About a year ago I realized that I had an abundance of stuff.  An abundance of cute stuff.  An abundance of cute stuff that I liked that I found for a super great price while thrifting.  Since then I’ve had a huge indoor outdoor yardsale, sold stuff on ebay, taken castoffs to the Goodwill, written that 31 day series to a Less Messy Nest and decorated for Christmas using less stuff.  You know my goal is not to have a perfect house.  But, after visiting the sparse but intentionally decorated rooms of the cottage, I realized how much breathing room having less allowed for and I liked it.

And my house has a long way to go for me to feel more breathing room.

So I’ve continued to purge.  I try to look at each item and consider if I really, truly love it and use it and if it adds value to our home or if I just got it for a great price and hate to part with such a good deal.  For some reason it’s hard for me to part with a good deal. I have I can find a great deal pride.  But I have to tell myself that if I’m so good at finding amazing deals, I can find them again.

And I remind myself of how much easier it is to keep out house clean when we have less stuff.  Especially less stuff on our surfaces. So, the other day, I got out a few boxes and filled it with unneeded stuff. Unneeded cute stuff. Unneeded cute stuff that I liked and found at a super great price while thrifting. {Not that stuff in the photo up there, I still actually use those books}  And I packed it in the car and dropped it off at the Goodwill donation.  This load to the Goodwill was different from past loads because it wasn’t castoffs that I hated, it was high quality third hand three dollar cute items that for some reason I’ve been holding onto even though I don’t use.

Giving away stuff that is cute and a good deal but stuff I don’t need is a great reminder to me to not purchase good, cute stuff at a great price unless it will really enhance our living space.   I’ve always told myself to go ahead and buy that extra cloche, apothecary, lantern, candle stick, pillow for $3 because if it didn’t work, I could sell it.  And truth be told, I usually could sell it.  Not only could I sell it, I could sell it for at least what I bought it for.  See, I was breaking even, right?  No guilt, right?  No wasting of hard earned cash, right?

But, I wasn’t breaking even. And I was wasting.

I was giving myself a job of having a yard sale every year so I could make back the money that I spent on things.  Also, I had to store and organize my precious cute great priced stuff and take the time to decide to part with it.  All just to “break even”.  And really, if I didn’t have a blog that I love to write or other stuff I’d rather do, I see nothing wrong with someone shopping and selling and storing and breaking even or even turning a profit if that is what they love to do.  But it’s not what I love.

So, I dropped off a load of darling home decor stuff that I didn’t need.  And I didn’t break even. And I also see it as the opposite of a waste.  It was a great teaching moment for me.  So now, when I go into a thrift store {which I still enjoy} I don’t tell myself I can sell it if it doesn’t work out.  I tell myself if it doesn’t work out, I have to give it away and it helps me make a better decision because I don’t want to waste money.

I just found out my neighborhood is having a huge yard sale in a few months.  Might I still join in?  Maybe, but, now that I’ve changed the way I bring things into our home, I think I won’t have such a need to have yard sales in the future.

Do you know someone who suffers from I Hate To Pass Up a Great Deal -itis Disease Syndrome?