New year, New approach

Happy New Year!  I can't believe we are already in 2013.  I don't know about you, but I am ready for a new year and have been thinking recently about this whole "resolutions" thing.  I think I'm over resolutions.  There are some crazy statistics about resolutions, with 45% of people making them, but only 8% of people are successful at attaining their resolutions.  Thus, instead of making resolutions, I'm going to make a conscious effort to be more aware of what's truly important to me in 2013.  

Talking with my Aunt Alisa over Christmas, she mentioned her mantra for 2013: "Enough is Enough" and I couldn't help but agree with her.

Case in point: At the end of 2012, I spent some extra time clearing out my closet of clothing, purses and shoes that didn't fit, showed wear, or were outdated.  When I got back from the holidays, I sorted all of the clothing into Donate, Sell, and Toss piles.

A fraction of my piles of things to get rid of. 

I took the Sell pile into a couple of local consignment stores and opted for the immediate cash back option, which resulted in some decent amount of cash in my pocket (my version of decent may differ from others, but at this point, if it puts gas in my gas tank, I consider it decent!).

However, when I was at one particular store, I found myself feeling suddenly attached to some of my former belongings.  I had that "but what if I need another black bag and none that I have now will work?!" or "but what if I NEED that button up shirt I've had in my closet for 2 years and never wore?" The truth of the matter is I don't NEED any of the items. If I haven't used it in over a year and somebody else could get use or enjoyment out of my things, isn't that more rewarding?  There is no point in me having a full, overstuffed closet when somebody else could use the items I no longer need/want/use.  In addition, the time and worry I had given to something as insignificant as a shirt was simply not worth it.  It was definitely time to say Enough is Enough; I have a feeling this mantra is going to frequently find it's way into my 2013 vocabulary.

What was left in my Sell pile went straight into my Donate pile and will be going to my local American Cancer Society Discovery Shops, a great organization that functions as a upscale resale shop in order to raise money for the fight against cancer, which many of you know is near and dear to my family's heart.

Little do they know a clown car's worth of stuff will be coming to them in the near future.  When I purged my closet I DID NOT mess around.  Unfortunately I also didn't take pictures since I seized the moment with my mom and sister in town - sometimes you just have to go with the flow!  It feels AWESOME to walk into an organized, clean, simplified space that I have been keeping even more organized and clean now that everything has a home in my closet.

What's your mantra for 2013?  Are you making New Year's Resolutions? Have you ever stuck to a resolution in the past?


I'm excited for what 2013 has to offer! I have already been busy getting a few blog posts ready that I hope will be helpful to you all in 2013 and beyond as well.  Some of the topics are definitely going to be more difficult to talk about than others ::cough cough budgeting cough cough:: but many are more lighthearted and are things that can be done in a short amount of time.   I also have intel that my guest bloggers have post ideas up their sleeves, so stay tuned!  

Have a suggestion?  I'd love to hear it!  Email me at makinghousecalls12@gmail.com