When I was teaching, one of the summer time activities I most looked forward to was the cleaning/decluttering of my house…(crazy, isn’t it?) I went through my drawers, closets, cabinets, etc. to see what I could and couldn’t live without. I believe that’s why the Good Lord invented yard sales!
My close friends and family know I’m a sucker for shoes and purses – once I stopped counting at 30 pairs of flip flops…Until I asked The Boss to find “my gold flip flops” and he kept bringing ones I didn’t want, I had no idea I had 5 pairs of just gold ones…
Add that to the green ones, brown ones, black ones, etc. And that didn’t count the tennis shoes, clogs/mules, boots, dress shoes, etc. I just couldn’t bring myself to count my purses, let’s just say I brought back only purses from a trip to Mexico, and I own a purse with an honest to goodness alligator on it, head, teeth and all! But I digress; this is about shoes.........
Now, you might justifiably ask yourself, “Why does that crazy lady need all those shoes when she only has two feet?” Well, I don’t. I felt I deserved them. Here’s why:
1. I earned a nice living and could easily afford them.
2. My job was very stressful.
3. I felt I deserved a special treat.
4. My favorite excuse: they were on sale!
5. I could gain weight or lose weight and my shoes always fit.
Most importantly, in the rush of being blinded in shoe love, I forgot that I already owned a pair or two that were almost identical.
Needless to say, I had a real storage problem. What to do?
My answer came last year in a local First Annual Indoor Yard Sale. This event was held at the Northwest Georgia Trade and Convention Center in Dalton, Georgia. The night before the sale, The Boss and I took a few hours, gathered some junk, and on a Friday evening and a few hours on Saturday made almost 300 dollars getting rid of things we no longer wanted or thought we needed. It was within a few dollars of an unexpected vet bill. Yipeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
Here's the link to
find out more about the yard sale!
We plan to participate in this event again this year – please mark your calendars for July 16 and 17 – I’ll be the crazy lady there fighting with her husband over her flip flops…………
Sincerely, before making a decision on if an item is leaving my home, I ask myself these questions:
• Does it still work?
• Does it have a purpose or function in my home or my life?
• Do I use it?
• Every item in your home has a story of how it was acquired. How does that story make you feel? Does it make your heart sing? Or not?
• How many times is Aunt Suzie actually going to come to my home to see if I really use the (fill in the blank) she gave me?
Repeat after me, “Let the guilt go, let the guilt go, let the guilt go”. Donating an item to a local charity thrift store is a great guilt release. Let someone else have the blessing of your item.
I love comments. Please share with me your favorite tips for decluttering your home, and any tips for making my participation in the yard sale a whopping success!
Image via Wikipedia
