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If you missed my first in this series, read it here.
1. Stop buying everything for at least six months.
As we prepared for our impending move and downsizing to a much smaller pantry, I stopped buying groceries. I only purchased a few perishables and we ate from the freezer, the refrigerator, and the pantry. Pretend like you are the Food Network show “Chopped” and see what you can make with the items you have. There is actually a great site called SuperCook.com where you can insert your ingredients and it will give you recipe ideas if you are stumped.
I also stopped buying household cleaners, detergents, and paper products. If you get down to the bare minimum then it is a great time to try a little Kon Mari method of bringing them together from all over the house and seeing what you have too much of and what you need to purchase. I prefer to have supplies in each bathroom, especially since they are spread over three floors, but I have very little room to store surplus so using up items was very helpful.
Don’t buy any new clothes either. Shop your closet first. Try pairing new items together. I like the app Stylebook where you can snap pictures of each clothing item. When you do shop and see a bargain you can check your virtual closet and make sure it is something you need. You can store inspiration outfits, create outfits from your closet and even “pack” items into your suitcase for trips. In addition, you can log when you wear items which can be really helpful for considering the cost of your clothing. I am moving towards very few items in my wardrobe but better quality items. If you are wearing the quality item many times, the cost can per wear may be much lower than a less expensive poor quality item. I have embraced having a capsule wardrobe and it has made my shopping so much easier. I don’t fall for “a great deal” if it doesn’t fit the qualifications to be in my wardrobe.
One thing I was disappointed about during my move is I had to buy a new dress for my niece’s wedding. It was an outdoor summer wedding in West Texas. I knew I needed something cool enough to wear but suitable for a wedding. I realized I had the perfect sleeveless dress that was dressier than I normally wear and it had made the cut when we packed up our home. The only problem was I could not find it after the move. As it turned out, it was one of the first things I packed and loaded into the storage unit so we could stage our house. Unfortunately, it was the last of the items removed from the storage unit and alas, I found it the other day! It was the perfect dress for the occasion and it fit, only my niece has been married for seven months! I did find some consolation in that there seems to be a spot on the dress so I am not sure it was wearable anyway.
2. Stop looking at catalogs, websites, and emails from retailers. Out of sight, out of mind! Just don’t do it unless you need to purchase something specifically for your smaller home, furniture that fit, in our case. Once I found the items and timed our purchase with their big sale, I quit looking at any more emails from the stores. The same can be said for Pinterest too and even some of your favorite Instagram style posts. If they are causing you to think about buying and accumulating then quit viewing them.
3. Start questioning the value of every item which takes up real estate in your home. Per square foot, real estate is expensive. For those of us outside of places like New York City and other megacities we may not think about this as much, but we need to. We are more aware of it now, not just because we moved toward downtown and our square footage foot price increased but because we don’t want a stuffed house. The reality is regardless of your living costs, the stuff in our home costs us more than just physical space. It costs us time for caring for it and mental space if our visual space is cluttered. We live in a very cluttered and noisy world. Our home should and has to be a respite, a haven for us and our family. Allowing too many items, items which fight us for physical and visual space in our haven is allowing an opponent in our own home which we simply don’t need. We are the gatekeepers. If an item doesn’t “bring us joy”, serve a useful purpose, and take up only the real estate it is worthy of, it needs to go!
Have I won my battle with affluenza? Nope. It is a daily battle. I still like new things as anyone does but I can appreciate them without owning them. I still have many of my books but before I purchase a book I think twice about purchasing it. Most of my purchases are to support fellow writers or for books which are for my research on a topic and I will be making notations in them. Otherwise, they go on my “to check out at the library” list.
I just want to challenge you to think about the possibility that affluenza has crept into your home and it may be a contributing source of your discontent, your stress, and your exhaustion.
Try taking these three steps for three months and see if you notice a difference.
Post your experience below and share with us all your observations. We would love to hear from you.
