Summer Cleaning Around Here

Yesterday, Katie started VBS, and since she's playing, singing, and making all kinds of fun crafty stuff, I'm coming home to clean without extra help.  I've finally figured out that to get rid of the clutter, you don't need to read a million magazine articles and search every tip online to be successful, you just have to stop bringing crap home. We're good at that...bringing crap home.  But...since we have new goals set for our money and for BUYING THIS HOUSE (hooray!), the creature comforts are taking a back burner (again) and we are giving ourselves room to breathe, financially, domestically, and physically.  It's so nice. 

Summer cleaning around here means something a little different.  First, we've created a new budget (we use Dave Ramsey's Gazelle Budget) that we know we can live with, and that works. 

We've decided that since we are cleaning out, we only bring home what we NEED, not what we want, unless it's something from our "fun" money each week, especially Diet Vanilla Coke from Sonic.  Well, I think that may be a NEED.  Ha.  Fun money gives you a set amount to spend each week, no questions asked, on anything you want, so that you can stick with the budget.  Otherwise, the restrictions might equal failure of the plan.  If you create a budget, be sure to put that in there.  If you are curious, ours is $20 each week per person. That doesn't sound like a lot, but we are both happy with it, and that's what matters.

And since we were on the subject of cleaning out, we are literally cleaning out what has been unseen, unused, un-played-with (is that a word?), un-chased (pet toys) and "not worn or gets the scorn of the morning face when I step in the closet because there isn't any way in heck I'm putting that on today."

I put a trash bag of stuff from Katie's closet in my car yesterday.  I'm going to see how many trash bags I can put in there this week from each of the rooms I clean, and take them all to the thrift shop to donate. 

The only thing I think I'll have trouble cleaning out is books.  I like books.  I love the library.  It's an escape. Books are an escape.  I have a Kindle Fire, but I still like books.  William does too...and Katie is the biggest little almost-first-grade book worm that I know.  She left Kindergarten reading chapter books.  Awesome. So, I guess we can clean out the ones we've read and share them with someone else, but there are lots I still want to keep.  I like my library.  I have two....one on each side of the bed and one in the play room.  My English teacher co-workers would be so proud.

No list of cleaning chores in this post.  It's all about cleaning out the clutter in everything.  I have pics I'll share, though, and a few little tips I've figured out... Today I am coming home to do the floors and the baseboards in the tiled areas.  That should be tons of fun, don't you think? I wonder if I will find enough cat hair to make some of the cat hair crafts that are all over Pinterest and Twitter.  Ha.  I'm not that crazy cat lady.