Widgets & Whimsy

July 25, 2023 Minimalism lesson: Stop saving for “rainy days” that don’t come. Minimalism means so many different things to so many different people. I’m definitely not an extreme minimalist and likely never will be, but I am trying to be more minimalist in my mindset. One of my biggest hurdles is the “someday” mindset – I tend to save things for some unknown, far away day when I might need it more than I do today. I didn’t even realize that’s what I was doing until I read a finance article about emergency funds. The article said that many people create emergency funds and never use them. It went…

I didn't even know I was feeling guilty about the clutter until I experienced the freedom from it!

One of the most powerful things I did to start this decluttering journey is give myself permission to just throw things away. My in-laws have a huge family garage sale every year, and they have been gracious enough to help me by collecting the boxes of stuff I am getting rid of and storing them for this future event.  However, I tend to overthink things: Is this useful? Is this worth anything? Should I sell it online? When I get stuck on something, I have given myself full permission to just throw it away. It doesn’t matter how useful or worthwhile it is when it is causing a mental breakdown…

Everything changed in January 2023 – my husband was diagnosed with Grave’s disease the day before Christmas Eve, and I was having to pick up slack around the house to keep everything running. Living with a chronic illness is no picnic, and there was a lot of adjusting to accommodate his constant fatigue, diet changes, and figuring out a “new normal.” I went through a severe period of grieving after his diagnosis that left me overwhelmed and depressed. I was expecting our second child, wrangling a toddler, maintaining a part-time job, and trying to keep the household running, and I felt like I was drowning. I was depressed, anxious, and…