5 Ways I'm Minimizing my Life in 2017

Hello, hello!

So, if you're anything like me, your life is filled with "stuff." For me, a lot of that stuff has just been clutter in my home and in my life. One of my goals for 2017 is to cut through some of that stuff, and declutter my home. I'm not a minimalist (I talk about why HERE ) but I really would like to continue minimizing my life. Here are a few ways I hope to do that.

1. Reduce my Beauty and Health Care Items

Beauty products like shampoo, hair styling products, lotion, and shower gel really add up and take up a lot of space. Sometimes I find myself hoarding it, like I'm saving it for a special occasion. I really need to stop that!

The Plan: 

1. The first step is to take inventory of my stock and ask myself questions about what I have. For instance: What products do I have a lot of? What might I actually run out of? Which do I regularly use and love?
2. Throw away expired products or ones that seem off.
3. Organize products logically (by use) to find out what needs to get used.
4. Discard items as they are used. Take note of which ones I reach for most often.
5. Only repurchase favorite items

2. Throw Away Less Food

Throwing away food is a huge waste of money. But beyond that, having over stuffed pantries and fridges is actually overwhelming and makes it tough to know what you have. Lately I have started using a system that really works for me!

The Plan:
1. On Sundays, I plan out the entire week of meals (my husband and I have a long list of meals we like to choose from. I hate deciding what to make!)
2. Create a shopping list based on the meals planned.
3. Stick to the plan! This is really important. If you know you go out at least once a week, only plan 4 meals, and be flexible with which days you will make those planned meals. If you realize you aren't going to be able to make what you planned, save whatever you can (such as meat) by throwing it in the freezer. Then plan to make a meal with that frozen meat the next week.

3. Cut Down the Paper Clutter

The paper clutter is one of my pet peeves in my home. I've devised a plan I would like to put into place to help cut down the mess!

The Plan:

1. Buy some cute folders and label them (medical, dog, work, etc)

2. Commit to going through the mail every day and organizing them into the correct folder

3. Rotate the cards and pictures on the fridge. Throw out old ones or save extra special ones in my letter box

4. Go through the folders each year and file away the important stuff and throw away the rest

4. Reduce Clothing Overload

I have so many clothes. There are a couple of especially problematic areas that I hope to work on this year.

The Plan:

1. Go through my tights/leggings collection. Throw out pairs that are too small or ripped. 

2. Pare down my under things. 

3. Try on all my jeans and pick out the best fitting/favorite pairs. Sell/donate the rest

4. Next time I try on something from my closet that is horribly unflattering, donate it. 

5. Reduce Silly Stressors

I think we are all guilty of overanalyzing, over-stressing, and overthinking things. I want to cut back on that a little this year. When I find myself doing that, I would like to follow these steps.

The Plan:

1. Begin by journaling. By writing down the problem or the situation or experience, I can start to work through my feelings. 

2. Pray about it. Give problems to God and let him take care of it. 

3. Practice deliberately focusing on other things. Whether my joys or my to-do list, there are more productive ways to use my brain!

Do you have any ideas for minimizing your life this year? Please let me know what you're working on!