Clutter and Abundance

One of my goals for this past year was to get rid of clutter in my house. I thought I had done a pretty good job of it. We had a yard sale, donated items and just got rid of stuff we don't/won't use, have duplicates of etc...Well, I have started making room for baby #2 (not due till August but I thought I would get a head start while I could) and I have so much junk it is unbelievable! I guess I just had it cleverly hidden and organized it all so that it was hard to tell how much junk i really had! I AM trying to put it all in a smaller space which is forcing me to decide what I really like and what I can live without.

I like to scrapbook and I buy paper like it is going out of style! Lots of pretty, pink, girly papers, glittery papers, cute boy themed papers...problem is, i don't have a girl to use pretty girly scrapbook papers for and I find myself using mostly solid colored paper for my scrapbook pages. So why on earth do I have 6 sets of patterened scrapbook paper? Because I think I MIGHT need it one day. Why did I buy a bag of pretty buttons? Because I MIGHT think of some way to cleverly use them one day. Why do I have 20 something spools of grossgrain ribbon? 'Cause it's pretty! and I MIGHT need to tie a ribbon on something someday...anyway, you get the point! So one of my resolutions for this year is to not buy anything crafty or scrapbooky unless i know EXACTLY what it is for.

As Christmas came this year and I was wrapping presents, I realized what an abundance of things we have! I came to this realization while wrapping presents because I have TONS of wrapping supplies! The thing is, I don't give that many wrapped gifts, or really even that many gifts for that matter-so why do I have so many bags and rolls of wrapping paper? This kinda goes back to the clutter issue...i have tons of wrapping paper but why? because it is pretty! and i may think of some way to cutely (is that even a word?) wrap a present with it even though most presents I wrap are just ordinarily wrapped and most of the time I leave the bow off!

I did an advent calendar for Austin this year where everyday counting down to Christmas, he received a special treat from Santa's Elves. I went and bought some cheap little dinasours, cars, stickers and chocolates to put in his calendar. After I got home, I found some stickers I already had, some cars that I had already stashed away, etc. It wasn't that I didn't know I had these things, I had just gotten them for other purposes. So then I thought to myself that I could ahve just used the things I already had and I did not need to go buy any little treats for his calendar! I had plenty here at home to use! DUH!

Anyway, this year I hope to use up some of the items we are abundant in and not add anymore clutter to my house!

The older I get, the more streamlined and the less cluttered I want things to be adn the cleaner and more organized my house seems to be. My mom would get a good laugh today if she could see me! I think my Dad and Stepmom get a kick out of it. I used to be soooo messy! My dad even told my stepmom one time that my idea of clean and the rest of the world's idea of clean are two totally different things! Not anymore! Not that my house is the cleanest in the world-it isn't. but it is faaaar from being as cluttered and dirty as some other homes I have seen.

Anyway, I just wanted to write about that today because I have been thinking about it a lot lately. Is anyone else planning on decluttering their homes or cutting back on buying lots of unnecessary things this year? I am now wondering how much extra money I can save...!