Downsize your stuff, Less is more!

As many of you can relate, we have young children that grow up like weeds right before your eyes, and with that, comes stuff, lots of stuff. With more stuff, we need more room to store that stuff. Some stuff we like and use often, while other stuff we don’t and sits in the basement, back of a closet, or perhaps in the garage.

So, I tell a story many of you can easily relate to, and you might be saying, “So tell me something I don’t know”. Well, I’m getting there. What is new and different this time was we when we made the decision to do our second renovation, we also made the decision to move out during the construction. This was the life, and marriage, saver. I actually did listen when she said, ” I will never live through another one of these!”

We had a modest 3 bedroom (OK, 2 1/2ish on a good day), home that was filled with all sorts of stuff. It had my stuff (those roller blades are coming back, I will use them again!), her stuff (I won’t go there…), and all sorts of kids’ stuff from when they were babies till now.

Life in the apartment was good. We were closer to town, so we could walk for a pizza, shop at the stores, etc. It felt nice to not have to drive every time you wanted to go somewhere. It was New York City, except a million times smaller.

The other nice thing was, and this is the important part, so listen closely, we didn’t miss most of the stuff we had. Since most of the stuff we had could not make the trip to the apartment, we just had to do without. This was the “ah ha” moment. We here folklore of these moments in life from our elders, but they don’t seem come around very often.

In the apartment, I had setup the Xbox on the TV, so that was all the boys needed for leisurely weekend entertainment. I got to use the TV occasionally between the boys games of Madden 15, and my wife just took to reading more because the TV room was too cold for her. Life was not bad.

As with all projects, no matter how far past the due date you go, they actually do get completed at some point. Our anointed day finally came, and we moved back in. OK, to be 100% honest, my wife did not make the move back due to some master bathroom issues that literally ‘burst’ onto the scene at the worst possible time. She went where many woman go when things go south (no not the spa, though she would not have turned that down), to her mother’s house.

Well, the burst pipes finally got fixed, my wife moved back in, and life went on. A lot of that stuff I spoke about was given away, donated to charity, or just thrown away. The new microwave we had purchased for the apartment, which was no longer needed, was sold to one of the moving guys by my dear father-in-law for $25. He still has not given me that $25, so that’s the running joke, “where’s my $25”. I think he bought new golf balls. That is one item you can never have enough of.

We purged so much stuff, and now have so much more space because of it. The house is more organized, or is getting there anyway as we slowly unpack. We even gave away, donated, and tossed more stuff during the move back in process. Life is good. Less is more !

So, in the end, with the added space due to the house expansion (3 life-sized bedrooms!), coupled with the reduction in a lot of stuff, we have so much more room…to buy more stuff! We can’t just leave this new space looking empty can we? As I type this, I think my wife is on Amazon, or is it Pottery Barn, getting more stuff. It is a never-ending battle, but as long as you have good health, a good family, and some basic necessities, less is more. Good luck.