Good Bye Wrapping Paper, I'll never buy you again.

I have literally tossed the wrapping paper that has been plaguing my storage space under my stairs. It was too ripped up to use anyways. My cousin has an esty site and this week she has been selling cloth wrapping bag sets- complete with ribbons. So I was happy to replace my paper for something more sustainable. All my wrapping supplies now fit in a single gallon zip lock (specifically the ones they arrived in). For presents going out of the house there are lots of other options- papers from packaging/newspaper, cloth that is part of a present, ect.

Learning about Carbon Footprints of Clothing

Here is the take home quote: “What we need to do is to care for our clothes. We need to make them last longer,” she says. “Even extending the life of our garments by an extra nine months of active use would reduce the carbon, water and waste footprint by around 20% to 30% each.”

What that this say about the pieces I've had and worn and loved for 10 years?

It takes 700 gallons of water to produce one t-shirt and another 700 gallons of water to wash it over its lifetime, Benedetto says. More than 2 billion shirts are sold around the world each year.

"By 2025, two-thirds of the entire world's population will face shortages of fresh water and be exposed to hazardous chemicals from textile production alone," she says. "And one would think that it's just in China and Vietnam and India, where we're manufacturing, but this is actually having an impact on our water in Europe and in the United States as well."

And here is part of how we can handle it: ( yes read both)
 https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/15/opinion/sunday/shopping-consumerism.html

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-the-life-changing-magic-of-making-do/?fbclid=IwAR0O5kCF8eEFlpPHw_mttGS0i-2mm3AJfY3EErKjq7yZbs3Oyy1v17wbwqM

Number Game

If we play a numbers game with Minimalism we get:

assuming our house has the average 300,000 items and we want to get rid of 2/3rds of it- that is 200,000 items to purge.

and if I use kitchen sized white garbage bags, averaging 20 items per bag. That is 10,000 bags I have to purge.

If I do it at a rate of 10 bags/month (that means I actually had 1 day to clean, plus regular get rid of accumulations) that means I'd spend 1,000 months or 90 years to purge that much.

Wow, do Americans have a lot of stuff.

I've been reducing stuff in my house since I started Flylady.net in 2003. But a major cleanout came when I read Marie Kondo's book. I loved the "spark joy" aspect of it. It is easy to hold on to things because they can be useful, but when you hold or try on something that actually sparks joy- you get it. It's the feeling of loving how you feel with it. Once your wardrobe is 90% spark joy (and 10%, I need it and would have to replace it if I got rid of it) dressing is a happy thing every morning, now if we can just replicate that feeling with everything in the house.

And don't be afraid to get rid of the can opener that can't and replace it. Your life is too valuable to waste fighting with can't openers. :)

Minimalism win

We only mow the part of the yard we play in, the rest is left to grow wild. Well, my brother has borrowed our weed whacker, so the edges around our rock beds haven't been whacked. But this morning, after a night of rain, we had wildflowers- tall with crowns of yellows and whites edge our yard with butterflies dancing around them. My son went outside and said. "Mom, I think this is what Eden must have looked like."

Summer Kitchen

My house is wonderfully insulated. We have 12" outside walls- mostly styrofoam and windows on the inside and outside of that- creating very insulated windows.

In the winter all I have to do to heat the house is bake some cookies/muffins/whatever I want and the house stays warm all day, and night.

But in the summer- the house also keeps all of its heat/cool. We live in northern Minnesota, so most of the time we need nothing more than fans in a few windows to keep cool, if I add no heat to the house by cooking.

Every get tired of cold meals? After a nice week of 80 degrees, I get really want a hot, cooked meal. ( and due to my food allergies, restaurants don't provide much for me).

So I decided to build a summer kitchen. They used them often 100 years ago. Mostly it was an outdoor tent/bower with a cooking fire/stove. Jelly, jams and other preserves were often done outside all summer long, along with their regular food production.

So I came up with the crazy idea to build my own.

