Making Things Better #4

 

I am always amazed at how little changes can add it up to big rewards and make our lives just that much nicer.  I am a true believer that less is more and I am working every day to keep to that idea inside of our home.  Since December I have been systematically going back through our home and purging items we no longer need, don’t use, are worn out, or we simply do not like or use.  We have already made a trip to the donation center at our neighborhood thrift store.  I’m sure another one is in our near future, although I’m quite pleased to say we’re keeping it pretty lean around here as far as any clutter goes.

 

Since January I have been listing a lot of items that were in the storage area of our garage for sale on eBay.  I’ve sold pretty much everything I have listed so far which has generated a lot of extra money we can use to make various small improvements in our home.  One of those “improvements” is a cross cut paper shredder to help me better manage our paper clutter (aka. the Bain of my existence).  No more collecting papers and waiting for a nice weather day to light up the firepot and burn it all.  Instead I can shred it as it comes in.  I am also able to reuse the shredded paper by adding it to the bag of pine shavings we use for the nests in our chicken coop.  It will now get composted along with the bedding when we clean out the coop and serves an extra purpose in the process.  Bonus!

 

Also in January I went through all of my clothing and determined that every piece I own is liked and worn by me on a regular basis with the exception of one top.  It is a beautiful top but I wasn’t comfortable wearing it, a little too low cut.  Because it is a designer top I listed it for sale on eBay to see if it will sell.  If it doesn’t sell I will donate it.    I replaced the top with a new one I found on clearance that appeals to me more.  I pulled out two pair of my older black work pants which were getting pretty worn out and starting to look a tad bit ratty and replaced them with two new pairs.  I did the same thing with a few pair of my athletic socks too - pull and replace.  I very much like the current size of my four season wardrobe so pull and replace is working out very well for me right now.  Along with the two pair of black slacks and one top I added a new pair of blackleather shoes for work which gives me a little more variety and fills in the space left when I donated another pair last summer that I wasn’t wearing.

 

Another “improvement” I made was to add something off of my wish list which is a new toaster oven purchased on a 50% OFF sale from Best Buy online.  I had been looking for one on Facebook Marketplace but this one came up and was priced less than what others were selling their used ones for.  Plus I got a 2 year warranty with it and it came with a baking sheet too.  This is totally a want item, not a need, but I do love having one once again.  We had donated our old one because it was so big and bulky that we didn’t have a good space for it.  I have really missed it though so having this one, which is much smaller and has a designated place on top of our dryer in the laundry room, is really nice.  I love that I can make my daughter some garlic bread real quick to go with a bowl of soup or bake a small casserole without having to heat up the big oven in the kitchen.  In the summer I can use it outside and not heat up the kitchen at all.  I can also put it in the RV so I have a lot of good options with this cute little toaster oven.

 

Purging my home on a regular basis makes my life easier and so much better.  By not allowing things to collect and pile up I’m better able to manage the items I do keep in my home and housekeeping is a much nicer task to take on.  My home is cleaner and stays cleaner too.  Using up what I already have on hand is another great way to keep things under control.  This year I am using items from my sewing and craft stash to make things to give as gifts as well as to sell on eBay and Etsy.   I am able to bring in a little bit of extra cash to use to purchase items on my wish list or things we need like new tires for my car without having to budget extra for these expenses.  I’m also putting little bits of the extra cash into savings which adds up surprisingly fast.  Once I decide what to sell I go ahead and take the pictures right then and there so when I go to post a listing I am all ready.  I also package it so it all ready to pop into the mail once it sells.  I keep a large bag in our garage to put items in to donate.  As I find things to purge I trot them right out there and stick them in the bag, then when it is full I drop it off at the thrift store when I am out doing my grocery shopping or running errands.

 

Little things, that don’t cost much or in many cases can generate revenue, really can make a difference.  What are some little changes you have made this year to make things better in your life?