Baby Step #3 is Underway!

On Saturday, we started baby Step#3: Rearrange the Furniture.  This step was important to the cleaning-out process, because we're moving our office to the bedroom so Little Sister can have her own room.  In a couple of years, the girls are going to share a room, but we decided that separate rooms is best for our family right now.  Lily is a light sleeper, and I'm afraid she will try to pull L.S. out of bed and injure her in the process.

Here's what we have accomplished thus far:

• Reduced desks from 2 to 1.
• Moved the twin bed into the new room from the attic.
• Switched the big leather chair and the wing-back chair to save space. 
• Moved the desk and computer to the master bedroom. 
• Set up the reading/study nook in the master. 
• Consolidated business materials to rolling drawers currently stored in a closet. 
• Moved unused furniture to the garage. 

We still have a coffee table to move to the garage and a couple pieces of furniture to shift around, but they need painting first.  We've decided to paint the new room before we put anything else in there.  But, the master bedroom part of this project is complete!  I thought I would hate it, but it's honestly not bad.  It's cozy.  I love our room and have wished we spent more time in it, now we definitely will.

What we now have to find homes for are the printer, my business materials, the filing box, and some camping gear that currently resides in that closet.  We also have a garage filling up with furniture that we really need to deal with.  I think it will come down to selling most of it.  One of the bookcases will be converted into toy storage with small canvas bins.  There are a couple of pieces I really like and am reluctant to say goodbye to just yet.  

Happily, I'm much closer to a clean slate for planning out a new bedroom.  I also need to hang some artwork in our bedroom.  Art and curtains are the only thing I have left to do for the immediate future.  I hope to add crown molding in a year along with updating the doors to something nicer than 20 year old hollow core doors (they're in sad shape, but the knobs are nice).  

Bye Bye Books, and Thanks for the Memories!

Baby Step #2 was all about selling off unwanted books.  Daniel and I have 3 full sized book cases and 2 small ones that have all been packed with books.  I recently got rid of some, but we needed to empty the 2 smaller book cases entirely to make room for the new baby's furniture.

So, yesterday, we buckled down and cleared out the books we will never read again.  We trucked on over to Half Price Books, hoping to earn some meager cash for our collection.  We wagered the amount they would give us for 3 boxes filled with books.  Daniel said $9 and I said $18.63.  Our hope was to earn enough to pay for admission to the art museum.  In our quest for fiscal responsibility, we are attempting to pull off dates for less than $10.   We wandered around the store for about 10 minutes, and they paged us.  She handed me the offer, and it said $58! I was so stunned!  It turns out, 2 of the books were some of Daniel's architectural text books that are still widely used.  We got close to $20 each for them.  So, instead of just the admission for the Samurai exhibit (which was half price!), we had dinner and ice cream, and still have $21 left over.  

Now, every physical book we own could fit onto our 2 nice book cases in the living room.  We had a wonderful date with his brother and sister-in-law with more money left than we even hoped to receive in the first place! And to top it all off, we are kid free until this evening.  Baby Step #2 was an unrivaled success!

Progress Report

How am I doing with the Great Closet Clean-out of 2014, you ask?  Not too shabby, my friends.  I have to work on this while the little one naps, because she likes to make a clothes mountain on the floor.  She has no regard for dog hair on clean clothes or neatly folded stacks.  Silly toddler.  So far, I have reduced my shoes to 7 pairs, down from 13.  2 of those are some pretty nice Ariat boots that I should be able to get some decent cash for.  I had 4 formal dresses from weddings and my prom.  I have a couple cocktail dresses I'm hoping will bring a good price at the resale shop, but if not, I'll try them online first.  One is a silk dress I paid WAY too much money for at Saks 5th Avenue in NYC when I was young and wealthy. I don't think I can let it go for less than $20.  I also have a leather Harley Jacket in pristine condition that I think will bring close to $200 on eBay. The rest is pretty boring, but I'm up to 2 trash bags full, along with a lot of socks.  I don't know why I keep socks.  I hate them.

I still have the stuff in storage to rummage through and my box of scarves.  I believe it's 1 or 2 boxes.  I've edited my summer maternity wardrobe down to an outfit per day with 3 dresses.  That was my goal!  Now, I just need to do that for my regular clothes for both hot and cold (haha) weather.  Texas is never cold, except for freak ice storms that last a week.  However, we are acclimated to 90+ temps from April to November, so even the 50s feels freezing to us.