A friend was selling a screen tent- I bought it. Yesterday I set it up. Inside the tent is our picnic table, and I will pick up a work surface at a second-hand store- some kind of table/counter/desk. I bought a spray handle for my garden hose and will grab an outdoor extension cord from my garage. That way I can use my toaster oven/crockpots/rice cookers. I also plan to bring out my Coleman camp stove and my camping dishes. It should be awesome.

Of course it is raining all day today- so using it/working on it is going to have to wait another day.

Shopping today

I went clothes shopping today- for myself. For a minimalist that is a huge thing. Of course, it helps when your mom goes with you and does all the paying.

I based my wardrobe in navy back when I started teaching at Bemidji State U. It has simplified everything a great deal. And instead of just simplifying my work clothes the color scheme bled over into my homework/play clothes too. One thing about navy is that is not black, I can't wear black near my face, it washes me out, but I could do navy, and just like black it matches almost everything else- and some things like my favorite purples and pinks really well.

Anyways, summer came on here overnight, and it was hot. In Minnesota some summers it only reaches 80s a few days, but today it was officially 88, and most signs read into the 90s. Yesterday was almost as warm and tomorrow will be 85 or higher. My summer hot days wardrobe officially consisted of 2 pairs of capris and 1 little black dress (organic cotton).  Well, one of my capris finally gave up the ghost. It only handled 8 years of life, and about a dozen repairs before it ripped beyond salvage as a piece of clothing. So I knew I'd have to replace that. So we headed out today to Nisswa, MN which has a nice selection of women's boutique clothing shops, and probably the best selection of decent wearable items for people who can't manage clothes from Target.

Ideally, I was looking for 1-2 pairs of nice navy capris.  But I was actually open to anything that could improve my summer wardrobe situation. Now, there are a few things you should know about my preferences, one is I prefer natural fabrics, I run from the slinky rayon/spandex blend like mosquitoes from garlic, two is that I am taller than average, and often wear talls.  I am also mostly modest, prefer to not always have sleeves (at least a cap sleeve, and like my skirts and shorts to reach my knees).

Searching for things that are appealing (minimal bling please!), and that comply with all my other requirements made browsing fairly fast. First, I found a Navy T-shirt dress. Simple, right color easy to dress up or down. Lots of possibilities so I bought it. It also had pockets. I turned down a striped overshirt, the cut of it suggested pregnancy and I don't need any help in empathizing my post babies belly. The only shorts I even cared enough to try on was a pair of legging capris. I bought it because it was better than nothing.

But the last store we hit actually had quite a lot of interesting items of things worth trying. And after trying on 20 pairs of shorts/capris. I actually bought 3. I pair of plain denim, 1 blue short (bonus, it was organic cotton), and 1 pair of linen capris with some floral design, that picks up some blues and pinks. Then we went back into the clearance section and I fell in love with some organic wool sweaters in men's xxl. Perfect to wear with leggings (I'd actually been keeping a lookout for sweaters to wear with my favorite wool leggins/longjohns.)

7 items??? How does that even classify as minimalist?

Well, I am hoping they are as well made and versatile as they look. that will give them 8-20 years in my wardrobe, being worn in all hot seasons. They match my color schemes and replace items that have worn out over the last ten years.  I was very careful in my selections, and if these pieces work as well as I am hoping they might be replacing a few things I haven't gotten rid of yet.

So careful shopping- planned, local, buying at least half my pieces of organic fabrics. and not much just because it fit or somebody else liked it on me.

One of the pitfalls both my Mom and I recognized is when we shop we our moms we buy things because they like it, and we never actually wear it.  It sure made it easier to explain that a piece wasn't really me, when Mom's had the same issue too.

More on Kitchen Minimalism

Besides the dishes the family eats off of, there are dishes made by making foods. You know what? I only use a few favorite pieces over and over again. You probably do too.

Much of my cookware are pieces of a really nice set my mom got me for Christmas one year. I went through and tossed everything that wasn't the set. That helped a lot. The set was pretty large- including a family size wok, that we use all the time.

