2,2024 in 2024 Q&A

 WOW! First of all, thank you for the incredible response to our 2,024 in 2024 completion! I have received many messages over the year, had many in person converstions, and received some questions after posting that we were finished. Here are some of the most asked questions and my answers:

I am so overwhelemed. I don't know where to start. 

Start somewhere small, unemotional. A junk drawer. Your sock drawer. Someplace you can quickly sort through, throw things away, give things away, and then keep going back to that tidy space. If it brings you JOY, then pick another space and keep going. 

Do you have advice about getting started as a family? 

First of all, I highly suggest you take the time to understand each person's relationship, and your own, with stuff. WHY do the objects you keep matter to you? DO they matter? WHY do other people in your home value their items? 

Our relationships with stuff are incredibly complex. Some people keep items due to depression and being unable to clean out. Some people get a real sense of energy from having lots of beautiful items in their space. Some people have an anxiety about parting with items. What if they miss them? What if they need them later? Some adults grew up with very little and having lots of items now gives them a feeling of security. 

There are no wrong feelings about our objects, just differing opinions. I would say though if the stuff in your space feels overwhelming first address your emotions, then the clutter.

What if I am the only one in my home who wants to declutter?

This is very common. Start in your own spaces. Do your dresser, closet, workspace, craft area, etc. While you cannot control everyone in your home, you can control you. Maybe your cleanouts will inspire them to do their own. If they don't, you can still find joy in your curated spaces. 

What were the easiest items to part with?

Non-emotional and small items. Junk drawer items, socks, clothes the kids have outgrown, shoes that don't fit, etc. I'm very practical so if it was no longer serving us, I could pretty easily donate. 

What were the hardest items to get rid of?

I have always struggled most with items that I paid money for. I am very frugal, shop very little, and so when I do it's a real mental sacrifice. Because of that, I always want to save anything I personally paid money for. I joined several decluttering Instagram feeds and kept seeing a quote to the effect of - even if that item is in your storage, you aren't getting your money back. That was so helpful for me. Even if I paid money for an item, if I didn't like it anymore or it didn't fit anymore or I just wasn't using it - the money is gone! I can't get it back by keeping the item.

What about photos and keepsakes?

I am a HUGE photo person. I had nearly a dozen photobooks from middle school through college. I did keep my homemade scrapbooks but opted to really look through my snapshots. If it didn't immediately make me smile, I let it go. I pared down to two photo books from middle school through college. 

I also recycled all of my paper yearbooks. I had these from Kinder through 8th grade. I never looked at them, I never reread the notes in them, I just moved them in a box from place to place. Letting go of them felt great! 

I also let go of all of my old journals except my ones from the Mark and kids years. I journaled nearly every day from 4th grade through having Annabeth. These journals used to carry a huge importance to me. This year, I took the time to read them one last time and I realized the relationships I had when I wrote them are mostly nonexistent in my adult life. The feelings and attitudes were no longer of value to me. I thanked them for their service and shredded them. This was one of the most freeing things I did. Although it didn't clear a lot of physical space in our home, it created an incredible peace in my heart! 

What if the people in my home disagree about something?

On communal objects, for example cookbooks, or items that the kids share, for example comic books, our rule was that if one person wanted to keep it - we kept it. Because we aren't in the process of moving or having to pare down to a smaller space, we could technically keep anything we wanted. I hoped the kids would enjoy this process and that it would help reshape their ideas about what we own. I didn't want to force anyone into parting with anything. 

Did you regret anything you gave away?

Personally, no. There wasn't a single item that I gave away that I wished I had back. 

Closing thoughts...

In the end, our home is still plenty full. Our children have too many toys, Mark and I have too many clothes, our coat closet is still a mess - we're perfectly imperfect people just daily trying to live for Christ.

Leaning into Matthew 6:21 "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." I'm working on remembering that I am just stopping by this world. I should spend my days sharing about the perfect, redemptive love of Christ as I run the race set before me. Thankful for the undeserved gift of God's grace and love. I pray that we might store up our treasures only in heaven. 

