I’m sure you all have heard of Marie Kondo by now. She’s written a couple of books and recently launched her Netflix original show “Tidying Up with Marie Kondo” on January 1, 2019, that is sweeping the nation. I have watched every episode and I was totally motivated to do ALL THE TIDYING.
I am loving seeing friends on social media tidying their houses. Living with less is so good and more importantly, being thankful for what we have can shift our mindsets completely.
Once we’ve gone through our house with the entire tidying process – what is next? What do we do with all of the things we tidied? I’d challenge you to donate and discard your excess intentionally. After all, the last thing we need is all of the excess to land in a landfill somewhere. Give it to a charity that needs it … think blankets to an animal shelter or make up and women’s personal items to a domestic violence charity. Maybe you know a friend who could use some things for her church’s garage same. Always ask BEFORE passing on your junk but sometimes a friend could put to use things that are causing you stress.
Don’t push your excess into the landfill to hurt future generations!
So, we’ve tidied, we’ve donated and now … the KEY to maintaining this sense of less is to NOT BRING IN MORE! We aren’t cleaning out our house so we can have room for more junk, right? The last thing I want is to be repeating this process all over again in a year or less.
For me, my issue is clothes. I love them. I buy them for me, my kids, my spouse and even our dog. In the past, I could clean out our closets monthly and still have PLENTY! Oh, and buy more because you know, we now have more room! 
I began my minimalism journey in January 2018 with a few friends, my biggest goal was to buy less and bring in less. For now, each member of my family has a number of items of clothing we are comfortable with, and if i find a piece I LOOVVVE (and I mean it I must love everything about it … fit, color, size, everything) then I will buy it. Before I put it in my closet, I scan my clothes and think “Is there anything this replaces? Is there something I could pass on? ”
For me, this holds me accountable. I want to enjoy my life, my home and my things. For me to be able to do that, I must have limited options to reduce stress and to have less to clean.
Keep tidying, Mamas! Just remember once you’re done to think before you buy more stuff.
