Simple. This is a word that has become a favorite of mine over the last several years of my life.
It started I believe as a child, I always admired the way some people seemed to manage to live on very little, do without certain things, etc. As an adult it became more important to me, especially after I started having kids due to my serious distaste for commercialism. Granted, I won't sit here and deny that at times I like to indulge myself, but that's more or less that over compelling mommy guilt for not giving into the latest, greatest, best and most mindset of *things* that a kid must or must not have in order to be raised.
For example...have you ever seen those "studies" where one concludes that it takes 1 point whatever million dollars to raise 1 child? It's studies like those that imho cause many young people and couples to either severely limit the amount of children they have, or not have any at all because of that incredibly large (and inaccurate) amount of money. While I am not a total expert on this (yet lol) I will tell you that that is not even close to the true amount that you CAN choose to raise a child on.
So, keeping that in mind, I have increasingly spent the years while having our kids trying to find ways to cut down on not only how much we spend, but our influx of *stuff* in this house. I'll admit, I still have a LONG way to go in this area myself. I am constantly reevaluating what we need or don't need. Sometimes I don't purge/save enough, and other times I'm a bit overzealous in terms of minimizing and I end up regretting it later.
One of my biggest struggles at the moment is the clothing situation. The truth is...I love clothes. When we were struggling financially years ago it wasn't such an issue because we had no money, so I had no $ to spend, period. Now however, I find myself drawn to anything even remotely cute on a hanger. Because of that I feel I really sabotaged myself this winter because my kids had way more clothing than they needed. Top this off with the clothing storage I'm still purging from years past (i've always been one to save and pass on to the next kid in order to save $, even Lettie has stuff from Susie, yeah 14 years...thats a bit much!),and you've got a crazy amount of clothing in this already cramped house.
A few years back a friend of mine who had 7 kids and I were having a conversation about the sheer amount of storage space needed to hold onto clothing for an extra large family. It was then that she shared with me that after #6 she made the decision to no longer hold onto stuff because it was simply too much. Too much space needed, and way too much time needed to go through it 2 times a year (that's a huge one, its not so much just the storage part, its finding time in the spring and fall to take inventory, then go supplement shopping for the rest). This conversation set me free. It was at that point (about 2 years ago) that I started really purging what I had, and stopped adding to it.
There are however a few things that do not fall into this category. Ex: winter coats, snow boots/pants, hats/gloves/scarves, pajama's and shoes (on a limited basis). Also if they have an outfit that is really spectacular and nice I might hold onto it if there is a kid that will wear it within a year or two under them (ex: Cessa has an expensive dress that Sadie will grow into next year). These things do go into large tubs and are stored. Let's face it...snow boots for 8 kids x $30 a pop each year could get incredibly pricey. Things like this are worth the little bit of space they consume. Pajama's might seem odd too, but in a large family they are kind of a rarity at times. When we were struggling financially there were many summers where my little ones wore over sized t-shirts on occasion. For a family that cannot afford much, this sort of thing can be a norm. So for us I do hold onto jammies if they are in good condition and again if another child coming up in the ranks will wear it within a reasonable amount of time.
With all that said, back to simplicity. As much as I have been purging the basement for 2 years, I pretty much messed myself up by over buying for my kids this past fall/winter. One of the problems is as of late we have not been given nearly as many hand me downs as in years past, especially for my younger kids. So I went out and started buying little bits here and there, only later to be given hand me downs, thus creating a larger than expected amount of clothing. I spent most of Jan/feb down sizing, but still felt it wasn't enough. It was then that I came up with an idea to help simplify this whole problem.
For this season we are heading into, I created a list of specifically what each child needed in their wardrobe. I allowed for 10 days worth of clothing each, 3 pairs of jammies (4-5 for the 2 youngest as they tend to wet or dirty theirs more often), a few warm items (2 jeans, 2 hoodies or a jacket for cooler weather)..and 3 pairs of shoes each (dress, tennis shoes and beach shoes such as crocs or flip flops). I have the list in my purse and as I buy or am given an item it gets marked off and once I reach the limit, no more period. So far this has already cut down big time on what is in the dressers, closets & laundry.
Also, the bigger thing in my mind is the whole concept of living a more simple life. The kids still have what they need, and we are able to buy a few nicer things because we aren't spending as much. Also as far as the teenage years go, at least with my daughter who is 15, she has pretty much stopped growing so for her the expense is even less because I'm not having to replace as much since she is no longer growing. I'm able to buy her nicer things that will last since they won't need to be replaced nearly as quickly.
Overall this has come at a great time for us with the impending move. A lot of the houses we have looked at, because I refuse to buy a 3000+ sq ft house have been smaller on the storage side. At first I felt conflicted about this, until I realized that honestly it was right in line with what we as a family are trying to accomplish and teach. I want my children to grow up only using what they need in this life time...not only from a green perspective (carbon footprint, very important to me!) but also in terms of learning to be satisfied with having just enough. It's not that I want to deny my kids anything...on the contrary. I want my children to learn to be thankful for what they have, and focus more on things that matter (relationships, growing, learning, giving...etc.) versus stuff. I am always reminded of people in other parts of the world that live with much less than we American's have (or think we need) to live on. These people do not by any means live a substandard life, they live a richer life because stuff isn't there to crowd out the important things in life.
How many people have ever looked at a room that was full of *stuff* and felt overwhelmed at the prospect of cleaning it. And on the flip side, have you ever dove into a room like that, only to come out on the other side feeling like a 100 lb weight had been lifted? There is a reason that simplicity is important, because things cannot buy us happiness and too much stuff isn't a good thing. Things crowd out what matters most in life. Things consume more of our money than is necessary. Things at times have importance, true. I don't know about you but i personally don't want to live in a LR without furniture to sit on lol....that's not what I'm saying, I'm simply saying (pun) that simplifying is freeing and its never to late to take on that perspective regardless of the past.
With that said, I have laundry to get too ;) the last of the fall/winter stuff that will be getting donated as soon as I get it done. Which reminds me,...one thing i do need more of is a second set of W&D, seriously....I know once I get that second set in the new house I'm going to wonder what i ever did without it lol. I'll be able to get the laundry done in half the time, and for a family this size and my schedule that is going to be a huge time saver.