2,024 Items Lighter!

2,024+ in 2024 COMPLETE!

 Yesterday, we completed our 2,2024 in 2024 Challenge!

That's right - over 2,024 items have left our home this year! WOW!

Things that helped this processs..

- Having the coloring sheet! The kids and I loved using the Well Planned Paper chart. It was very motivating to get near the end of each row and we would rush to see who could get rid of the items to finish it out.

- Working on the project as a family. Mark and I made a point of showing the kids what we were getting rid of and letting them see us color in our own spaces. We wanted to be intentional about it being a family project.

- Passing items on to family/friends who needed them. Many times over the year, I put free items on Facebook and it was great to see them go to homes that had a use for them. This was especially helpful with one large, sentimental item - the kids' picnic table. It was a gift to them from Mark's parents but we had outgrown it. Knowing it went to some dear friends who can (and do!) use it made all the difference.

- Having a designated place to take items when we were ready to part with them. Obviously, we weren't running to the donation center each day so we needed one space to collect items. I used a box on top of our dryer. Items that would work for the kids's sale were sorted into totes in the garage every few weeks and the rest was dropped off to donate around town. 

What did we learn...

Annabeth: "Once an item is in the giveaway tote. Don't look back at it. If you could put it there in the first place it needs to stay."

Owen: "I realized I didn't need to keep a lot of the junk I thought I did."

Mark: "Should have gone for more items. We still have a lot to get rid of."

Amy: It was so freeing! As I said in my first blog post about this challenge, we've been on this journey since 2020. It's been such a process and this year I let go of more sentimental and emotional items than ever before. I let go of all of my school yearbooks/memory books except for high school. I also let go of many items from family and friends who have left my life. Some I held onto, even if they were never used or broken, just as a way to hold onto the memory of that person. I realized I don't need the item to hold onto - the person is still in heaven. For other relationships that have ended with the people still living, I've found it especially difficult to let go of items but this year they left. Holding the items didn't mean I wasn't still holding the pain or rejection of those people, in fact maybe they made me hold it all more. 

Final thoughts...

I noticed as the year went on, that often I would see quite a few little boxes colored in at random. I wasn't aware of anyone doing a clean-out that day but on their own someone had decided to pass on items that no longer served them. 

I would say about 10% of our items went into the trash/recycling, 80% were donated/passed on, and 10% were sold. We sold some on Facebook and some at the Here We Grow Again sales. In all we made $546. This money went into our travel fund and was used as we went to Tenessee for dance and for some of our Indiana travels. I would MUCH rather have experiences than stuff and seeing that number motivates me to keep going through our items so we can have more experiences.

I hope that we have changed the culture of our home with this challenge. I hope that we've all, organically, become more able to look through our items daily and access what we really want/need. I also hope that by seeing how much we gave away, we've seen how much we don't need to bring into our home. I hope that we've all learned to live with and want less. 

Thank you, dear readers, for joining us on the journey. I've posted our totals at the end of each month and it's been fun to have people in real life share what they are decluttering! Here's to letting go of more... 

Frugal Thursday!

 Happy Frugal Thursday!

Here's how we saved money/spent money wisely/made extra money this week:

- Friday and Saturday, Annabeth enjoyed the Jr. High Rally at Camp Lakeview. I am so thankful that my best friend Rose takes Annabeth along with her youth group for this special weekend. We are praying that all the youth who attended will continue to grow in wisdom and stature. Mark and I love sending her to a place that means so very much to us!

- Friday evening, Mark went with friends to the Lu High Homecoming Game. The Saints won and he had a great night out with friends.

- We checked four counties off our list - Brown, Shelby, Jennings, and Bartholomew last weekend. We drove back from camp the long way on Friday night and stopped at a historic covered bridge in Brown County, O danced at the Shelby County Arts Fest, we hiked/creek stomped in Jennings Co, and enjoyed time at Lakeview in Bartholomew County. 

