Uh oh. Watch out. As they whisper around our house "Mom is on a mission..."
Stuff, excess, clutter - do those words ever make their way into your vocabulary?
Perhaps it is the doom-and-gloom economy coupled with the change in season mixed with the fact that I am fed up. I am on the simplify and save soapbox. Allow me to introduce you to "Operation Shake Up". Mark and I have been discussing ideas on cutting our budget, selling and donating what we do not need, and using our excess to make money for us. The initial reason is two-fold:
1. Grow to become better stewards of what we have been entrusted with
2. Fund a family trip to Guatemala this coming summer
The little ones have not been back to Guatemala since coming home as babies. We feel it is time to take them back home to their birth country. We hope to spend a week in Guatemala this summer. All seven of us. Yikes. The preliminary budget is in place, and it is s-c-a-r-y. SEVEN airplane tickets alone is enough to make us gasp for air. A hotel stay requires two rooms, so we are researching renting a house in Antigua (my favorite place in Guatemala) for the week. While the trip will be a huge financial undertaking for us, we feel it is an investment. An investment which is well worth the effort.
So, I am researching opportunities for cutting costs. I love learning from the success of others. Here are a few ideas we have started on:
*selling all outgrown children's clothes (we have enough to start our own consignment shop)
*evaluating all monthly costs and making decisions where we can make cuts/changes
*As an example, currently we pay around $90/month for home phone, fax line, and long-distance service. Since I am no longer working we do not need the fax line and can use our cell phones for long distance. Most of the phone calls we receive at home are telemarketing anyway. For $10/month I can add another line to our cell service. So we have decided to get rid of our home phone service and use the extra cell line for a home phone. Ooooh, and I got a SWEET deal on a new phone by adding another line. Let's just say Christmas came early to me at the AT&T store today. Thanks Mark! ;) By the way, many of you will be getting an email or text from us letting you know our new home phone number.
*We changed auto and homeowner's insurance. By shopping around Mark was able to find significant savings.
*We are going to suspend our cleaning service. Can I just be frank and share that this one hurts. When we brought Ana Lucia home a friend of ours gave us the gift of her cleaning lady for a session. Talk about an awesome present! We hired her and have had our house cleaned twice/month for the past year and a half. It has been a wonderful luxury. However, if I am serious about cutting back then I have to sacrifice. Back to scrubbing toilets for us...
*I will be spending the cold, dreary, winter months decluttering all of our closets and storage areas in the basement and selling or donating most of what I uncover. The benefit will be a more simplified home and additional cash.
Ok, friends, it is time to share! Post your ideas of how you have cut your budget, gotten rid of stuff, and added to the family income.
2 comments:
Aimee, I agree there is always too much stuff!! As you know we had to go through what you are experiencing now...after putting our house on the market, i spent many of days sorting through stuff and thinning out closets. We sold or donated more than I expected but was well worth the time! It was nice to know we had helped others while cleaning out our clutter! Good luck and keep up the good work....
I'll come there and help you for a few days if you come here and help me for a few days!
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