What does it mean to Simplify?!

Photo credit: Primitive Signs

 

Here's what it looks like to simplify in our life (for one of my 2013 goals):
- Declutter!

if you know me, you probably wouldn't say our place is full of clutter. Well, it's not really, but we still have lots of stuff, too much stuff.  I don't believe we will ever truly be minimalists, especially with kids, but I do want to strive to have minimalist way of thinking... so

- Purge un-wanted/un-needed/un-used material items!

this is harder than it sounds. I usually have a good-will run once a month it seems, but I still have so, so much stuff.  Determine the amount of clothes we actually need and get rid of the rest. We have way too many clothes, which leads to way too many loads of laundry, which leads to lots of time doing laundry. Here's the thing, I don't have a problem with getting rid of stuff, I have a problem with buying stuff on sale... so

- Work on buying things that I LOVE and not buying things because they are a good deal or because I may be able to use it some day!

wow, this will be hard. I love deals, finding deals, getting great deals... but I don't need or use half the stuff I find. And, lets be honest, a deal is only a deal if I/my family will use it. If I buy a shirt for Alivia for $2 but she never wears it, then I just wasted $2. I need to stop looking for deals and start looking for things I need when I need them... so

- Limit events/outings on our schedule that we will enjoy doing as a family or that will grow us as family!

honestly, think about things, events, activities before making plans or committing to them. Don't say yes to everything and strategically plan our days. Make sure that it is something we want to all do. I, too often, commit to things for our family or make plans (like going to a store or finding deals) and Ben really doesn't want to do it or vise-versa... so

- Communicate. You're probably thinking why this is under a simplify category!

we are pretty good communicators with each other, but we still have to work at it. One way we need to work on our communication is in events. We often schedule things without asking the other and don't realize that the other person already has a commitment and this causes conflict. By communicating better in this area, we will simplify our life by not adding unnecessary conflict.

Sounds like a good written plan, now to really go about doing it!

Anyone have any good reading suggestions or tips on simplifying, organizing, or decluttering?