I always thought I had just a handful of shoes and a couple purses. Moving and finding homes for our belonging has really put things in perspective for me. While there are somethings we have bought, we have also been very fortunate to be gifted several relatives seconds aka things that were headed to the thrift store otherwise.
Since moving it has been an experience unpacking all the boxes. Our belonging had been in storage for nearly a year. That journey made me see how little we really needed. The kids even seemed to enjoying playing with their toys with less options available.
Most things we bought were second hand be it a thrift store or a garage sale. It has always been rare for us to buy brand new with power tools being the exception. We had one mishap with a craigslist deal and I swore never to buy power tools used again. We have also been very fortunate to be gifted several relatives seconds aka things that were headed to the thrift store otherwise. Things like gorgeous pottery barn curtains for our bare windows, or marine artwork. I actually love the story of the marine art. Justin's grandfather is a former marine and Justin had found some gorgeous marine art that he framed for him. Years later his grandfather remarried and in the process of blending homes no longer had space for it so he mailed it out to us when Justin was in Afghanistan. Our other house had no room for it but our newest house does in his office. How fun is that story? :-)
Getting back on target those facts combined with my reselling on the side had accumulated to alot of crap, very nice crap. At our old house we would borderline freak out if people were coming over shoving stuff in drawers, the abundance of kids stuff in their rooms, it was ridiculous. I vowed while going through boxes to not get like that again and to buy napkins (HA)!
My mission is to go through each day and focus on two categories and pare down the quantity if possible. Today I focused on purses and shoes. Even though this was done during nap time so no one, not even the kids saw me, I felt so embarrassed. I always just thought I had maybe 5 at most pairs of shoes, maybe 6-7 purses which is still over kill but my numbers were way off.
I HAD 24 PURSES and 19 PAIRS OF FOOTWEAR!
Most of which I never wore or used. I felt like I should be on hoarders. Seriously how had I not noticed all that going on? Alot of my purses had been gifted to me at one point or another. My fake LV and fake Gucci I had kept because of the embarrassing amount I had spent on them in high school. I have not even used them since high school. I had to give myself a strong dose of tough love because since many had been gifted I felt guilty getting rid of them. Does anyone else ever feel bad about letting go of gifts that are not your style?
My shoes were easier to sort through since I had bought them myself. No guilt to be had. I took out ones I didn't like immediately then inspected the bottoms of the rest weeding out three more. My beloved J. Jill boots and L.L. bean flats will be going in my fall tub. My work out sneakers, Nine West red flats and no name animal flats will be going in my shoe cubby by the door. The rest of the keepers and purses are going in a tub in my closet. My plan is as I use the item it will be placed on my closet shelf then in one year what is leftover will be craigslisted or donated.
My purge went well, I now have 11 purses
12 pairs of shoes
Still excessive in my opinion and I plan to let the numbers get smaller. I had a hard time letting somethings go due to sentiment so I think the one year tub idea will be brilliant for me.
P.s. Mom, if you happen to read this I do still have my seat belt bag and it was included in my keep numbers. A nameless toddler was using it as her doll carrier at the time. :-)
