We have too much crap in our house.
I have too much crap, and my kids have too much crap.
We have too many toys and too many clothes and too many, well, too many of pretty much everything.
And I don’t feel like we are really over-the-top.
My kids have much less stuff than most of their friends.
I’ve definitely got less clothes than pretty much all of my friends.
And before we left for vacation, I would have told you we had pared down a lot at home.
What I’ve learned in the past ten days is that the amount of stuff we do have is still about five or ten or twenty times more than we need.
The condo we are staying in down here in North Carolina has three bedrooms.
Four of the kids are in one room.
Two are in another. And my husband and I are in another.
There is a small kitchen, and a living/family room.
And there are two bathrooms.
I’ve been thinking for a while that we need more space at home in CT.
This vacation has made it very clear that we’ve got plenty of space up north.
But we’ve definitely got too much stuff in our space.
Granted, we only have the bare necessities with us here on vacation.
Work and school and sports require more stuff.
But not that much more stuff.
Do you know how much easier it is to keep your crap organized when there is less of it to straighten up every day?
A LOT EASIER.
And do you know how much time you save cleaning when there is less space to clean?
A LOT OF TIME.
Being on vacation has made it very clear that we still have way too many possessions in our house. And when we get home, we are gonna get rid of a lot of them.
Cause my kids don’t miss that stuff down here.
If they don’t miss it in North Carolina, then they won’t miss it in Connecticut.
And I’m not gonna miss having to pick it up or clean it either.
Amen to that! You NEED to read ‘The Life-changing Magic of tidying up’ by Marie Kondo. I’ve just finished reading it and am about to start moving through my house, one category at a time ……………..here we go!
Thanks for the book recommendation! I am constantly trying to declutter, but it seems like no matter how much stuff I get rid of, we still have WAY too much!
I second reading the book! Best way to get rid of things you don’t love or need.
Amen. I have the same epiphany every vacation, especially camping. The fun is not in stuff, it’s in stuff to do. In other words, experiences. Time for a huge yard sale?
My husband I I were talking about this when we recently returned from a trip to East Asia, and we decided that living the minimalist life is for the financially well-off. I have way more clothes than I need, but if I pare down to only what I need, there’s a chance we’d have to buy more for different things (One example is that I never wear khaki pants, but I don’t want to get rid of my pair bc if I have a program at church or get a part-time job etc where I need khaki pants, I don’t want to buy them). So, I totally agree. I (and I’m sure you too) have too much stuff. But my struggle is finding the balance of keeping enough so I won’t end up spending money on replacing something I got rid of…maybe I should just invest in plastic tubs and stick half of my clothes and 2/3 of my kids’ stuff in them and put them in the attic for a time!