I hate stuff. I hate lots of clutter. And I try very hard to limit the clutter in my house by not even buying it. I've talked with many friends (some who have enormous amounts of the c word lurking in every square inch of their homes) and they'll tell me about a great deal they just got. "It was only 4 bucks! Can you believe it?" Or "It was 1/2 off the clearance price. I mean who could resist!"
But even worse than Target clearance sales (and other sales like it) are the friends who go garage sale-ing. Now, in principle I'm not against garage sales. We've found great stuff at 'em. But the beauty of shopping in a store is I go with a list and I can get everything on that list, but at garage sales, you don't have a list. You're going to find the 'great find' of the day. Which means you pick up a few 'good finds' for the day. Hence the friends with houses busting at the seams with stuff. It's all too good of a deal to pass up.
I guess this has been on my mind because after the great spoilfest of '07 (also known as Christmas at our house), I've been itching to go through the kids toys and get rid of anything they don't play with. There are just too dog gone many toys in our house and it's driving me crazy!!! And I'm hoping giving her toys away will teach Lainey a few lessons that are needin to be taught around here. #1: It's more important to give than to receive. #2: Look at what a charmed and abundant life you have, little girl! Be grateful! So many have so much less. #3: You are entitled to nothing. You have a very charmed little 4 year old life. (See #2) And finally, #4: Mommy is the boss and has ultimate power. She giveth and she taketh away. Be afraid. Be very afraid.
So as we search for that great after-Christmas sale item, ask yourself a few questions:
- Do I really NEED this? Not is this cheap enough for me to buy, but do I need this?
- How much of a discount is this clearance price? If its only a couple dollars, wait till its cheaper or on sale for a better price! Clearance does not equal cheap.
- Do we already own something that has this or a similar function? Or it the function of this item something we need done regularly enough to warrant this purchase? (Example: Don't buy exercise equipment unless you are ALREADY exercising regularly!)
- When buying for kids, I think its always a safe bet to say that they don't really need any new toys. We, personally, don't get our kids new toys 'just because', there is always a holiday or a reason (Example: they earn it by filling up a chart with obedience stickers). But I also know the feeling of wanting to buy my kids anything their little hearts desire, so when buying toys for my kids, I always try to think of something that they don't play with that I can get rid of.
I love how wise and know-it-all I sound in this post (kidding, it drives me crazy) but seeing as how I spent precious time writing it this morning, I'm still gonna post it!
What about you?
Any great shopping advice that you try to live by to keep your home clutter free??
8 comments:
Carrie..I really like that advice...now if I could just live by it! I too DESPISE clutter.
There is only a few little rules I live by. That is..."okay, if I buy this, I bet it will just end up tossed in the toy box and not really "cared" about in a few days." So I don't usually buy a lot (if any) toys. Sydnie is not really "into" toys anynmore...she just likes art and beads now etc. They would almost ALWAYS rather play outside, or do some project, not necessarily play with toys. Which leads me to my next predicament...which projects do I buy and not...???? You've got me puzzled!! :0)
True that!!!
I get very uncomfortable going to friend's homes where there are toys and clutter everywhere! I'm a secret closet type of person (Monica from Friends) I like everything neat and perfect, but hide all my useless "priceless" items in my closet. We start finding toys to toss out about a month before birthdays and Christmas to prevent an overwhelming amount of them. That way we can sneak them out a couple at a time. And even though we live in a tiny apartment, I don't allow toys in the living room. They can sometimes bring one toy at a time out, but all toys MUST stay in their room. This helps my stress, not having to see junk and toys everywhere. Oh, my- I've written a novel!
Carrie I just had to laugh. I think you described me to the T- except for the cluttered house part. Connor makes fun of me all the time for this itch I have for sales and clearence. But it is the way I grew up. As long as my kids clean it up, they can make it.
Carrie you are funny. I love garage sells, but am very picky about what I get there. I don't go for a good find. I do go with a shopping list and usually only buy one or 2 toys that I then give them at a later time when they have earned it. That way I get the toy for cheap, but we still don't have tons of toys everywhere. By the way, you have been tagged...check out the rules on my blog.
I knew someone like that too - who got great deals on stuff, but had it all over the house! It wasn't junk, but it was everywhere. I just wanted to put it all in a closet for her. :)
I've been cleaning out toys since Thanksgiving and James keeps telling me I should do more. I think I need to box some up too when we get back from vacation - and bring them out later - kind of rotate them around.
I try not to buy toys in between bdays and holidays. If I need something specific and don't want to pay full price, I look on Craigslist. I've never loved garage sales - with kids it's hard to go to a lot of them.
I do love a bargain - sometimes it's hard for me to resist.....but I don't shop a lot anymore with 2 kids, so that helps.
Good post - it makes ya think! :)
great post, Carrie! So "New Year" appropriate!!
Love you, girl!
I always ask myself "Would Dad keep it?" And if he would, I throw it out, lol.
Seriously though, if there is a question in my mind as to whether it will be useful or not, I just throw it out (if I already own it). I deliberate so much before I purchase anything that I usually don't run into the clutter problem.
Probably my biggest fault in anti-clutter is that sometimes I buy the same thing twice (rarely, but it has happened more than once).
ditto to EVERYTHING you just said. It drives me CRAZY that my mother in law just buys toys for william all the time. Like every week. I want to scream "we have no room for more toys!!!" anyway... i'm working on organizing my house right now... thanks for the extra motivation.
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