Making do with less

Hi,

What a great thread. We give our magazines to the local high school. The librarian was ecstatic to find us donating The NewYorker magazine. Since we itemize, it's a donation deduction on our income tax.

We have several used book sellers in our area, so we take our books to each one, and get cash at one and trade at the other. We have really lightened our load of books and bookcases this year.

We found that renewing the magazine subscription online beats out any price the magazine sends us when it's time to renew or try for the first time. I loved getting "Real Simple" for a while. That magazine had amazing tips on eliminating clutter.

We are trying to reduce three rooms of furniture and "stuff" out of our house, so my daughter, sil, and granddaughter (20 months) can move in with us the end of January. It's been a pretty smooth operation so far. We have some antiques we will try to sell locally; books to trade-in; a goodwill pile; and some things we are boxing up and putting in storage for a while.

The best bargain we found for storage was renting one of those pods. Great price, and way less than storage units. Plus it's much more secure as the pod sits in our side yard. My daughter and her family are using 1/2, and we are using the other 1/2. We are leaving a 2 foot isle, so we can access stuff if we need something. I'm amazed at how much we are able to fit in the biggest one.

For my sewing/quilting room, I found an armoire that I put shelves in. All my fabric and projects fit in that piece of furniture. And it makes the room look so pretty.

We have also put our dressers in a closet for more floor space. Can make a small room look larger.

Anyone doing any feng shui?

Happy New Year to all!

grace 

I had to limit myself as well.  I was on till 2 am lots of nights.  Now I only read Moving Beyond.  I may not get to sleep, but at least I'm not on till 2 am. any more

So, the downturn in the economy has hit my home! My daughter, SIL & granddaughter will be moving in with us in 2 weeks.

We had a "pod" delivered and each household has a side. Ours is filled with quite a few boxes already! Interesting--the pod is cheaper than putting stuff in a public storage unit!

Now that I've cleared "stuff." it's time to decide what furniture to use  and what to store. Not an easy task. However, I did solve the TV, computer and sewing machine problem. We will use the desk (which currently houses just the computer) for these items. It will fit in the corner of the living room. Gee, I'll really be able to multi-task now. LOL

Anyway, I'm actually quite proud of myself for being able to compress my dh and myself into 2 rooms plus sharing the kitchen and dining area. This will be a challenge, but it is amazing how much "stuff" we have that we really, really can do without!

This is forcing me to get my mending done and some projects finished before we are all moved in together. My "stuff" is slowly shrinking. Yahoo! 

I sold my home, and am now living in a beautiful 37 1/2' RV. So, 'down-sizing' was a must. A few years ago, I read a hint that helped me a lot. It said that if you have items you love, never use, and that 'own you', just clean them up to look their best. Then, give them to kids, family, friends, or sell/donate. BUT, before parting with the item - take a picture of it. This way, you can see and have the memories of the item, but not have it taking up space, or costing you for storage, or damaged with time and temperature.

The picture will give you the same feelings, but take up a lot less space - AND you don't have to dust it.