Use Whatcha Got

It started off last night with scanning my Facebook feed like I do a hundred times a day. My friend, Kim, decided three years ago to go for a year without shopping for clothes, purses, shoes or accessories. She decided to attempt this again and invited her friends to join her. I wrote on her wall last night,

“Hey, Kim, I *think* I’m interested in also joining your no shopping for an entire year dealy. Will let you know for sure as I think through what’s ahead….love the idea. Don’t know if i have the character.”

Today, while in the bathroom, I looked around at the blue paint on the walls. The paint was a better shade than the previous one. I had tried to match the shower curtain and painted the walls with a color that just didn’t sit right with me but couldn’t pinpoint why. Kelly (of the Awesome Threesome) nailed it when she walked into the bathroom.

“It’s public restroom green.”

Yup. No wonder I needed to repaint. So I repainted with a slightly better color, but still not a color I really liked.

Right before Christmas we had to empty out our shed by the garage and upstairs storage area for termite treatment. Blah. What I concluded after everything was brought out: first, my husband is awesome. He was the one who emptied everything out. He did get some help from the strapping young teenage boys. Wait. Both tower around and over 6 ft. now. They are MEN. Yes, three strong men transferred the contents while Julia and I went to Disneyland to enjoy some Christmas magic. Second, we have amassed an obscene amount of stuff in the years we have lived in this home. Among the piles of stuff lining the kids rooms and hallway, stacked up to ceiling height, I saw some cans of paint I never used.

Then it clicked. I could use the paint I bought but never used to paint over the blue I don’t like in the bathroom!

And then I wondered: How much stuff do I have lying around I haven’t used because I forgot I had? What would it look like to not only take on Kim’s challenge of not adding to the obscene amounts of stuff I have but actually assess what I have and use what I’ve got?

What if 2013 would be a year of cutting back and moving away from consumerism. What if the time I spent getting stuff was redirected to taking inventory of what we have and give away what we don’t use, use up what we already own and throw out all the clutter??

So, of course, as an “idea” person, I got all excited!!

I decided to blog right here, right now, before I change my mind.

And as a “let’s do it together” person, I want to invite you to join me!!

Let me know in the comment section if you’d like to join USE WHATCHA GOT 2013.

Basically it would mean:

• not buying new clothes, shoes (gasp. did I really write that??), accessories for a year
• go through your closet and assess what you have, give away what you don’t use
• then go through other areas and do the same (pantry, storage areas, kids closets, etc.)

I’ll be sure to blog along the way and would be happy to hear from you in the comment section if you blog about it, too.

So, are you in?