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Striving For A More Simple/Minimalist Life in 2010 - Page 9

post #161 of 230
3/4/10 at 9:46pm
Annnnd we're back!

Thanks for your patience, everyone!
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post #162 of 230
3/4/10 at 11:09pm
thanks for editing. i'm sure it wasn't easy.

in honor of minimalism, my DH and i talked today about not getting a "lounge suite" or related. we enjoy sitting on the floor, having space for yoga, and so on.

we discussed whether or not we are going to keep the (broken) table. we think we will so that work and eating is a bit easier. but for the "lounge"--we may actually do nothing more than get a few cushions or just leave it as is.

our bed should be here soon next week! we are looking forward to it. so, the air mattress may be used in the lounge as our lounging space. LOL

so, yeah, just really choosing to have less. very cool.
post #163 of 230
3/5/10 at 4:01am
We didn't get the co-op, so we're back at square one, being house poor. I'm trying to embrace the positives about this place, but really want to get into something smaller and cheaper so that I don't have to work full time.
I think the FT work is probably inevitable for a while, until we can see a way out of this ...
I don't know about the rest of you, but it's feeling like spring here and I want to PURGE! It's a lot harder with a babe, that's for sure. I think I'll have my mom come over for a few hours and have her take DD out so I can go nuts.
post #164 of 230
3/5/10 at 4:16am
i'm sorry that you didn't get the coop that you wanted. but, a purge always feels good.

i got through everything on my list today to set up the business, and i have started to organize both our home and business paperwork in a more orderly way.

here's what i'm trying to decide for home finances--do i simply file everything by month and mark each receipt as per the purchase (eg, food, clothing, etc), or should i file it by type such as gas/electric bill, phone, etc?

in the case of the business, i'm doing a month-to-month accounting system. but at home, i'm thinking about doing it by type, so that i can get a sense of how much we are spending where. but of course, it's probably irrelevant which way i do it. either wy will work.
post #165 of 230
3/5/10 at 12:05pm
Quote:
I am learning a lot about decluttering. Specifically I am trying to incorporate the following into my process:
-assess my emotional reaction to items and recognize which cause me stress.
-get rid of things that create negative energy (guilt, anger, remorse)
-recognizing that my memories of people are not contained in things. Trying to choose a single special item that reminds me of special people.
-finding unique and meaningful ways of disposing of items that are hard to let go of.
This is exactly what I need to do.

Im pretty good about keeping the living areas clear of clutter, but I have about 4 big rubbermaid containers full of "keepsakes" that are just mine. Not counting the boxes of the keepsakes for the kids, and the one of my husbands.

We move a lot (military) and these tubs are just moved from one storage area to another. I usually dont even open them between moves. I need to go through and get rid of anything that cant be displayed, or is not something that I want to show my kids later.
post #166 of 230
3/6/10 at 7:11pm
What did I miss?

We're working on the garage this weekend. All the renovation debris that we've tossed out there is being donated or disposed of and the rest is being organised. It's dusty and spidery!
post #167 of 230
3/6/10 at 7:32pm
that's always a fun space to tackle, isn't it? i'm so happy we don't have one. seriously, living in a one-bedroom apartment is awesome. there is so little space, you consider everything that comes in.
post #168 of 230
3/7/10 at 12:42am
Don't diss the garage! It's the first time in my life I've had one and I adore it. Somewhere to set up power tools, keep paint and/or dangerous chemicals where children can't get them, park the stroller and trike out of the weather, not to mention getting kids in and out of the car without getting rained on.
post #169 of 230
3/7/10 at 1:14am
i suppose if you have those things, it is helpful.

i don't know how to use power tools; i don't keep paint or dangerous chemicals around (typically, i paint and then find a way for the paint to go, though i usually don't have left overs). don't have a stroller or a trike, and we don't have a car.
post #170 of 230
3/7/10 at 9:29am
We don't have public transport here and we don't have a car so our bikes are our cars. We have to have somewhere convenient to store them. The tandem bike would take up way too much room in the living room!

My DH who is a Carpenter turned our garage into a bicycle repair shop this winter. Talk about a purge. We've never used our garage to park in so it was pretty full. We do a lot of outdoor sports so he had to organize it really well.
I am so glad the garage is his space because I didn't have to help!

Some of the stuff (painting stuff) has ended up in the unfinished basement. I'm going to have to do a tidy down there next week.
post #171 of 230
3/7/10 at 3:28pm
The garage is painted it's so fresh and clean now.
Quote:
Originally Posted by zoebird View Post
i suppose if you have those things, it is helpful.

i don't know how to use power tools; i don't keep paint or dangerous chemicals around (typically, i paint and then find a way for the paint to go, though i usually don't have left overs). don't have a stroller or a trike, and we don't have a car.
You really should learn how to build things! It's so satisfying to look around and know that you built or made things with your own hands.