At Lakeview.

In the spot where we met.

We've come so far since 2006.

- We made two grocery trips this week and spent $100. We are still doing the Shelftember Challenge and hoped to spend around $75 each week. The first week we were right on budget, last week was $50, and this week we just needed items that required us to fill in up to $100. So we are still out of pocket the same amount of money. In today's economy, I am proud of that!

- Between church and youth group on Sunday, Annabeth and I went out to get her new church shoes. For the past several years, she has worn (by her own choice) hand-me-downs from her cousins. The girls' feet grew very quickly and have passed on several pairs of gently used shoes. Annabeth's feet have been the same size for nearly a year and a half now so while she hasn't outgrown them they did need replaced. We hit up Ross and Marshalls and found two pairs for $25!!

- Tuesday evening, the boys enjoyed fishing with Owen's scout friends. One of the other families generously hosted the group at their pond. Mark and Owen took along bait as a thank you.

- Yesterday my friend Amanda generously took Owen to meet with her homeschool group. They have several boys Owen's age but it's held at the same time as one of Annabeth's activities. Amanda was SO kind to take Owen along for the science fun. 

- Yesterday afternoon, we had a couple of neighborhood boys over. Their mom and I have often traded kids for the afternoon over the years and it's been SUCH a blessing to have good friends for the kids to play with and a break/change-up for each of us moms. 

I'm putting this out early because the kids and I are headed out for a fun weekend with my sister. I am so thankful for the time she sets aside to spend with us! My kids are so lucky to have her as their aunt!

Happy Savings to All! 

Frugal Friday 553

 Happy Frugal Friday!

Here's how we saved money/spent money wisely/made extra money this week:

- Last Friday night, we went to our first Indiana Fever Game. Mark found a great deal on tickets that included our seats, dinner, and hats. It was a great time and the kids are already asking to go back! We were especially excited to see Caitlin Clark play live and to cheer for the kids' dance friend Makayla as she danced with the Inferno Dance Team.

Annabeth and Ioved putting together outfits with

Fever yellow, navy, and red. 

Since it was a Family Night anyone who wanted to

could go down to the court after the game to shoot a shot.

Looks like we're definitely raising dancers vs ballers.

- Saturday morning, Mark took Owen's Cub Scout Pack on a 2 mile hike. The boys enjoyed time in the woods and then treated Mark's mom to lunch as she lives near the park they hiked at. Annabeth and I took care of the mowing, house chores, and ate lunch while we watched HGTV.

- Sunday after church we went to lunch at Mark's mom's house. We had pizza and salad. I enjoyed an afternoon of baby snuggles and conversation with the big kids - my perfect afternoon! Kristi sent home fruit and salad for us for the week - thank you!

- We are continuing our Shelftember Challenge. We spent $50 at the grocery this week. That was mostly paper goods and supplies for a Cub Scout Project this week.

- For Cub Scouts, Owen needed to make a family holiday recipe. He chose Miss Katelyn's Cookies. Our sweet friend Katelyn is an incredible baker and has always has her special cookies at her kids' parties, she sells the cookies in home decorating kits, and even brought us them during the 2020 Easter. Since she makes many gluten/dairy free kits with her business now, she generously gave me her secret recipe so we could make them at home safely for Annabeth. In honor of how she shares her cookies, Owen took them to scouts, neighbors, and even gifted some to our dog groomer!

- I worked really hard to use up meals I have frozen in weeks past and also random items from the kitchen as part of Shelftember. Our meals this week: chicken quinoa chilli, spaghetti and meatballs, ham+egg biscuits with fruit, and chicken fajitas. We also ate a LOT of leftovers! We are clearing our way through the pantry and fridge really well. 

