug is an Aircraft carrier today.

The train table is posted for sale and is awaiting it's new rightful owner! Horray, Queen's "We are the Champions" was playing in my head as I went to bed.

Consumerist Challenge: 0
Major space vampire: 0
Us:1

Day 4: Crisco and Jimmy John's $1 Subs

Having 2 children that stay at home all day, means we have a person who is in the 3 foot range living here. Progressively over the past few years we have noticed that our "things" (decor) keep moving higher and higher in our house. Well now, the only high place we have left in the living room is the top of the entertainment center. So it has become a common dumping ground for stuff that Monk has gotten into as well as for stuff we don't want him to get in to. 

Monk has perfected the art over the course of the past 2 weeks of climbing the entertainment center. "They", the so-called experts have always said to get down to the child's level when baby proofing and well we did that. "They" never said get up on levels that are higher than you can see!  Now if we continue on this path we will have to resort to gluing stuff to the ceiling. I have researched to my hearts content on trying to prevent him from climbing and if the buck stopped at the entertainment center everything would be fine. Not so much in our case. So if you play the stock market, start buying stock in Crisco, because lathering Chez Stoneford in it has crossed our minds. But for now, decluttering the living room and the rest of the house will just have to suffice. 

I will post a picture of our entertainment center for possible anti-climbing suggestions!

Consumerism Challenge,  Day 4

Since this is a blog about my family, Mr. Bread Winner told me last night that he no longer wants to be referred to as Mr. Bread Winner. He said that he thought about it for a few days and since bacon always in his mind tastes better than bread, he would like to be referred to as Mr. Bacon Bring Em' Homer? I chuckled at this because a flash to the Simpsons TV show came into my head. So I will politely oblige to his meager request.

So yesterday, Mr. Bacon Bring Em' Homer emails me this press release that he got a work about our areas Jimmy John's, a submarine chain here, is doing $1 subs and sandwiches. $1 for a lunch! Come on who could turn that up? Well, when Mr. Bacon Bring Em' Homer got home, he asked if this deal could possibly be an exception to our Anti-Consumerism pledge. "Well, NO!" I told him, "even if it's an awesome deal." As he left for work this morning, temptation in his mind, no lunch bag in hand...As if he thought that would just get by me. This is a family pledge for our benefit...how much can we save this month and $1 is not just pennies around here! We can do it and though temptation has entered my mind, it is our first week. So with 26 days to go, we are not going to fail on our first week! We just can't. The kids and I are getting out of the house today for a play date, so, we will waste some gas to bring him lunch and it won't be Jimmy John's.

Day 2: Consumerist Challenge & Decluttering

A few more disclosures for you on our Consumerist Challenge.

My husband and I came up with this idea while driving to the zoo this weekend and we realized that in our thrifty ways we had enough potatoes in the freezer that we could probably eat them for 2 months straight. Ok, they were a really good deal here at our local Harris Teeter, and well I LOVE coupons, so that made them an even better deal. Who can pass that up! So no we did not make this huge gigantic trip to the grocery store to "stock up" on what we would need to get us through this challenge. But we are not seeing it as a challenge but as a way to clean up and go through those little dark places that have been hiding things that we have chosen just to ignore they exist and choose a much simpler... well quicker route. We will also not be cashing in any gift cards either! So no temptation there!

On the No Spending $$$ on gifts part, I believe we happened to forget that our Anniversary is in a week and well, we are going to have to get creative. Who needs a store bought card or another spa gift certificate to add to the pile that I have been collecting dust for the past three years and have never "cashed" in on. Frankly, I just have never had the time to use them. I seem to use the the excuse that Mr. Bread Winner works odd hours and well I can't fit it in on those furlough days. Well sometimes that is totally true but the real thing is...I would just rather spend the time with my kid and my husband out in the backyard tossing around a ball than get a massage. Crazy huh? Just don't let him know that though incase I would like a mommy free day!

Also, I think I forgot to mention that Mr. Bread Winner's birthday is at the end of the month and well creative $$ Free. Ideas are welcome and would be greatly appreciated. Fortunately, I have a couple of weeks to think on this!

So how did Day 2 of our Consumerist Challenge go?

Well we started the day with 6 diapers left in the bin...DUN, DUNT, DUN... oh no! Did we have to go to Target? Temptation starts to set in and well we got in the car we needed out of the house anyway. But we did not spend any $$$, we actually walked out with money! Yay for returns. I had been meaning to get around to returning a few packages and a box of diapers that the baby has out grown. I also need to get to BJ's to return 2 boxes of Pampers since my son has become allergic to them and does better with Seventh Generation, but we left those for another day.

What better way to get the use of space out of the top of the closet and de-clutter! But to reduce our reliance on having to buy buy buy more diapers (plus I didn't bring a coupon, and I can't just exchange and re-buy something when I have a coupon to save $1-3 off even if that money was on a merchandise credit...). A friend of mine had given me her new-age cloth diapers when I was pregnant and well we are going to give them a go and just use disposables when we are out of the house on weekends. So no new diapers entering our home...today!
       
          Cha-Ching light bulb goes on in my head for the November 1st Challenge:
          Disposable vs. Fuzzy whatcha-ma-call-its.

On the other note, it's been raining outside all day long and well with 2 kids in tow there wasn't a debate in my head of walking the 3 mile trek to Target and saving the gas. So we drove to and fro. Gas decrease. 28 days left and we have Tot Sports time starting this Friday and all subsequent Fridays for 2 months. Going to have to Carpool. Fortunately we are doing this with a friend and her son and they have a car that can fit my 2 car seats along with her 1 and my heiny in it too!

For Supper we are having some company over! Yay for Elections and a Business trip, "We" well the kids and I will be joined by a friend and her son! We actually really enjoy daddy free dinner nights. The kids make a royal mess, but we get to just have an evening play date. So on the menu is some chili pulled from the deep freeze and those dreaded potatoes (tonight's..Tater Tot's) that have to be gone through!

Totals for the day:

Consumerist Challenge: 0
Us: 1
$0 spent!!!!

Day 1: Cleaning up our Home life

So as I mitigate our new quest of changing the way we do things in our world and our home, we are starting small. Today's is to start a month long challenge and pick a room to de-clutter.

Our 30 Day Challenge: Cut out Consumerism Spending
Day 1 De-Cluttering: the 1/2 bath

I know what you are thinking, what are they thinking, de-cluttering a 1/2 bath? Are you freaking kidding me? Well no. Trying to incorporate adding just one more thing into our world and schedule is like moving a mountain here at Chez Stoneford. We have a very busy schedule from home preschool and making baby food, laundry, cleaning, scrubbing, learning and playing that just adding a small thing to our Monday agenda will be huge. So we will start small. Granted we don't have a ginormous house, but we have 3 bedrooms 2.5 bathrooms, an office or Man Cave, storage room, a play area, kitchen, living lounge and a 2 car garage. All that could benefit from de-cluttering. To reduce our carbon foot print, we are planning on recycling the things that can not be used anymore, utilizing our local freecycle, craigslist and mission.