“I just want to be a stay-at-home mom and spend all my time with my kids. I don’t know how you guys are doing it, but whatever you are doing keep it up.”
This was from a tearful conversation I had with a friend a few weeks back. I didn’t know how to respond because I had never thought of my situation that way. What is being done so I can stay home? Is this a luxury? Oh my gosh, it is. I don’t want to loose this.
I am able to stay home because we sacrifice a lot. We don’t go out shopping just for fun and we eat very few meals out. We rarely give each other gifts. I stopped buying new clothing for myself a year ago, forgo fancy beauty products, keep a grocery budget, never enter a store without a list and more. All of this and we are barely breaking even, BUT I get to stay home with Sabine.
Which is amazing.
Our barely making ends meet lifestyle is getting harder, though, and we need to seriously consider saving for retirement and college. Bottom line is we need more income.
Or do we need more?
Enter a minimalism class by Joshua Becker and his new book The More of Less. In this book, he talks about getting rid of the clutter in our lives to make room for what really matters, and then changing our consumption habits to continue living that way.
The course walks through your space one room at a time discussing new ways to view your possessions. Do you own this, or does it own you? Do these things distract from what you would rather be doing? Does this clutter take time that should be spent with your family?
Through this new lens, I have been able to step back and detach from my possessions. In the last seven weeks, we have seen our closets thin out, an entire dresser sits empty and many shelves are bare. It is an exhilarating experience and at the core of it sits my desire to live more and work less.
As I work through our home I see thousands of dollars of stuff that we did not need. Piles of fabric, books, clothing, kitchen gadgets and toys sit unused, stealing our time, energy and ultimately our hard earned dollars.
I want us to live with less stuff so we can live more. We can do this by editing out the unnecessary and changing how we consume. I can continue to stay home with Sabine until she starts kindergarten if we make changes today. When I do return to work, I can choose the work based on passion and not a salary figure.
So to my friend, that is how we are doing it.
My name is Belle and I am becoming a minimalist.
Good for you!
Having just moved and purged quite a bit, I know there’s so much more to do. I moved old text books for God’s sake, simply because I love books. It’s hard to let go…
Very interesting. Thanks for sharing. We certainly have too much stuff distracting us from what’s really important, too. Looking forward to seeing how you move through this.
So inspiring 🙂 I feel the same way sometimes, looking around, seeing thousands of dollars of waste. It hurts.
and this means I should unsubscribe to zulily right? lol =P I mostly just “window shop” with Zulily…
Love this post! When I look back and reflect on my life, the major blessing (& thing I KNOW I did right) was to stay home with my kids for as long as I could. I regret all the Target trips, vehicle desires and unnecessary moves. I wish I had known then, what you know now.
there was an interesting article in the nyt last week or so about a quarantine for things you want to buy… the author advocated that you don’t buy something until you’ve held the idea of buying it in your head for 7 days. if it still seems like a good idea, you can buy it. but, something has to go each time you buy something new.
I have been missing your poss. Hope al is well.
I love your blog Belle. You have a wonderful writing style, so honest and fresh. Your family and home are beautiful! Good luck with everything X