Some of you have noticed I have not been posting as much and part of that is due to my health. I had a light stroke in September but don't worry I am doing better.
It made me want to be more organized because we never know what the future holds. My husband and I are still doing our 1943 one year project. It did throw us off track for a little while but we have managed to stay with the project.
I have been reading a lot and most of the books are organizing books. I have been disappointed with many of the books because I could not find anything to tell me what I wanted to know.
I did pick up some good information about folding clothes. This information came from the book called, The Life Changing of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo.
Let me say first I am not a minimalist.
I am a wife, mother, grandmother and auntie that wants my house clean and organized but I do not want to live in an empty, sterile house that echo's. I like it when the children come and find new adventures at our house. We can tell they like our old fashioned home.
I have lived long enough to know that there are some things that need to be kept that may not be used very often but when it is needed it keeps us from having to go out and spend money on purchasing it again. These oil lamps that we keep in our house come in pretty handy when the power goes out. When we have oil lamps we need oil and wicks to go with them and something to light them with.
Most all of us have clutter and things we need to get rid of. I make frequent trips to donate at our rescue mission. But my point here is that for me, I do not like clutter but I also like living prepared.
We have had to use each of these items we keep on hand. We did not have to go out and purchase it because they stay in our cabinet outside our bathroom. Along with other things.
People that don't can their food do not need these jars but those of us that do can our food must find a place to store our jars.
Recently I was going to get rid of this cake carrier but my daughter in law talked me out of it. Now I am glad she did. I have two cake carriers, one is glass and this one. What would I have used to take a cake somewhere?
We use this kettle every day to boil water.
I know we all have junk that we would like for it to just go away but there is something here about being practical.
We need:
Sewing needs for mending
Suit cases
Medical needs
Emergency supplies
Games and books
Tools
Rakes, shovels and lawn care items
Office supplies
Cleaning supplies (that can be minimal when we make our own)
My take on the whole picture is for those that want to live as a minimalist that is ok because that is how you choose to live.
Living in a house with minimal items means that those people most likely do not stay home very much and that is ok because that is probably why they became minimalist. They enjoy going and doing and there is nothing wrong with that.
If we truly live in our house then we cook at home meaning we need kitchen items, pots and pans, dishes, utensils and a whole lot more.
We do creative things, painting, sewing, wood working, gardening and more.
I have decided there needs to be balance so I am calling my situation frugally clean. I am finding my way to being frugally clean and organized which means shredding all of the paperwork that needs to be shredded.
Re organizing our paperwork where it is easier to file.
Going through all of our clothes and only keeping what fits and what is comfortable and donating the rest.
Organizing our drawers and fitting into our space which means we only have a certain amount of space and if all the clothes will not fit into our small closet we have to get rid of items until it fits loosely.
I am a Grandma on a mission I want to be organized and frugally clean and that means frugal by not wasting and taking better care of the things we do have. If we do not have anymore use for it donate, recycle or throw it away.
Hope this is useful, Grandma Donna