How do you get rid of excess paint? Our local Habitat for humanity Restore only takes paint from contractors. I even have half a dozen tins I took from a friend who was moving and was intending to use them to paint the garage, but it turns out I had enough leftovers from painting inside our house that I could make a custom blend of low-VOC stuff to use. I did a craigslist ad, but had no takers. I think I'll have to get that stuff that dries out paint and put it in the trash, which makes me feel terribly guilty.

We're in a hurricane zone, so we need a lantern and oil for it, plus a lawn so we have fuel for the lawn mower. I keep my nail polish remover out there, too.

I'm in awe of you with no car AND no stroller/trike! I'm far too lazy to go to the supermarket and carry both babies and groceries back home
post #172 of 230
3/7/10 at 8:35pm
where i lived before, we had a paint recycling center, so i would take it there. it was also a good place to get cheap paint. they either had a lot of a given color.

right now, i'm learning how to bake bread and compost. i won't be using power tools for some time, btu i also know of a woodshop that you can rent time and use of the machines when i want to learn. that way, i don't have to have the space for it.

we don't have space for bikes, and that is a bit of an issue. actually, we could keep them in the entry hall, but that would be it.
post #173 of 230
3/8/10 at 1:25pm
Thread Starter 
This weekend, the sun shining and the temp hitting 50 (in the midwest that is a heat wave in March!) we finally saw our grass since before xmas.

Opening up all the windows and letting fresh air in does wonders for the soul.

DH and I sat on our patio in the sun and drank iced coffees as the snow around us was melting. Weird mix of senses but it was wonderful to do and listen to the different things.
post #174 of 230
3/8/10 at 1:35pm
My bulbs are coming up. Since its a new house, everything's a mystery. It's fun!
post #175 of 230
3/8/10 at 4:40pm
I belong here.

We are living in a small apartment while our new home is being built. Before we listed our old place, we were *pretty* decluttered. When we had to get the house ready to sell, we got rid of even more things. About half of our belongings are in storage right now (seasonal things, bikes, art, my massage therapy equipment, etc.). It's been really freeing to see how little we can live with, and I'm itching to get my hands on the storage things again to see how much more I can let go!

I'm not the most fastidious housekeeper, but I like a clean space, so simplifying our lives seems like the best way to avoid housework as much as possible. The less there is, the less I have to dust or move around to get to the floors underneath.

I am really looking forward to our new place, and a beautiful, compact, blank slate!
post #176 of 230
3/8/10 at 6:15pm
i, too, have found that it makes housework easier. i am able to do a deep cleaning of each room once a week, rather than seasonally when we had a lot of stuff!

today, i scrubbed the bathroom deeply. the landlord came at 9:15 and i was in the midst of it. He came to fix the washer. anyway, he watched me scrub and then commented on how clean and organized the apartment was. he is so used to renting to students (it's a high student area) and dealing with their damages! he said that it nearly scares him to go into the student apts (above and below) because of how crazy-messy they can be. he hopes to bring in more professionals or older students so that there is less wear on his places. he's a good landlord, too. he also said it smells so much nicer than the other apartments. LOL

anyway, i love being able to just keep a small space clean. i even wash my fridge every week before we go shopping and i'm able to dust out the cupboards too! it just keeps everything so fresh. the baby's toys scatter about, but they take about 5 minutes to pick up (and now he helps with that!). and it's so easy to clean up after cooking dinner that we don't even use the dish washer. LOL

i find that the whole process is much more efficient with less space and less stuff! i enjoy it all now--keeping the place straightened up, having friends over, just living here is great!

building a house to suit would be pretty amazing!
post #177 of 230
3/9/10 at 4:04am
We'd love to build our own wee house! Where abouts are you building, boogiemonster?

I love the cleanability of a small, decluttered space too. I love that I can vacuum the entire place without having to switch outlets!
post #178 of 230
3/9/10 at 5:21pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by starling&diesel View Post
I love that I can vacuum the entire place without having to switch outlets!
Jealous!

The last house we were in had more toilets than bedrooms. It was especially since my four year old loved going to a different one every time, so I had to clean three of them. Luckily this house has a sensible two and a downstairs toilet.
post #179 of 230
3/9/10 at 7:25pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by starling&diesel View Post
We'd love to build our own wee house! Where abouts are you building, boogiemonster?
We're in Edmonton.

It's actually a development, so we didn't design it or anything, but it's PERFECT for us.

-it's a townhome (built-in community and lots of green space for the kids to play)
-it's smallish, but has a garage (no scraping our windows in winter!)
-it has an open floor plan
-my husband can walk to work in about four minutes (we have one car and the girls go to school about 15-20 minutes away, so one of us was going to have to drive; this way we don't need a second vehicle)
-the kitchen is sexy (added bonus )
post #180 of 230
3/9/10 at 8:14pm
a sexy kitchen is nice. lol
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