The proceeds from clothing sales will go towards new slacks for Daniel, and probably some nursing bras and tanks for myself.  As much as I would like a new pair of shoes, I think I can get by with what I have until next spring. Whatever's left will be put towards debt.

Before and after pictures when it's all done!

Breaking Down the Baby Steps

My first goal in my mission is to clean out all of our excess.  That is primarily material possessions, but extends to services we pay for as well.  I first want to address the material, though.  We'll call this "Phase 1."

Here are the Phase 1 Baby Steps I've come up with:

1. Purge Clothing
2. Sell Books
3. Arrange Furniture
4. Remove Kitchen Clutter
5. Remove Bathroom Clutter
6. Clean Out Lily's Clothes
7. Remove Miscellaneous Junk
8. Have Garage Sale

I'll go more into depth about what each step entails; some of them are very self explanatory, while others have a bit more involved.

So, Baby Step 1: Purge Clothing.  

Neither Daniel or I could be called clutter bugs, but we have held onto things we don't need for an embarrassing amount of time.  I am the worst about clothes.  I'm pretty frugal, and hate shopping for clothes, so I tend to hang onto stuff way past what is typically seen as acceptable.  I still have a few things from when we were dating... 9 years ago. Now that I've told you that dirty little secret, let's talk about my plan.  I'm referencing Project 333 as a jumping off point for myself.  Not because I am a shopaholic, but because I want to gradually improve the quality of my wardrobe.  I love tailored clothes made from really great quality materials, but I'm always too cheap to pay for them, or too overwhelmed by shopping to hunt them down.  I resolve to become a better shopper, and take time to buy clothes that I love to wear.   I want to edit my wardrobe to one casual outfit per day, 2 workout outfits, 3 dresses, and 2 sets of PJs.  Socks and undies don't count, I'm not an accessory person (but I could lose a few scarves), and I'm still trying to work out the appropriate amount of shoes. I'd like to go down to 5 pairs I think.  This is going to be a big challenge for me; I like options, but when I really think about what I wear, it's very little. Since I'm pregnant, I'll actually have 2 sets of clothes.  It feels like cheating.

My hope is to convince Daniel just to get rid of the shirts and pants that have holes or stains, and the shoes he rarely ever wears.  He has very few clothes to begin with, but he is a coat hoarder.  A sad irony living in Texas.  Call it wishful thinking.

I separated Lily's clothes from this step because it will be a HUGE undertaking. Between grandmothers and a rapidly growing older cousin who is a tiny fashionista, we are overrun. Nobody give me anymore little girl clothes, I beg you.

Once I get everything bagged up, I'll make a trip to a resale shop and hopefully make a few bucks.  Whatever they don't take will go into the garage sale at prices sure to move inventory, and whatever's left gets donated to our pregnancy center.  Normally I donate, but we are working towards financial freedom, and every little bit counts. 

I'm off to the closet while my "helper" snoozes. I want to get to Step 2 tomorrow, because we have plans to work on Step 3 on Saturday!  I have a feeling there will be a tiny bit of overlap.  

                   -Kimberly

The Briefing

We are the Irvin's. In just over 7 years of marriage, we have been blessed with one sweet little daughter named Lily, and  have another one on the way!  Our home is shared with two dogs who own the couch and whichever chair in which you most want to be sitting. Daniel and I share a deep love for coffee, quiet, and the color green.

Our collective hearts' desire is to live fully. We both treasure our family, and want to give everything we can to our girls. Our friends are an extension of our family, and we love serving them and staying up far too late with them.  I love beautiful things, be it flowers and trees or a quality chair. Daniel loves the outdoors, and frequently mountain bikes or goes back-packing in the middle of nowhere.  Lily, in all her 19 month-old fury, has a passion for dancing, Winnie the Pooh, and anything involving outside.

Like most young families, money is tight.  Both Daniel and I believe that I should stay home to raise our girls, so that seals the one-income-family deal. We have a cozy little home conveniently located near his work, our beloved church, and just far enough away from our awesome parents (who happen to be next door neighbors). We also have two hefty car payments, an obnoxious student loan, and incoming hospital bills.  We both long to get out from under the debt and spend our time, money, and other resources chasing after the things that make us truly happy.  Hint: it's not stuff.

So, today, we draw the proverbial line in the sand.  I will document the process of morphing into a minimalist while I clean out the excess, and hopefully find some cash along the way.  My initial plan is to have a garage sale mid-September.  I don't know if we'll downsize our home or reduce our vehicles to one; it's all about the baby steps right now.

                    -Kimberly