Do We Really Need All That Stuff?

I've mentioned before how we're trying to sell our house so we've decluttered and moved quite a few things to storage. Now, I'm not to collect a lot of stuff so our house wasn't too bad, but in the 5 1/2 years we've lived here we have managed to accumulate a few things. At first I was worried that I would miss my stuff so I wasn't crazy about putting things in storage. Amazingly, so far I have only missed one thing. Yet even then I managed without it.

All of this leaves me wondering if I even need most of that stuff we put in storage. Honestly, I don't miss it, so why am I paying for storage? Ok, so I will want the Christmas decorations again come December and the baby stuff may get used again, but there are plenty of other things in there that I am seriously considering getting rid of. Maybe once we're in our new house we can have a yard sale and I can get rid of it. Or maybe I can have the charity truck meet me at the storage unit and take it all away for me. Both ideas are very tempting.

It can be stressful keeping your house clean to the point that its ready to sell. Yet it is also nice to have such a clean house. After we decluttered and cleaned up, hubby and I asked each other "Why are we moving again?" It has been so nice without all the clutter that I am seriously reconsidering just how much of it we really need. I like my house so much more when its clean and open without a bunch of clutter laying around. I need to remember this for when we move to our new house. My goal is to only keep things we need and things we love. All the rest is just "stuff" take up precious space in my house and my life.

So what about you, do you tend to keep a lot of "stuff" or do you prefer a less cluttered house?

Wordless Wednesday - Yard Sale Fun

My daughter has become a serious yard sale addict. This Saturday I drove past a church yard sale and she had a fit. So I wound up turning around and going back. We didn't buy anything other then a snowball there, but she did get to try out the moon bounce for the first time. There weren't any other kids in there so I got in with her and she loved it. Here we are in the moon bounce:

After the church yard sale we hit a couple other yard sales and a church Strawberry Festival and Book Sale before Pumpkin finally collapsed. Here she is after she shopped till she dropped:

Finally, here she is after a refreshing nap, enjoying the Leap Pad we picked up at one of the yard sales. She loves books so much I figured she would love this.

For more Wordless Wednesday, head over to 5 Minutes For Mom and Mom Dot.

To Do Tuesday - June 16

This is my third week participating in To-Do Tuesday over at Crazy Adventures in Parenting. I was bad and missed last week, but I am back this week and I'm determined to get some of this stuff done. I'm also keeping the list to 6 items. With as hectic as things have been around here, I don't think I could handle more then that. This week I'm also going to try getting these items checked off as I do them. Wish me luck.

√ Fold Laundry
√ Put Laundry Away
√ Clean out my coupon box
Clean out email inbox
Balance my checkbook
√ Complete Menu Plan for next week

To see more To-Do Tuesday lists, head over to Crazy Adventures in Parenting.

JC Penney $10 on $10 Coupon

JC Penney sends out their $10 off a $10 or more purchase coupons a few times a year. I love these coupons because I can always use them to get super cheap clothes for my daughter even if there isn't anything else I need. I'm amazed that some people actually throw these coupons away. If you're one of those people, could you just send the coupon to me? I'll pay the postage.

This time I was able to get 3 shirts and 1 pair of shorts for my daughter for under $3.00. You can't beat that. These clothes were all on clearance and when you combined that with my coupon, we did great. Pumpkin was even happy because she picked out the shorts herself.

My tip for when you get these coupons is to always check the clearance racks first. Also, read the fine print on the coupon as there are certain items that are excluded from coupon use. And, to maximize your savings, keep your purchase as close to $10 as you can. One time I was anble to get a complete outfit for my daughter along with a bid for just $0.26. Oh how I love these coupons.

If you didn't get the coupon this time, you can still take advantage of it online (just remember that you will have to pay shipping). The coupon code is GR8DAD and I believe it is good through June 20th. And if you do shop online, don't forget to shop through Ebates so that you can get 4% cash back on all yous JC Penneys purchases. If you are new to ebates and create a new account, you'll get a $5.00 sign up bonus. Depending on what you order, that could pay for your shipping.

Tackling the China Closet

This week I decided to tackle my china closet. Since we've been packing stuff up and putting it into storage to help our house look nicer, we also packed up our good china. There were some other odds and ends in there that had to be put away and everything needed to be dusted. Now my china closet looks so spacious I can hardly believe it. I even took the time to go through the drawers and clean them out too. I'm glad that I got this done. It's amazing how freeing up space in the china closet does help the room look nicer.

For more Tackle It Tuesday, head over to 5 Minutes For Mom.

Menu Plan Monday - June 15

Showing our house has been messing up my menu planning. You can't really cook the meals you planned when you have to be out of your house for someone to come look at it. As a result, we wound up eating out a few times last week. To help prevent that this week I picked up some lunch meat so we can throw together some sandwiches and go to the park to eat. I'm also looking for some more picnic type options that I can have on hand for these situations.

This weekend I also picked up a new slow cooker. We wound up getting one by Hamilton Beach. After I've used it a few times I'll let you guys know what I think of it. The really cool thing is that when I talked with the salespeople at the store they told me that if I don't like it I can bring it back within 90 days with a receipt. Hopefully I'll like it, but its nice to know that I won't be stuck with it if I don't.

Here's what I have planned for this week:

Dinners:

• Monday - Slow Cooker Lasagna
• Tuesday - Omelets and Sausage
• Wednesday - Pulled Pork Tacos
• Thursday - Grilled Cheese with Cream of Potato Soup
• Friday - Chicken Quesadillas
• Saturday - Veggie Soup and Biscuits
• Sunday - Beef Roast

Breakfasts:

1. Cereal
2. Granola Bars
3. Bananas

Lunches:

1. Leftovers
2. PB&J

To see more delicious menu plans, head over to Org Junkie for all the Menu Plan Monday links.

Wordless Thursday

Ok, I realize that it isn't Wednesday anymore, but I didn't get my Wordless Wednesday picture up this week so I felt like I had to share something. And, this week it isn't even a picture of Pumpkin. This is a shot I took of our dogs at the park last night. We went for a picnic and they were hoping for some of my sandwich. Little mooches.

Next week I promise to get a picture posted on Wednesday for Wordless Wednesday. This week has just been a little busy. Between looking at houses and having people look at our house I feel like we're never home anymore. Hopefully we'll get a contract on our house soon and I'll be able to stay home a little more. Selling the house you're living in is not fun.

Well, I'm off to clean up for another showing of our house tonight. I'll try to get back online later and get a post scheduled for tomorrow. I feel like I've been really slacking on my blog lately and it's driving me crazy.