My biggest hope in this year of no shopping is that it will help unlock more of my creativity as I work to solve problems/create solutions within our home. Case in point: we have an open concept main floor, which I love, and is significantly larger than the one in our Utah home... but most days it does not feel that way. I feel claustrophobic while working in the kitchen (my usual homebase) and sending the kids downstairs into the basement, a large open space usually results in some sort of fighting match for some reason. The kids love to take the couch cushions apart to make forts and such and after a particularly terrible day with a twin who shall remain unnamed, I decided on a whim earlier this week that we will be moving the couch downstairs. So the twins threw down the cushions and I carried down each piece of the sectional. After setting up downstairs and cleaning up the upstairs, it felt like a breath of fresh air. The kids use their bean bag chairs upstairs and for now the TV is still in the upstairs living area.
The nice thing about moving so often (something else I have in common with Miranda) is that we get rid of a LOT of stuff. In the dozen or so moves we have done, I can say with a fair amount of confidence that the reducing aspect of moving happens over and over again... unfortunately once we do move that reducing mentality is replaced with a feeling of needing to--in the words of Scarlett Overkill--"Fill the Void". So while I do a great job about getting rid of things that no longer have use or being joy to our family, I am also guilty of bringing more in, which definitely defeats the purpose of reducing in the first place.
So that means that starting a no shopping challenge so quickly after moving is probably one of the best ways I can combat that. With the exception of the bed (mattress and frame) purchase for little A, where I knew exactly what I wanted, I was just procrastinating doing the thing as long as possible, there are still more things than I would like on my "probably need to buy" list. Things like a full length mirror for my bedroom (I forgot to pack ours into the moving truck and it would not fit into my car for the cross country drive), bed frames for the twins beds (but I cannot decide if we are going to go bunk beds or regular beds for them), new desk for Drew, patio furniture for our deck, and the list goes on. The truth is, I am sure I could keep finding ways to buy more things for our family till the end of time... but do we really need it? And if we do, am I doing my part to make sure that the things we buy are going to withstand the test of time (not add to the landfill) and be something we love and want to have forever?
Similar to my Whole30 experience, in just a week I have discovered some of my common triggers for shopping... being in stores, being stressed out, etc. I am focusing on what I can control, and while I am hoping to spend less money overall, the biggest win will be not having a house full of stuff I don't want. My only trip to a store this past week was the grocery store at 6am, without kids but armed with a list that I stuck to about 95%, much better than usual. The end of the school year has added a new layer of "stuff" making its way into my house, but I am hoping that I can get through it soon and move into more creative endeavors, like starting some work on my sewing machine!
Speaking of my sewing machine... I was presented with a bit of a creative problem right off the bat with it! I do not have a sewing table (the last time I used it was in ohio and that table has long since been sold) so I improvised! I used the two semi matching side table dressers Drew and I have in our bedroom, put them right next to each other in an area of our bedroom (after moving the bed and utilizing two other smaller tables as our bedside tables), and will be using them for my sewing "table" along with a folding chair we already had. Hopefully in the next week I can tackle a few sewing projects that have been on the docket for too long.
We did make 3 trips to the library in the last week... something about getting out a new book helps to ease that "shopping fix" when I need something new. It is nice to know that since I go through books so quickly that they do not have to fill the bookshelf (that we don't have). We have also taken out more of our board games to play with... I feel really lucky that we really have a minimal amount of toys, especially compared to a lot of people we know, probably due in large part to the fact that we did not have a play room in our last house! The only things we have in our basement are a small bin of assorted toys (mostly action figures), costumes, a kitchen and small bin of kitchen accessories, and of course A's barbie house (with dolls, accessories) in her bedroom. I have plenty of arts and crafts supplies in the kitchen for them to use, and we have a good collection in the living room of books in my TV stand to read, not to mention I hope we spend most of the next two months outside! It has been so nice to not have as much to clean up around the house, and hopefully that will only get easier as I get everything organized in the house... as my kids know all too well, my motto is "It needs to have a home or it's home will be the trash! (or donation bin or recycling)".
51 weeks to go!
You've got this Ruth. I'm proud of you!
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