It seems like the new year should bring another retirement update, and the big movement in our house has been cleaning out. Steve and I have spent the last year and a half trying to simplify our lives. It seems that as we were raising kids and working, we tended to spend our time just trying to keep our heads above water. When we weren't at work; kids activities, healthy meals and keeping our house and yard under control seemed to take every spare minute we had, but once the kids left the house, we have found ourselves with a lot more free time.
We started out just getting rid of our kids old toys, clothes and school supplies that they no longer needed. But then we just continued on, going through every room in the house, one by one, getting rid of things that we obviously didn't need.
Once we made our way through the entire house once (including the really scary storage room), we started noticing that there were still things that we should really be getting rid of. This time it was things that were a little more sentimental, but still, we were just holding on to them with no plan to do anything with them.
We eventually realized that cleaning out our house was a lot like peeling an onion. It happened in layers, a little bit at a time, until we finally reduced our stuff to things that we use pretty regularly.
Some of it we just threw away, but much of it we donated to various non-profit organizations, including furniture that was just too big to give to our kids.
When we finally were rid of everything that we thought none of us would ever want, then we started talking to our kids about what they might want. Our oldest daughter and her husband were starting their first home and were ready for some of our furniture, so we let them take what they wanted. Our youngest daughter is still in college and not ready for furniture yet, so we told her we would continue to store all of her furniture for her until she is ready for it. We can't think of a better way or time to get rid of things than when they are still useful (and actually appreciated) by our kids.
With a house clean of clutter, a storage room that is practically empty and a garage that can fit our cars, we have had a huge burden lifted.
It has taken a year and a half so far, but it is an amazing feeling. We can walk through our whole house and admire all of the open space. And when we need something, we can actually find it. We have kept all our sentimental family heirlooms, to go through or use when we want, but none of the "junk" that we used to hold on to.
I once heard a saying, cluttered life, cluttered mind, and I now understand what it means. We all too often become a slave to our things (and I'm not going to say that we have completely overcome that), but we have definitely made a huge dent in it. When you're tripping over things (even in just one room or one cabinet), or can't find what you need, when you need it, it is stressful and it bothers you, cluttering your mind with something that doesn't need to be there.
I don't think we are completely done with our clean out, and in fact, I think it will continue to be an on-going process as life continues to evolve, but we are finding that simpler is better, contrary to what we used to think. It gives us more time to enjoy life, instead of taking care of our stock piles.
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