So, originally my goal for this blog was to highlight any frugal activities I was doing or ideas that had blossomed in my noggin. Sometimes I fail at frugality still. I will never be 100% without some spendthrift folly in my life. I can live with that knowing that I will always return to my more conservative frugal nature. I love domestic frugality. I like reading about it. I even like writing about it when I have something I'm excited to write about.
My life lately has been consumed by chaotic clutter in my home (and in my head and heart). It has taken priority over saving money. I wasn't raised in a clutter free, organized home. I grew up hating housework because it was an all day Saturday, anger ridden, punishment involved affair.
And since I had two older brothers raised in a 70s/80s era household most of the actual cleaning was seen as women's work (i.e. myself and my mom). I can't imagine how my Mom actually got anything done seeing as she worked the night shift full time. I am only now starting to realize how tired and drained she must have been. Anyway, you can see why I've never had a love affair with housework and even view it as a sort of punishment even though I know I'm not being punished or abused by sweeping up cat hair or washing a dish. So, there are weeks where I've only done the bare minimum of keeping the dishes and the laundry clean. And I'm miserable when my life is lived this way and this is not an environment I want my children to grow up in.
I feel really good when the floor is swept, the dishwasher is empty and the kitchen table is ready to put dinner plates on. I want that feeling every day. My first step has got to be getting rid of unnecessary items and keeping track of our good stuff. Just today I found an old rebate check that expired in May for $5. I think somehow frugality and a clean, organized house must go hand in hand.
If I am organized I will be able to find those birthday presents I bought a few months ago and won't have to buy new ones. All the checks we need to cash will be found and deposited before they expire. All our bills will be paid on time because they won't have gotten lost under a couch cushion. I can keep track of all the kids toy parts because they only have a few favorites to play with and those are sorted in neat containers. I will be able to whip up dinners and snacks in our clean kitchen and won't be tempted to order out.
More on this later.
Right now I've got to go make stuff at our (cleared off, wiped clean!) kitchen table with my daughter. I promised her some craft time.
2 comments:
what a great post. i feel very much the same as you. everything else seems to flow so much better when my environment is organized & in order.
High-five on that one...I agree! I am also much less crabby with my sweet girls when I am not in cluttered room. I am especially sensitive to this when, after coming home from work, I found their toy room in shambles and I freaked out while I cleaned it up and yelled a good bit while doing it. Arghhh...
Anyway, I agree with you! Good luck on the continued efforts to decutter.
Andrea
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