Why are you joining The Decluttering Project and striving to create a simpler life?

Really.  Why are we all doing this?  What is it that you hope to gain as you declutter?

One of my best lessons has been the importance of surrounding myself with people who embrace what they have.  There are people who find true joy in what they have in life.  Sure they might have some secret wishes or big goals.  But when it gets down to it, they’re happy with the stuff they have.  They’re happy with where they are.  You deserve a happy life.

How does a simpler life feel like a better life?

One of my saddest discoveries was when I would spend time with people who always wanted more.  Martin and I love to fly; one man went out and bought a plane.  He wasn’t actively flying until Martin and I began interacting with him, and I have heard that he isn’t flying today, either.  So why did he have such an expensive desire?  Was it because he could have something we couldn’t?  That no one else around us could?

Why do people have desires for so much more?

I wonder if their happiness is measured by the stuff they have.  Of course, stuff comes with so many costs.  We have to work longer to pay for it.  We have to work to have a place to store it.  We sacrifice our time.  We part from our families.  So many burdens come with having more.  Can we measure a good life by our possessions?

I believe that a life of want is a life where you will never be satisfied.  Every time you say, “I will be happy when I have ___,” you find you aren’t happy because all of a sudden, you don’t have the next ___.

If I spend time with people who always seek more, I find myself craving more.  I become overwhelmed by this sense that my life could be better, that I could belong.  I see the faults in my house and in my appearance.  I start thinking negative things instead of embracing all the good.  Instead of differences, I see faults.

Do you suppose a simpler life helps us remove these feelings of competition, inadequacy, and envy?

We are all meant to become big things.  Does that mean we need to own big in the process?

Have you ever heard of Tesla Motors?

If this were a car blog or engineer hangout, I’d be inserting one of those really crazy flash banners about now.  ”Prepare to drool!  Prepare to drool!”

I’m going to take a wild guess and assume excessive drooling isn’t the case on Making This Home.  I’m leaning more toward a guess that most of you haven’t heard of Tesla Motors before, and that’s totally okay.  After all, the company only produces about 15 cars a week.

Martin has Tesla radar.  We were riding in the bus.  I was attempting to eves drop on a conversation between the German tourists in the seat behind us.  Then all of a sudden Martin whips around faster than a kid can switch off his bed light when he hears his mom coming down the hall.  It was like lightning.  I don’t know how Martin possibly spotted this.  But the next thing I knew, we were off the bus and gazing at this shiny guy:

There’s something you should know about Tesla Motors.  They make EVs (electric vehicles).  Based in the Silicon Valley, this company is currently the only automaker building and selling EVs in serial production that are highway-capable.  Remember that movie, Who Killed the Electric Car?  It is alive at Telsa Motors.

The company is working like crazy to develop electric cars.  I’d say one’s definitely worth getting off the bus to examine.  This guy’s even getting charged up.

Just a little nerdy break in all of this decluttering mania.

Oh – while we’re venturing into Martin’s turf, you might want to show off your skills by knowing the difference between an engine and a motor.

How are you progressing with your decluttering efforts?  Are you making some really good progress?  I have to admit that Martin has been making more runs down to the garbage and recycling bins behind our building in The Decluttering Project.  I have glass jars to take to the recycling bins tomorrow on my way to the grocery store.  It feels great to progressively declutter the corners of our house and wipe everything clean.  Are you finding the same?

Today I thought we’d do something a little different.  This project shouldn’t take too long, so I think it’s a perfect mid-week declutter that we can all work on tonight.  You ready for it?  It’s time to look at your stationery.  We all have it… how much of it are we using?  Lets go look at our collections, shall we?

Today’s project includes four phases:

1. Getting rid of what we don’t use
2. Organizing what we have
3. Creating a system for better using our stationery
4. And establishing a system for keeping letters we receive

First up – let’s get rid of all the stationery that we’ve outgrown.  If you aren’t writing on a regular basis, it’s amazing what you can end up with.  Think of who can use that stationery.  Give graduates extra thank you letters.  Call organizations who offer low income children free summer camps, and give them a pile of unneeded stationery (maybe throw in some stamps?).  Tie them with a pretty bow and give them to your grandma or a senior center.  Donate religious or all occasion cards to your church.  My hometown church would always send cards to college students, senior citizens, and church community members during various religious milestones.  Why not give these organizations cards so they don’t have to buy them?

Next organize your stationery. Get all of the holiday cards together, all of the birthday cards…  Some people like to have a big collection of miscellaneous envelopes to dig through as needed.  I personally like to keep each card with an envelope that fits so it’s ready to go.  How about you?

