Good Evening,

My family and I have been fluttering off and on for about 7 years now. A little over a year ago, we moved from an apartment that had a full basement to one with no basement or attic.  Because of the decluttering we had done the previous six years, the move wasn’t too bad but we still had too much stuff. There was still so much stuff that we had plastic bins stacked in our general living area.  During the year that we lived here, we continued going through each bin, bag, container, etc. I’m thrilled to say that I think I am finally at a point where I know where everything is. We have a stack of 12 empty plastic bins that I will be using at work to store books in while we repair bookshelves. Many bins have found their way to the recycling center. Just before the move, I realized that I was buying bin after bin after bin to store my clutter which appeared neat because they were stacked so nicely on top of each other.  After sorting and tossing, I realized that I was just hiding it all in the bin to avoid every going through it.

Although there is very little storage in this current apartment that we find ourselves in, we are now making it work and it doesn’t seem so cramped. We have more space and are becoming comfortable with the idea of open areas.  The kids have gotten in the habit of putting together donation bags, their fling boogies might just consist of five things at a time but they do it a few times a day.  There are moments when my husband and I look at each other and say, I think we need to go through (insert room here) just one more time.  What cracks me up is even if we had already gone through that room in the past, we find things that we are ready to get rid of that we weren’t ready to a year ago.  The emotional attachments are breaking and that’s ok.

We also realized that when we were finding reasons to keep something, it meant that it needed to go.  If an item of clothing wasn’t worn in over a year, it went. The frugality doesn’t end there. I rarely shop for clothing for myself. As a reward for all of the decluttering I decided to buy myself a nice dress for the holidays. Between work parties, concerts, and family gatherings I would have many opportunities to wear this dress. Through careful price comparison, measurement checks, and customer reviews, I found it online for $30. All of my research paid off and it fit beautifully. I even enjoy dividing the number of times I’ve worn it by the price it cost and see it go down each time.  I call it my price per a wear. It lets me know that I’m getting my money’s worth. There’s no reason for a new one each time nor for it to be expensive.

Now that my family is in our 7th year of fluttering our Christmas cards are the first to get to everyone in our family. They are addressed, stamped and ready to be put in the mailbox the weekend after Thanksgiving.

Thank you! Your routines have become habits that are sticking.

Sincerely,

Nina