Monday, October 5, 2009

Thoughts on Downsizing

We are in the midst of packing up our home for the big move on October 24th. The trick is going to be fitting a 4+ bedroom house into a moving truck and then arranging all of our 'items' into a new 2 bedroom home. I hope that this time period in our lives can be a great personal challenge to stop acting so North American and to put less emphasis/importance on the quantity of crap that we own.I have issues with wanting too much 'stuff' but I recognize this flaw and I am trying to nip it in the bud. Obviously easier said than done- this is coming from a girl who has 60+ pairs of shoes (most are from Ross or Target rather than Manolo Blahnik but that is still a significant amount of footwear). I am already wincing at the thought of trying to squeeze my wardrobe into an apartment size closet. I am not even taking into account Ben's stuff- he will have to fend for himself!

Just as I was feeling a bit boo-hoo and all Mother Teresa-like about purging our life of extra 'stuff' I stumbled upon a blog called Under $1000 Per Month. The blog is written by Emily, a young stay-at home Mom with two kids and another due to pop out any day. The intriguing part of this blog is that she literally runs their life and budget on the $1000 a month that her husband brings home. She takes some pretty drastic measures (in my opinion) to operate their household- a 500 sq. foot apartment, homemade sausage roll, a home garden and clothing either purchased at yard sales or handed-down from friends and family. After reading Emily's blog for a few moments it becomes crystal clear that she is not complaining about her situation, rather she is content and just sharing her journey. Living minimalistic is her choice.

If you (like myself) get the shopping bug and just want to go and start buying stuff for the rush of making a purchase, I suggest checking out Emily's blog here and listen to a fresh perspective on ridding our lives of extra clutter.

P.S. Just to clear up the confusion, we are not leaving Victoria on the 24th. Rather we are moving out of our house and in with Ben's family for a few weeks in transition while we continue to wait for our immigration paperwork.

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