This post I suppose is also part of my personal Less...challenge. Days 6 and 7.
Less...spending
How many of us decided to start delcuttering because we were tired of losing stuff? I definitely did. But guess what? Today I lost something. I lost several things, several very expensive things. A necklace and earrings of mine I realized were gone and they've probably been gone for a while. I turned the condo upside down and couldn't find them.
Then suddenly an email showed up from a friend. A favorite jewelry store of ours called Fire and Ice is closing their Union Station store and selling everything for 50% off. Did I want to make an excursion and buy some jewelry on sale? Oooh, tough question, because the necklace that disappeared came from Fire and Ice. It would be so easy just to hop on Metro and go buy another one. Very tempting.
But as I was making this decision I was also working on some freelance artwork that a local store asked me to do. It was a quick project and I was probably only going to make $50 from it, but who cares, it's a fun project. But I suddenly realized that $50 was what I was going to end up spending on the necklace. I was going to end up cancelling out the hour I spent on the art project by buying something. No, I want more of my mortgage paid off. A few months ago I would've run straight downtown for the necklace to make myself feel better in the moment about being so disorganized that I lost it.
So I let myself lose the necklace. It's a lesson and I'm okay with it. I need to pay more attention to the things that I own and take better care of them. But losing things happens, even to the most organized people. In the end I spent less money and I have more respect for my possessions than I would've had even a couple months ago.
Besides, I already own another necklace with blue stones. Time for me to start wearing that one. I don't need two blue necklaces.
Has decluttering helped you lose stuff less? Are you okay with losing things occasionally or do you feel the need to replace what's gone?
I very rarely (if ever!) lose things properly (I.e, never find them again), but I do sometimes spend time frantically looking for something...given that my house is fairly clutter free and fairly tidy, I find myself thinking 'how do really messy people ever find anything!
ReplyDeleteDepending what it was, I fear that I would use the excuse to to buy something new.. I definitely don't have a major shopping habit, but I do find myself looking to replace things with a better version..sometimes this is justified (replaced cheap non-stick pans with decent stainless steel) and sometimes I should just wait until the item wears out! I think I am trying to make all of my possessions 'perfect'...hmm...
Sorry, went off on a bit of a ramble there!
Even with very few things, I lose things ALL the time! I'm well known for losing debit cards and misplacing keys. I even lost my wedding ring, the single piece of jewelry I owned haha!
ReplyDeleteWhen my toddler dropped my engagement ring down the drain and the plumber could not recover it, I realized that the emotion I had invested in the ring was ridiculous. It was insured, and I chose not to replace the THING with another THING. We spent that 10K towards the down payment on a house, which was a lot more important. I also realized I'd rather have an easy old age than a luxurious youth, so I don't *buy* any jewelry now. My girls make me necklaces that are more valuable than I can afford!
ReplyDeleteNo! Losing things makes me insane. First off I have to berate myself. A lot. Then I have to cast a suspicious eye on my husband--did it take it/move it to teach me a lesson? (I had a BF who would gaslamp me like that). If it is small enough then I have to concern myself it is inside a cat intestine causing havoc, then we can start all over and do it again. You've heard of the 7 stages of grief? I think I have to have all those too. Then I can move on. I don't usually feel the need to replace things once I'm done with all that. I can't really say I started decluttering to not lose things. I think it was more so I could find things more easily, which truly isn't the same as them being lost.
ReplyDelete