More is more less is less

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Buying More Less often.

So shoes...I really like shoes...I really like it when I find shoes I like...and I don’t find them that often. I once looked for leather sandals for 4 years. I finally found a pair I love and want them to last forever.

I‘ve had four pairs of royal elastics over the last 17 years. I finally put a pair to rest that I’ve worn since 2013.

These had been with me longer than my sons. I will miss them. But I figured it was time to put them since they have huge holes in the sides of them.

So when I started my search for a new pair of kicks, I realized that maybe I needed to buy more shoes to make my shoes last. Obvious right?! Not for me. I had worn my royal elastics in all kinds of weather: sun, rain, and snow. No wonder they’re dead. I really should have not worn them in the rain or snow. They honestly would have most likely lasted another 5 years if I had just bought a pair of shoes made for the rain and for hiking and worn my snow boots in the snow. Why are the obvious things so hard to understand some times?!

Here’s to buying more shoes so I don’t need to buy shoes as often. Let’s see how long my new pumas will last me.

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Less hair

I cut off all my hair recently. I have had mostly long hair for the last 10+ years.

Since having the boys it’s been in a: ‘who do you think you’re kidding’ bun probably 95% of the time. I had tried a bunch of things to try and eliminate the work. I tried going to once or twice a week washing....wait maybe that’s all...

Okay, real truth... I’ve never been good about doing my hair when it’s long. I have too much hair. It’s really thick which is great except when when you’re trying to dry it...and it just won’t dry. Even when using your very expensive, amazingly powerful salon quality hair dryer. Who has time for that? People who really love or at least enjoy doing their hair. Not me. It was only after our family had a rough summer, and after a stranger made a pretty offensive, uncomfortable, and hurtfully true comment about my appearance did it occur to me that, perhaps, I should just have less hair!!!!! I loved my short hair from when I was in high school and university...I never thought I’d go back. I even remember telling friends I wouldn’t. But then I did in one day. My hair dresser was worried about the drastic change, from hair reaching far down my back to short pixie was a pretty drastic change but I was tired of lugging around something I didn’t want to take care of.

OH THE FREEDOM!!!!!!!!!!!

People have said the maintence is what keeps them from going to short hair. For me it deinfitely beats being anxious about taking a shower cause you hate washing your hair that much.

This was a game changer for me.

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How many pairs is enough?

We have a laundry room on the ground floor of our apartment building. It's really convenient. But it gets busy..obviously! 12 washers and 12 dryers to service a 16 floor building is quite the task. I love that I can do 4 loads of laundry in 2 hours washing and drying. But it's hauling 4 loads of laundry to the ground floor, hoping that there are enough machines free to do it. I try to only do 2 loads every week but sometimes you have a week where they announce they are shutting the water on and off all day on the only day you're able to do laundry...so you do twice as much the week after...which is a lot. I found myself there today: staring at the wagon FULL of clothing. Sorting socks is not horrible...folding underwear is not horrible...but just seeing how MUCH of it there is made me feel like it was all unnecessary. I try to separate our laundry into types of clothing to make them last. 1-Things that you won't cry over if they get ruined 2-good clothes 3-whites/sheets 4-cleaning clothes and floor mats 5- towels So if I need to make a load of laundry worth the money. It's about $2.30 per load. I need to FILL the tank with lots of underwear and socks and play clothes...which means I should have A LOT of pairs on hand...kinda feels unnecessary just so I will fill a load. I have a plan that my husband doesn't quite think is sustainable. But I think it's brilliant. I am going to hand wash our socks, underwear, and light clothing by hand every night. It's a very light job. When I say hand wash I mean, using my breathable washer. A plunger looking mechanism that forces the water through the fabric of your clothes. It's generally used for off grid living or camping. Could you imagine having 5 pairs of under wear and socks? Like I could actually live with maybe 3 pairs if I never wanted to just take a break from it. Ontario summers can get humid where nothing dries. But this could actually free up my drawers. Most of your clothes live in a dirty state which kind of silly. I'm not going to kid myself into thinking I'll be able to hand wash bath towels, bedsheets, heavy knits and jeans. But I think it's reasonable enough to think I could do regular woven fabrics and underwear. That would be amazing...less STUFF!!!! I did the math. I could possibly save up to $40 on our laundry a month. So far I did it once...tonight was the night...not bad at all. I just need my husband to tell me I can't keep this up for my stubbornness be full on and say: WATCH ME.

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Recent discovery

Maybe you already discovered this, but I just ONLY realized that more is more. I live in North America where the choices are endless. Oh boy! Are the choices endless. You can have whatever you want, whenever you want, and usually for a really decent price. But I have found that the more I have the more I have the more I have. Which sounds pretty obvious right? 

I have a Costco membership, and there are legitimately some things for less money if I buy them at Costco. The beautiful Balderson’s cheddar is DOUBLE the size at Costco but the SAME price as what I can get at my local grocery store.  Strawberry Bonne Mama Jam is the SAME price for about 1.5 times as much. To me that’s great value. But then there are sometimes sales that say hey, if you buy two you can get the second for half off...well...i didn’t need the second pair of shoes...but I get both of them for cheaper, so it’s like I’m saving money...BUT I’M NOT!!!!!!! I just get more than what I wanted to buy in the first place for more money...BOOOOOOOO. Now I have more stuff than I wanted...BOOOOOO...and spent more money....BOOOO BOOO BOOO!!!!! 

I’m trying to open my eyes to what I have at home, what I really need. Eliminate choices that I just am tired of making. And hopefully making more space in my home for space that is easier to tidy, cleaner for my family, and less wasteful. 

So today’s success was going grocery shopping and only buying what I had on my list, not buying more if it was two for more money...just getting what I came for.