Now create a system so that you’ll really use your stationery. What’s the point of having beautiful cards and papers if we’re not actually using them?  About a year ago, I shared my new solution.  I made a fabric basket and plopped my cards right on the shelf next to my desk.

Then I did the same in the tire house.

As a result, I started writing real letters to people all the time.  My sister even gave me stamps for my birthday – seriously the coolest gift to keep me going!

An incredible thing started happening.  People started sending me letters, too.  So as I started receiving more mail, I happily stashed some of it away.  Why?

The finally strategy in organizing stationery is having a solution for where you want to keep things. I hole punch some and put them in one of my journals. I also tuck away a very limited number for something special years from now.  I can be a sucker for sentimental letters.  When my 92-year-old grandmother’s friend gave my grandma a stack of all the letters my Grandma had sent her, I was floored.  These letters may not have seemed like much back then.  But I adored reading about my dad’s first Christmas, and I am determined to pass the kindness on.  I keep significant cards in a little box at my desk where I can tuck away all the memorabilia I want to give back one day.  **The key is to pick only a few people to do this with – not everyone.  Think of who touches your life.

So there you have it – signed, sealed and delivered.  I hope you can reexamine your stationery collection and start doing what the purpose of stationery really is… that is to say, go give that stationery to other people.  And since this decluttering project can be super quick (and kinda fun!), spend that extra time and write a few letters.  Address them, and get them ready to go tomorrow.

Then come back here and tell us how you’re doing.  I’m loving the photos you’ve been sending me – please keep them coming.  Let’s see who can get rid of the craziest old stationery.  What have you got up for grabs?

Wow.  You really poured your hearts out in the comments of the two giveaways we offered last week.  Some incredible stories about the people who have given us so much in life and the handmade items in our lives.  Enough mushy stuff, though.  Let’s get down to what I know you really want to hear.  Namely: who won?

First up for grabs were two love letters right from my own shop, Gadanke.

These little letters of thanks are ready to write if your name is… Michelle or Tara.  More specifically, that’s the Michelle who was born 12 weeks early and lives to tell her beautiful story and Tara who has been humbled by two elderly sisters near where she grew up.  Ladies, send me an email and be ready to pick the Italian patterned paper of your choice!

Next up, Lisa offered some handmade, repurposed dividers in this interview.  (She has another set in her Etsy shop if you’re aching for some.)

Congratulations to our winner, Vicki K.  She’s lovin’ a handmade journal that the maker said came from a pair of leather pants in an Athens, Georgia thrift shop!  Vicki, you can guess the drill – please send me an email!

Thanks to everyone for participating.  Now back to our regularly scheduled, decluttering fun…

How’s the paper pile looking at your house?  Can you see your desk?

When it comes to simplifying, there’s nothing more important at our house than creating a simplifed sense of order to the slews of paperwork that trickle in.  We’re big fans of going digital – getting online statements and scanning as much as we can.  Yet papers keep coming in.  (Tell me about it, right?)

It’s taken a bit of work to create a system that works, so I thought I’d show you how we stash the papers in our house and juggle with paperwork in two different countries.  Yep – there have definitely been days when we’ve had to walk other people through our filing system 4,000 miles away to get a receipt or certification.

Luckily, it’s going pretty well so far.  Here’s how to make it all managable:

1.  To start off, find out where you can take your papers to be recycled in your community. The key to decluttering is often thinking about what you can give.  And last time I checked, nobody in my neighborhood was interested in taking my junk mail from me unless there was a really good coupon.  So I like to have a plan for recycling from the get go.

If you don’t know where to recycle paper in your community, call the county dump, the rescue mission (they often hire men to run a local recycling program), the scrap metal recycling/distributors in town, local green companies, or the courthouse.

2. Then walk around the house and pick up every loose paper. You won’t believe how many papers get tucked away here and placed there.  Pick them up.  Put them in a pile.  (I’ve mentioned this little technique for decluttering paperwork back in the day.)

3.  Pull out your filing supplies and the stacks of paper you need to tackle, and set up shop (floor? table? desk?). Get rid of the obvious junk.  You also want to get rid of the articles and papers that are interesting tidbits because if that’s all they are, they’re taking up space in your life.  Every time you start working on paperwork and see the funny little joke because it hasn’t been filed, it slows your progress.  If the joke is that good, share it with someone else.  I like to have a little pile of items to send to other people.  It includes bills and little papers to stick into letters.  Pass it on or pass on it.

4.  File everything. Just like with the little jokes on slips of paper, anything that doesn’t get filed keeps landing in the to-file pile.  There’s nothing worse than a to-file pile that never ever is completely finished.  Does your office have a pile like that?  Probably not.  So do your best to file everything in your home office, too.  Set aside a to-do pile, but set a timeline for when it needs to be done.

