Does anyone else have those friends on Instagram or Pinterest that they admire, who live such a simplistic, almost minimalistic lifestyle?  Or is that just me?  I look at their pages and think to myself, “Have they always been like this, or was this learned over time?”  While I’m still not sure the answer to that question, I’m choosing to learn this skill, which doesn’t necessarily come easy to me.  I’m the type of girl who gets so attached to things because of the memories they hold, but I’m learning that the memories will still be there, even if I don’t keep “the things”.  And wow, how freeing it is to get rid of excess stuff and to really just simplify my life.  I figured that as I continue to work on this in my own life, I would share a few tips that are helping me, in hopes that they’ll help you simplify as well.

If you have multiples, only keep ONE.

This may seem simple, but I’m here to tell you there’s been countless times where I find myself having more than one of the exact same thing.  So, I have to ask myself why I have two or three of that thing, and if it’s really necessary that I keep all of them.  More often than not, it’s completely unnecessary, and for some reason I thought it was “brilliant” at the time to get multiples.  So to keep it simple, just keep the best one, and donate the rest (or have a garage sale or whatever floats your boat).

If you haven’t worn it in 6 months, get rid of it.

Again, this seems simple, but I find myself having SO MANY clothes that I haven’t worn in ages…like AGES.  So, a good rule of thumb is that if you haven’t worn it in six months (and it’s not because of the weather that you haven’t worn it), get rid of it.  An easy way to go about this is to take a big cardboard box into your room and just start going through your closet.  If it meets the six month requirement, and you still like it, keep it…but if not, it goes in the cardboard box to either sell or donate.  And just think, by simplifying, you’re not only freeing your mind and space, but you’re being a blessing to someone else who will use your clothes.

Don’t keep excess papers lying around.

I feel like this one is big for me, because I’ll write a saying or a quote that I like on a piece of paper, but then I end up with tons little notes everywhere.  So, to help with this, I started keeping a journal that I write my sayings in and other important things.  You can also do this for remembering important information.  However, if doing this, I advise keeping that journal in a safe or somewhere that only you have access to.

Anyway, those are just a few things that have helped me on my journey of simplifying my life, and I hope they’ll be of assistance to you as well!

xoxo,

miranda kay

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