Spring Cleaning and Stuff

Now that comps are done for school I am looking around the house the realizing that I need to give it some attention.  For the last several months I have been just dropping things and setting them aside rather than maintaining order.  It's becoming so bad we are starting to look like hoarders! 

So the last two weekends I have been giving attention to my craft room.  It was a total mess and had piles of stuff everywhere.  You could not sit in the chair or even get to the computer.  My sewing machine was a disaster area.  I have patiently gone through everything, cleaning out things I no longer want or need and throwing away, giving away or donating stuff that I won't use. 

I don't consider myself a pack rat but oh my gosh!  I have stuff that I am looking at and thinking, "What was I thinking when I bought this?"  I found multiple yards of the ugliest fabric imaginable.  It must have been a great deal and I had a coupon to buy so much and then set it aside.  I can't even remember why I bought it other than it must have been on super clearance.  Then I found skeins of yarn which I will not use.  So after patiently going through all this stuff I bagged it up and gave it to a friend who is retired and an avid crafter.  She was thrilled to get this and will either use it or give it to her friends to use. 

Next I attached my gift closet.  Usually during sales or after a holiday I look for bargains that I can put away and give to people the next year at Christmas or other occasions.  This also got a critical eye and I bagged up 6 shopping bags of items I probably will never give away.  They went into my garage sale pile and will be sold this summer when we have our annual sale.  If they don't sell they will be donated to Goodwill. 

Finally I went through my clothes.  Again, they were hanging in the closet and laying all over the room.  I was ruthless and got rid of everything that I had not worn or hardly worn in the last year.  Again, being a bargain shopper if I go to Macy's or somewhere else I hit the clearance racks.   If something is marked down, then with additional off and I have a coupon I just can't resist.  Unfortunately some of those items which looked so good in the store and were a great bargain are still hanging in the closet with the tags on them....never worn.  So I bagged everything up and donated them to Goodwill.  Hopefully someone else will see my bargains and be able to use them. 

What I learned from this was that I really need to look at bargains with a more critical eye.  Even though I find a dress for less than $10 on the clearance rack at Macy's it is still not a bargain if it is hanging in my closet two years later with the tags on it.  Gosh - what was I thinking? 

I will continue this process throughout my entire house.  My goal this year is to become less mired in "stuff" and enjoy the feeling of less.  I will also have to stay away from the clearance sales when I have a coupon for extra off the price.