5.  Organize your files so you can walk someone through your folders over the phone. Juggling between life in two countries certainly means this is a huge issue for me.  It’s also really handy when you’re trying to explain where a document is to your spouse.  The best way I have found is to file by categories and subcategories.  So for example, in the US I have a category called “tire house”.  It breaks down into categories like “utilities”, “landfill permit”, and “rental contract”.  Categories and subcategories are key.

6.  The second key is to organize the papers within each file. I organize anything that I receive on a regular basis by date and tack them down.  The newest item always goes on top.  It makes looking for old paperwork really easy.  But you know what I really love?  When it’s time to get rid of old information, it’s super easy.  All of the old info is on the bottom.

7.  Scan everything you can and recycle the original. If you don’t need a paper copy, scan it.  (Here’s a whole post on all of the ways that we’ve got digital.)  Then make sure you BACKUP.  A thumb drive/flash drive is not an appropriate backup.  Burn cds or dvds or use a backup hard drive.

8.  Actively eliminate junk mail. Call companies and cancel catalogues you don’t want.  Put a sign on your mailbox.  Unregister your name online.  I’ve talked more in depth about how to stop junk mail.  Set up a paper recycling bin right next to the front door or your desk so junk mail immediately goes to the recycling pile instead of on your desk.

9.  Store receipts somewhere specific. I’ve done my share of receipt sorting, and it gets pretty tideous.  What’s the point?  We now keep all of our general receipts in a little plastic drawer at Martin’s desk.  Receipts for business projects, house remodeling, and big purchase items (like bikes or the couch) all get tucked away in subcategories in our filing system.  We just empty our fabric bags or wallets when we get home and put the receipts in the drawer, so the most up-to-date receipts are always on the top of the pile.

So you can see that decluttering paperwork at our house comes in two forms:  getting rid of it and getting it all under control.  That’s the peek into our drawers.  How do you do with keeping paperwork under control?  Any particular items that you struggle with?  We’re all here to help.  So go tackle that paperwork as we continue The Decluttering Project.  And if you have any troubles or good ideas, leave them in the comments.  We’ll tackle this together!

Psst… here are some pointers for how to file in Germany for all you expats.  No manilla folders.

Today is a holiday in Germany, and the city feels quiet and peaceful.  My first month without German class is coming to an end.  I watched my first movie in German!   Der fantastische Mr. Fox.  If you have seen this movie (no doubt in English – it’s original language), please tell me how it is!  It took all of me just to follow the plot and absorb what every fox would say.  Is it funny?  Captivating?  I don’t totally know.  But I will say I’m glad noone shushed me for talking in the theater.  ”What’d he just say, Martin?”

The film had a lot of English signs.  So meanwhile a little boy sitting next to me kept whispering to his mom, “Was ist das?”  ”Was ist das?” every time he’d see an English text on the screen.

What did he mean “What is that?!”  The English signs were the only thing I truly got!  They were soooo easy.  Meanwhile, “Pssst, Martin, what did Mr. Fox just say….?”

I absolutely loved reading the comments on this post where everyone had to leave a comment in German if you could.  Some of you had noooo problems (hello native German speakers!).  And some of you tried to be sneaky by throwing in comments in Spanish, Mandarin, and… well don’t think I didn’t catch that!  Que pasa?  (I loooove your humor.)

I’m thinking a lot about Gadanke, my journaling shop, and it’s been an interesting and wonderful journey already.  I’m trying to engage the business side of my mind with my heart and creative inspirations.  How do I do it?  Sometimes people just look at me like I am out of my mind for dreaming of such a creative journey.  If you look back in history, that’s happened to a lot of people.

I’m also wondering how much to share on Making This Home.  It isn’t because I don’t want to share this journey toward a creative startup.  Rather the two don’t really flow as one entity.  I didn’t start this blog to talk about journaling.  That was always my personal thing.  I started Making This Home to talk about creating a tiny kitchen and embracing a life without all the stuff.  I think that’s what you all come here for.  And it seems I will never run out of ideas for simplifying because – bam! – I’ll be biking from the grocery store and suddenly realize things like, “Martin and I don’t need to buy any more clothes.”  I’ll keep thinking about it and toss the idea at him.  The next thing you know, I’m sitting down to type, “Who wants to join me on a No New Clothes Challenge?”

The simpler our life becomes – and the more I personally dapple with writing journals and smearing paints and pasting photos and ticket stubs all over them because it is what I love – the more I realize a life with fewer MUST HAVES truly is the richest life of all.

Happy Pentecost Monday.  Schöne Pfingsten!

(photograph taken by me while moving to a new state; quotation author unknown)