- I have always printed our tags for the kids' sale at a local print place. This week they completely failed me and after 48+ hours of dealing with them I just asked for a refund. I ended up having to get sale tags printed in Greenwood BUT the new place offered a coupon. It was not worth the hassle at all but that coupon was the only thing that made me not just lose my mind over it. Saved: $7.50

- I spent about 8 hours tagging for the Kids' Sale. Annabeth generously offered to help me tag our books, games, and puzzles. She put in about 2 hours of work. That made a HUGE difference! We have everything done and ready for drop off next weekend. 

- Owen took a free Coding Class at a local library. I am so thankful that our libraries offer so many classes and that our kids have been exposed to so much for FREE! 

In life lessons for the week:

Last Thursday, while at the park with friends, Owen and some of his friends borrowed disc golf frisbees from a family. Owen had never played and one of the discs ended up in the woods. The boys weren't able to get to it. Owen immediately came and found the mom who had loaned them out to let her know what happened and to apologize. The mom said it was fine as accidents happen. That evening, we got online and he searched for one that looked like the one he lost and we shipped it to their house. We were so incredibly proud that he immediately took responsibility for his actions, was honest, and rectified the situation. Yesterday, he got the sweetest card from the dad of the family thanking him for the new disc. Owen was so proud to receive that man-to-man mail and we are so proud of the man he is becoming! 

We are looking forward to a busy weekend. Happy Savings to All! 

Frugal Friday 552

 Happy Frugal Friday!

Here's how we saved money/spent money wisely/made extra money this week:

- Friday through Monday we all five went to Evansville. This is the first time Mark and Oscar have joined the kids and me since May to go south and it was wonderful! We had a great weekend filled with card games, a trip to New Harmony, good food, a day in Owensboro, time at the lake, and even a skunk in the backyard! We all shared in buying meals and driving and we had the best time!

At the Roofless Church in New Harmony.

My mama's family has been taking pictures in front of this field

since she was a little girl. It was Owen's first time along.

- Saturday afternoon my sister took Owen out for his belated birthday outing. She took him to an arcade and they spent the afternoon there. I am so thankful that my sister chooses experiences over stuff and takes such care in knowing just what the kids will love.

- We picked up our groceries for the week on Tuesday. We spent $72 for the week. I am following some of Jordan Page's Shelftember Challenge. The challenge brings the weekly grocery budget for a family down to $75/week in September while really cleaning out your own pantry/fridge/freezer first. We spend $100 or less a week already but I love doing this challenge anyway.

- The kids made the menu for this week. Last week was our first week without many evening activties so we did some real cookbook, recipe cooking. This week we went for simple with pizzas, biscuits and gravy, spaghetti and meatballs, and waffle dinner. It wasn't fancy but the kids each chose a couple of meals and no one complained so it was a win for a very busy week.

- Mark uses a product that has rewards on each can. He recently discovered they have a program where he can earn free products or Cashback. He's made back $40 this summer by entering codes.

- The kids' dance season began this week. I paid their class fees in full to save 5% on the year.

- Yesterday was our first day back at our homeschool co-op. Each of the kids had outgrown their GHE shirts so I purchased new shirts for this year. We passed on the too small shirts to younger friends. I am rewearing the shirts I already have to save the money of buying me a new one. 

In their new GHE Shirts.

Owen opted for white so he could tie-dye it himself. 

- Our co-op has a free table where families share art supplies, books, etc. We took along a few books to share. This year I volunteered to take all extra items to be donated. We took leftover books to the library for their upcoming book sale. One family's workplace donated hundreds of scissors. Once our families took what they needed we brought the rest home. Mark serves on the Board for the Johnson County Boys & Girls Club and we will donate the rest to them.

- After our meeting, those who were able met at a local park. We packed our lunch to avoid the cost of eating out. 

- Clients are beginning to plan winter and spring travel. I met with friends, who are now new clients, on Wednesday evening. I love helping plan their perfect trips! Want to talk travel? E-mail me here: a.riley@magicalvacationplanner.com 

We are looking forward to a fun weekend of visiting Indiana counties, time with friends and family, and church on Sunday.

Happy Savings to All!