I love the idea of valuing experiences with the people I love more than valuing stuff and things but while I would say that, my personal spending has always showed that my actions do not back up my words.
I have a lot of weaknesses when it comes to spending: dollar stores, stationary, art and craft supplies, books, thrift stores . . . all stuff that doesn’t cost much in the moment but when you start adding the purchases up it can get fairly expensive.
So, a little over a month ago I decided to put myself on a spending freeze.
Two sidenotes before we begin:
One: This post is going to sound like it was sponsored by Norwex, it’s not. I just seriously love their stuff. I’ve actually thought about selling their products because I’m constantly raving about them but for right now I’ll just continue sounding like a spokesperson for the company.
Two: I wrote a post with this title two years ago but a number of things have changed so instead of just updating the old post I decided to write a completely new one.
Over the last five years or so I’ve really been making an effort to live a life of less, I don’t think I initially thought of the environmental benefits but they really go hand in hand.
This is a list of things I no longer buy, some we simply do without and others I’ve bought items that will last longer and be more environmentally friendly in their place instead.
As like most of life, this is a work in progress. Ultimately I’d like to be a good steward of what God has given us, I’d like to buy less so we can bless others, have less so we can spend more time together as a family (instead of always cleaning up our clutter) and I’d like to choose experiences over stuff.
A few weeks ago I was sick of constantly picking up toys (or asking the kids to pick up toys) so I made the decision to put their toys away and see what would happen.
I may be considered a bit of an extremist – my methods usually fall under the all or nothing categories.
So, in the morning I told the kids we would be putting their toys in the storage room for a little while, this wasn’t said out of anger or anything, I just explained that I was feeling frustrated and overwhelmed with all the toy clutter and asked if they were sick of cleaning up all the time (they were).
If you’ve been following me for any length of time you would know that minimalism is something I have been slowly working to over the last few years. I’ve noticed that a house filled with clutter overwhelms me, I can’t focus on anything else when my house is in a disarray.
Having less stuff in my house helps me be able to breathe deeper, relax more fully and be able to enjoy my family more. I’ve even noticed it being helpful with my children, who don’t realize it yet but also get overwhelmed by the burden of too much.
