Sometimes you have to make sacrifices for your family, in order to have a better future. My family made a 3 year commitment that will bring about much prosperity to us, but with a lot of sacrifice.
My husband and I had jobs, and a nice modest home, nothing extravagant but in a good family neighborhood but we were miserable with what we were doing for a living. There were always layoffs and companies buying each other out and we kept getting moved around or looking for another place to work doing the same thing.
We also felt like we were not doing enough for others in our jobs. My husband was probably the worse off of the both of us. While I was able to be more positive, he wasn't able to. He felt like he wasn't able to properly help people and was tired of giving canned answers, that he knew, weren't worth much anyway.
So we sat done and he explained to me, that he wanted to go to Law School. Our son was going on 3 and the work force was looking bleak again. We knew it was now or never. Law School is a 3 year commitment and we would have to move.
So the last two years we have been living far away from friends and family and in a VERY tiny 3 bedroom apartment on the university's campus in Family Housing. Our family room in the house we lived in could fit the whole first floor on this apartment. The first floor has the living room, kitchen and dining area. Upstairs, is the one and only bathroom and 3 very small bedrooms. (BTW being pregnant and having the one and only bathroom upstairs was horrible! I was seriously tempted to wear depends, TEMPTED! for all you clowns.) Before we moved, we had to give stuff away and put stuff in storage. We thought we had room for what we did bring up. BARELY, was the reality. This apartment was smaller then imaged!
We have had to bring stuff down to storage in Boise to help some. We have gotten rid of stuff, but it's of no use. We now have 2 kids instead of one, 2 and a half years of stuff collected plus Law Books! Well this year, I have to get down and dirty to be ready to move.
Here is the thing, once I sort through things, I have no place to put aside the stuff that is not to be thrown out, until it can make it's way to Boise. Therefore I have no way to get to other things and we have a mess. So I discussed this with my husband. We rented a small storage unit and are going to put things in there to be kept stored, and things that we will use once we move and have space for it.
I am downsizing a lot while we are in this small space. Kyle has agreed to get rid of some toys, donate some toys, put some away for when we move, some will be stored away for Hailey and some stored for when he has kids to play with. I have kept up on the kids clothes but that is something I must stay on top of and going to do so again. Summer clothes that I got that were slightly big on him will be stored until next summer/spring.
I am getting rid of most of my clothing, since I have a totally different body shape since having Hailey. I have a bunch of new things that I wear now and those I will keep. This will make so much more room!
On a side note, We are NOT hoarders nor does our place look like anything you see on those tv shows. We just look like a family squeezed into a small place, tripping over each other. It's like we are pin balls in a pinball machine and are getting tilted all the time!
I am even moving furniture into the storage unit to make space to walk! Adding all the new baby stuff, just crammed us up even more! I am getting rid of the DVD rack and all the DVD cases and putting the DVD's into binders and on to the bookcase, as well as all the PS3 and Wii games. All the instruments for RockBand are going into storage also since we have no room to sit down a play them in the Living Room. I kid you not, we have a sofa and a TV and that takes up most of the room! I had to move out the coffee Table to fit stuff for Hailey and am removing the DVD rack so the kids can have space on the ground. This place is TINY!
Downsizing isn't fun, but you need to create a game plan! Map out areas to work on, and start in one area first. Work on one thing at a time and don't let yourself feel overwhelmed.
Pick a time in the day to tackle an area. Do not try to do it all in ONE day or set a new impossible goal as your finish date. Set a reasonable goal, so that you don't feel discouraged or like you are failing. Setting a goal will help you remain focused and motivated.
Remember some days things will not happen as you planed. Do not be too hard on yourself and remind yourself, that you can catch up and get things done still. Be realistic with your goals and your busy life.
Get your family involved, in helping you. Find things the kids can do to help you out in areas. If you have a spouse/partner also ask them to be involved. My husband will be taking out trash, going to the storage unit and when he isn't nose deep in law books, will be helping me out by watching the kids, or going through things too. Don't feel like you have to do this alone.
Make sure, you pack up your belongings in proper packaging and LABEL everything. If you use a storage place, make sure your belongings are insured. Some items do not store well in cardboard boxes, and for them use plastic bins, and/or storage bags, (not trash bags for valuable items!),
On a quick note, have an idea of where you are putting things in the storage unit so if you need to get to them, you can. Perhaps making a quick map, and making sure there is a path in the middle to walk through and access your belongings. A storage unit can become a huge mess, very easily and it's best to avoid the mess, as much as possible.
So this is what I will be working on this year. I made a list of things I need to sort though, and am mapping it out. Lil Dude is on board and has small tasks to do to help and is excited because it will go towards him earning his allowance. (He earns so much by how much he does and he loses money if he is does something worth losing money over.)
