Downsizing and Project clean sweep

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We are officially a one car family and plan to stay that way for awhile.

Since I rarely drive it seems silly to spend all of our savings on a vehicle (my car was totaled a couple weeks ago).
Obviously, we know this will be inconvenient at times, but since a portion of Bob's job can be done at a local coffee shop (he can ride his bike there) I'll have the freedom to take the kids to the zoo or doctor visits when I need to. We also have plenty of family in the area who could be at our house in 10 minutes should an emergency arise, and our local library is a 15 minute walk. Now if only Target and Chick-fil-A were within walking distance.....

I'm really excited to give this a try. Having one vehicle should provide more time together as a family and force us to slow us down a bit. To which I say, amen and amen.   

As Bob and I talked through this decision, we also found ourselves motivated to simplify- both in our commitments outside the home and our belongings within the home. From this, project clean sweep was erected.

Project clean sweep will be the purging of all unused items. In other words, if we haven't used it in 6 months it's gone. This includes the size 6 clothes I've been holding onto, all of my 'what if' shoes, out of date jewelry, Bray's old clothes, toys, unused home decor, and the mounds of clothing my husband should never wear again.

Here's my plan. Come May, I'll begin sorting, make my piles, and get the pricing done. Then at the end of May (possibly June) I'll have a garage sale. What we don't sell, we'll donate- the key is get it out of our house. I'll use the profit from our sale to redo the kids rooms. Since we'll welcome a third baby into our three bedroom home I need to do some rearranging and redecorating. My thought is to keep Avery's room a nursery and make it into the "clothes room," meaning I'll keep all dressers in there and utilize the closet space as best I can. Then I'll turn Bray's room into a shared bedroom for Avery and Bray, as well as keep it a play room.

Once the garage sale is over, I'll spend June deep cleaning the house. As I clean, I'm hoping to assess what areas need an organizational makeover. Then let the pinterest projects begin!

I'm really looking forward to the benefits of this project. I know it will be a lot of work, but I also know it will be totally worth it!