Then I went through our bakeware. Now, I do bake a lot, and that was harder, so I thought about how many cookie pans I use and actually ended up buying a few more nice ones while getting rid of the abused ones. That was such a nice addition/change.

I looked at the small appliances, the kitchen tools, cleaned out everything I don't use. I still have my two waffle makers. I could imagine the riot if the kids were told there would be no more waffles :)

Then I went through the plastics cupboards- matched everything to its lid- got rid of the rest. What was left was some newer glass bowls with matching lids, a few large mixing bowls with matching lids and just a few storage containers- perfect. It all fits neatly in my cupboard/shelf with the lids on. Talk about saving time!

Everything from top to bottom was scrutinized, decided if it was worth to keep and if it passed that test, it was reorganized. I, of course, did this with a damp rag to remove dust and residue.

Then I went through the food. Old stuff, unused stuff, things I bought for something specific I never made- tossed or put into use.

My kitchen has so far endured 2 major cleanouts in my quest for minimalism. I think it is due for another. Each time I am better able to decide what it worth holding on it (ie cleaning again and again) or is not.

Kitchen for 10- with less dishes than ever

We have never gotten a dishwasher to work well enough to make it worth the noise and smell.
Or the fact you have to wash dishes before you wash the dishes. So we got rid of it.
We also decided to do shelving rather than cupboards when we built our house. So nothing hides and nothing can get gooey without being seen.

Everything is seen. This helps me not to collect things I already have, sitting just out of sight behind some pretty wooden doors.

But it didn't solve the washing dishes problem. In a single day, we can easily use enough dishes to fill 3 sinks.  And every time I get a pretty dish set, things break until we are out of enough to set a table.

I got tired of sweeping up broken dishes. Then Target got this 99cent per dish thing. Plastic-like, solid blue (matched my kitchen), dishwasher and microwave safe and with nice smooth edges and large enough bowls to eat a serious bowl of chili. So far they have held up a year, and Target still has them in stock- not that I've needed to buy any more.

Right now, we limited the dishes we have out to 1 set per person. Every person has 1 plate, bowl, and cup. We have extra we can bring out for guests. But it limits the number of dishes in the sink at any one time.

One of the nice things about the open wire shelving I have in the kitchen is the automatic over the sink dish racks I can stack my freshly washed dishes on, and leave them there.

Also, I always am looking at the tools in my kitchen. Are they really being used enough to justify having them there? Or are they just clutter?

And If I have tools I actually value in that kitchen (which should be all of them, or else they are given away). I will wash them immediately and get them ready to use again. That way they don't rust in the sink waiting for one of my kids to do the dishes, and they are ready to use when I want to use them.

Family Laundry- minimalism approach

Have you ever packed for a trip?
I have a family of 10. We love to travel the country in our big silver van. Once you get 10 people in there, there is not a lot of space left, so everyone is allowed only a small bag of stuff.

And it works and is simple and glorious.

About 3 days worth of clothes (and laundry quarters) and we can just about go anywhere for as long as we want. Gee, why can't we simplify at home like this?

Well, it so turns out, we can to some degree.

In Minnesota we do deal with distinct seasons, you can not wear summer clothes in the winter or vica versa.

So to simplify life at home, each child has 1 tote of clothes, that fits on a laundry room shelf. I change it out to keep them looking decent and warm/cool enough. The clothes that is out of season (but still worthy of another season) goes in a storage room, organized by size.

Most totes can hold 3-4 pairs of adult sized pants, 3-6 T-shirts, 2 hoodies, and no lack of socks or undies. For little kids, who often needs to change more often, more clothes fits in the same size tote, so it works out well.

The other advantages of this simplifications are that it gets the clothes out of the bedrooms- imagine only a few stray pieces on your child's floor rather than a whole closet full. And it makes laundry as breeze- dirty clothes drop on the laundry room floor (is it really that hard to put it 12" away in the laundry basket?) so I pick it up from there, pile it into the washer, dryer and then throw it back in the totes. When I have time to kill I may actually fold it first.

