A few years ago, our family went on some away rotations to five different cities for five months. We had three kids at the time. Everything we took had to fit in our car. The only toys we brought were a basket of cars, the game Jenga, and one stuffed animal. We each packed five outfits only. You can read more about it HERE. From that experience, we learned a valuable lesson, we don’t need all of this STUFF that we accumulate. Our kids didn’t talk about any of their toys from home ONCE!!! They were perfectly content with what they had— cars and jenga— and whatever cool things we found on our walks outside.

For the last year, my husband and I have been trying to declutter our life more than ever.  Having four young kids (hurricanes) has thrown us for a loop— things aren’t as clean as they used to be! And to be honest, we have looked around so many times thinking, “Where did all of this stuff come from?”

Maybe you can relate to how we felt. Too much stuff. Too many clothes in our closets, too many toys that just made messes and weren’t played with. Gifts from others that we just didn’t use but felt obligated to keep, TOO MUCH STUFF! For the last six months we have been  filling bags in our garage– testing life without these things as we have tried to get all of the excess OUT. As we slowly cleaned out every room, we didn’t miss any of it! It felt so good to get rid of things. I feel like our life feels lighter. There are fewer messes, we can think more clearly, and our things aren’t running our life, and we are not so overwhelmed!

We donated almost everything. Here is the picture of our thrift store load! 20 bags +!

And by the way, the thrift store came and picked everything up for us! (We donated to Deseret Industries) Your stuff can start to own you. It’s amazing how much we can live without. Shopping doesn’t bring the joy that it used to, but I love saving money and spending my time on more important things. 

If you are ready to DECLUTTER your life, look no further! The following book recommendations really helped us. Also, we recently attended a great class at BYU Education Week by Marie C. Ricks (I have included my notes from the class below) Our Book Recommendations:

The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo

The More of Less (Especially Love this one!) by Joshua Becker

I LOVED this class I went to at BYU Education Week! This lady Marie C. Ricks really knows what she’s talking about!

PUT YOUR LIFE IN ORDER

By Marie C. Ricks

Check out her website HERE.

“Set in order the things that are wanting.” Titus 1:5

When we start to make collections, we reduce our ability to form attachments.
Says in Luke, get rid of half ALWAYS.

“HE THAT HATH TWO COATS, LET HIM IMPART TO HIM THAT HATH NONE.”

My thoughts: If you can declutter your life by 50%, your ability to feel the spirit will increase. You will feel better, function better, and create more of a refuge for your soul to gather strength as you go out and fight the battles that you have in daily life. 

Keep in your life tools that are used to help others.

If you want to start decluttering your life, start in your personal spaces. Start in your closet, then your room, then your desk, laundry room kitchen, bedrooms, common areas, storage rooms.

50%!!! Take courage and give it to people who need it more than you. Donate, donate, DONATE. And then DON’T replace it!

My thoughts: This makes total sense to me. You must cleanse your inner vessel before you can begin to help the world around you— most importantly my husband and children. If my life is crazy and out of order, I can’t care for the world around me as well. So start in your personal places and go from there.

TOO MUCH TO DO IN TOO LITTLE TIME