I can't wait till the days of feeling like a tilted pin ball are over!
TTFN
My husband and I had jobs, and a nice modest home, nothing extravagant but in a good family neighborhood but we were miserable with what we were doing for a living. There were always layoffs and companies buying each other out and we kept getting moved around or looking for another place to work doing the same thing.
We also felt like we were not doing enough for others in our jobs. My husband was probably the worse off of the both of us. While I was able to be more positive, he wasn't able to. He felt like he wasn't able to properly help people and was tired of giving canned answers, that he knew, weren't worth much anyway.
So we sat done and he explained to me, that he wanted to go to Law School. Our son was going on 3 and the work force was looking bleak again. We knew it was now or never. Law School is a 3 year commitment and we would have to move.
So the last two years we have been living far away from friends and family and in a VERY tiny 3 bedroom apartment on the university's campus in Family Housing. Our family room in the house we lived in could fit the whole first floor on this apartment. The first floor has the living room, kitchen and dining area. Upstairs, is the one and only bathroom and 3 very small bedrooms. (BTW being pregnant and having the one and only bathroom upstairs was horrible! I was seriously tempted to wear depends, TEMPTED! for all you clowns.) Before we moved, we had to give stuff away and put stuff in storage. We thought we had room for what we did bring up. BARELY, was the reality. This apartment was smaller then imaged!
We have had to bring stuff down to storage in Boise to help some. We have gotten rid of stuff, but it's of no use. We now have 2 kids instead of one, 2 and a half years of stuff collected plus Law Books! Well this year, I have to get down and dirty to be ready to move.
Here is the thing, once I sort through things, I have no place to put aside the stuff that is not to be thrown out, until it can make it's way to Boise. Therefore I have no way to get to other things and we have a mess. So I discussed this with my husband. We rented a small storage unit and are going to put things in there to be kept stored, and things that we will use once we move and have space for it.
I am downsizing a lot while we are in this small space. Kyle has agreed to get rid of some toys, donate some toys, put some away for when we move, some will be stored away for Hailey and some stored for when he has kids to play with. I have kept up on the kids clothes but that is something I must stay on top of and going to do so again. Summer clothes that I got that were slightly big on him will be stored until next summer/spring.
I am getting rid of most of my clothing, since I have a totally different body shape since having Hailey. I have a bunch of new things that I wear now and those I will keep. This will make so much more room!
On a side note, We are NOT hoarders nor does our place look like anything you see on those tv shows. We just look like a family squeezed into a small place, tripping over each other. It's like we are pin balls in a pinball machine and are getting tilted all the time!
I am even moving furniture into the storage unit to make space to walk! Adding all the new baby stuff, just crammed us up even more! I am getting rid of the DVD rack and all the DVD cases and putting the DVD's into binders and on to the bookcase, as well as all the PS3 and Wii games. All the instruments for RockBand are going into storage also since we have no room to sit down a play them in the Living Room. I kid you not, we have a sofa and a TV and that takes up most of the room! I had to move out the coffee Table to fit stuff for Hailey and am removing the DVD rack so the kids can have space on the ground. This place is TINY!
Downsizing isn't fun, but you need to create a game plan! Map out areas to work on, and start in one area first. Work on one thing at a time and don't let yourself feel overwhelmed.
Pick a time in the day to tackle an area. Do not try to do it all in ONE day or set a new impossible goal as your finish date. Set a reasonable goal, so that you don't feel discouraged or like you are failing. Setting a goal will help you remain focused and motivated.
Remember some days things will not happen as you planed. Do not be too hard on yourself and remind yourself, that you can catch up and get things done still. Be realistic with your goals and your busy life.
Get your family involved, in helping you. Find things the kids can do to help you out in areas. If you have a spouse/partner also ask them to be involved. My husband will be taking out trash, going to the storage unit and when he isn't nose deep in law books, will be helping me out by watching the kids, or going through things too. Don't feel like you have to do this alone.
Make sure, you pack up your belongings in proper packaging and LABEL everything. If you use a storage place, make sure your belongings are insured. Some items do not store well in cardboard boxes, and for them use plastic bins, and/or storage bags, (not trash bags for valuable items!),
On a quick note, have an idea of where you are putting things in the storage unit so if you need to get to them, you can. Perhaps making a quick map, and making sure there is a path in the middle to walk through and access your belongings. A storage unit can become a huge mess, very easily and it's best to avoid the mess, as much as possible.
So this is what I will be working on this year. I made a list of things I need to sort though, and am mapping it out. Lil Dude is on board and has small tasks to do to help and is excited because it will go towards him earning his allowance. (He earns so much by how much he does and he loses money if he is does something worth losing money over.)
I can't wait till the days of feeling like a tilted pin ball are over!
TTFN
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