Living a simpler life

I still find myself thinking about Frugal For Life's entry on Tiny Rooms, Tiny Homes. I've been doing a number of google searches for pictures and stories from people living in houses made by Tumbleweed Homes (I'm not coming up with much).

I'm not sure why the idea of living in a tiny home fascinates me so much. Part of it, I'm sure, is my love for boxes and containers and the idea of everything having its own little place. I think the other part is that I'm always fascinated by the idea of simplifying my life.

I am very much aware that I have packrat tendencies. Not to any extreme, but I have trouble getting rid of things. "I might need that later!" For example, I'm working on weeding out my closet. I tried the "backwards hangar" trick, where you put all the hangers on the rod backwards, and then when you wear something, you put it back with the hanger on the other way. I have maybe worn 25% of what's in my closet. Of course, I started this last fall, and a number of the things still unworn are summer clothes, but I think it's time to weed out the winter clothes at the very least. I came across one shirt the other day that I've struggled to get rid of. It's gorgeous, but not so much gorgeous on me. Clearly, I would benefit from donating this. And yet I hang on to it.

Another example: I buy McCann's Irish Oatmeal. It comes in beautiful cans. I buy the cans in lots, so I get a pretty decent discount. In my cabinet, I currently have four empty cans stacked up because I can't get rid of them. They're so neat looking! They would look great with plants in them! The odds of me ever doing this? Slim to none. While I won't ever be able to bring myself to recycle them, I can probably find some crafty person who would happily take them off my hands.

I think that part of my weekend plans will be to try to weed out some of my possessions. I know I have a few things that are definitely eBay worthy, and other things that will do quite well as donations to Goodwill. While I don't think I will ever be able to get my possessions down to what will fit in a 100 square foot home, a little bit of simplification never hurts.

Last, but not least, as you may have noticed, I've joined the BlogHer Ad network. I don't know about you, but I've been pleased with the ads that have been presented, and I love the links to other blog entries that change every day. BlogHer is currently doing their annual survey, and if you have the time, please check it out and give your opinions!