My husband and I have our clothes in our bedroom- but I do keep mine simplified and off the floor :)

Prepareing For Austerity

Governments and nations are facing Austerity measures, and many families are routinely running out of cash before their next pay check too.

Here is a list of ways to help prepare for low/no cash times.

Eating

Have a food storage built up- every time you go to the store buy a little extra, store this for when you need it. Kidney beans were on sale this week for $.69/can. I bought 2 dozen because I know how often we use them.

Use basics- learn to cook from scratch using basics as flour, sugar, and oil. These basics store well and are way cheaper then mixes or prepared items from the store.

Long Term basics - learn to love beans and lentils and whole grains. I would recommend storing whole wheat and using a grain grinder. This is way more cost effective and healthy than using white flour.

When you have a pantry full of food because you planned ahead it is a lot easier to eat when cash is low.

Same thing goes for clothing- for yourself make sure you have good basics in your wardrobe. For most of us I am referring to a couple pairs of jean/work pants and a few sweaters and t-shirts, undies and socks, good work shoes and work gloves, and a sun hat. .... these are clothes that are good for physical labor, which gardening and milking cows and walking everywhere is way more fun when you are dressed for it.

For kids- have a few good basics in the next size or 2 up.

Garage sales and second hand stores are great for good basics in clothing, it also helps you not to spend when you shouldn't.

Keep a cash "spending budget" Budget your money when it comes in and figure how much you can spend total for the month or however long until your next payday. Everything you need to write checks for like electric and rent

kicks out of little things

It is amazing how happy you can be when you choose to get kicks out of the simple things in life
like a dog chasing after the ball- it is hysterically funny

Origins of personal minimalism

One day, while picking up the living room, I realized if I threw away that ripped up paper (recycled), or a broken toy, I would never have to pick it up again.

A new day dawned in my sanity and I have been fighting it ever since.

Now, whenever I find something where it doesn't belong and my life would not miss it- it is gone.

Gone, sweet gone!

It keeps me from drowning in stuff.

Next came Marie- I went through pieces of my house- 1 little section at a time and removed anything that didn't spark joy, (dusted with a wet rag too) or that I wouldn't have to go out right out and repurchase. And little by little things got more organized.

I learned to thank things before giving them away or saying goodbye (even my poor old dog, got thanked as he was slipping out of this world). It makes it easier and turns any negative thoughts into gratitude.

Now, I am not the esthetic minimalist. Everything is out and visible. We have kitchen selves instead of cupboards and purposely build the house with little storage space. So I can not stick things away without seeing them. The whole intent was to keep it easier to see how much we had so we would have to think twice about buying/keeping/storing things.

There are many sections of stuff, I have gone through several times, and will still go back and reduce.

The reducing of stuff begin with a way for me to cope with living in a busy house with 10 people and being a master's student. Now it has allowed me to clearly see stuff as tools, and like tools, they do no good if you can not find them or if they are not in working condition or if you have more then you need, It has helped me become non-attached to stuff.

I have become more attached to experiences, people and memories. And I am grateful for google docs, and pics and blogger to store much of those memories for me.

Changes

A lot has happened since life got too busy to blog here.
I am now a master's student a BSU, and have 8 children, and I teach there to pay for tuition.
Going back to school has caused me to simplify my life in almost all other ways.
I have had to focus on what is important.

What is important?
1. Family- my spouse, kids, parents, grandparents, siblings, ect
2. My spiritual growth- I take time every day to prayer and study and realigning myself with my Heavenly Father.
3. My school work/teaching. I feel called to teach- to reach out and show love and belief in another through instruction.
4. My health and physical maintenance- using and enjoying the awesome body I have. It is a gift that is useful to me now and for eternity and I try to treat it well, and learn to work with it. This means things like eating right, exercising and using it in every good way, and being thankful for it.

Everything else is secondary-

Time to talk about mimalism

yeah- I forget I still had this blog. Now I am going to use it to talk about my favorite sustainable habit- Minimalism.

What is minimalism? A habit of being happy with less, of needing less, buying less, but being more.

stay tuned. Perhaps we will discuss something useful to you.