The Purge Project: New Year, New Life

By Taffi Chandler-Poirot: 12/31/09

"arasmom"-Administrator & CEO of www.TheBudgetQueen.com

New Year, New Life: Just as 2010 begins, I am starting new chapter in my life. My family and I are currently in between houses-we have sold our house that has been home for the last six years and are waiting to close on our “new-to-us” house that requires a full renovation. It’s a lot to take on, but after much contemplation, and investigation, we felt it was a good fit for us. We will be displaced in a small hotel/suite while we await the habitability of our “new” house. We are gaining quite a bit of square footage with this move and I had been thinking all along-“Wow, we really need the space! And, thank goodness because we grew out of our house long ago.” Naturally, my next thought to follow was “Now we have more room for all this stuff!”.

What’s wrong with this picture?

Basically, during the process of packing, I’ve realized that the most important resolution for me to commit to is a purge project. Not because my house is a mess, because it generally isn’t, but because I’ve been holding on to extra baggage. It may not appear that way on the surface, but I am having trouble letting go of “things” on the outside (material baggage) and on the inside (emotional baggage). Sound familiar?

Now that we are staying in a small one bedroom apartment/suite in a hotel and most of our stuff is in storage, we had to choose what would be brought to the hotel room. What did we really need for our daily life for the next month or two? It was such a huge task to clear out everything and pack it away, and it was extremely draining, physically and emotionally. Which brings me to my point; sometimes something has to really rock your world for you to truly reflect: to see yourself, and your life, from the outside looking in.

For me, it all started with magazines. I had a collection of different magazines that I had been holding on to for who-knows-how-long-and hadn’t looked at them in exactly who-knows-how-long either. So there I was, standing in my garage with the recycle bin in front of me on the last day of packing in the last few hours before leaving our house for good…and it happened. I let go. All of the magazines went into the recycle bin. Every.single.one.

Well….ok, it didn’t happen exactly like that….it was a pretty intense process. First, I looked at the huge amount of magazines I had accumulated over the last 6 years (at least 100+)… all neatly organized within magazine holders…not too daunting, I thought. I quickly realized I had to decide which magazines were more valuable than the next; should I decide based on title, or content, or date? Hmmm… So, I tossed them in one by one based upon type and content: parenting and baby magazines met their fate first, followed by home and interior type magazines and then some general cooking magazines. There were still lots left. So, I thought I would then flip through the remaining ones and carefully choose the winners based upon the quality and usefulness of information. I did that with a few, and then decided that it was too time-consuming, so I began to choose them one at a time and toss them in-least interesting first. Then, the tossing gained momentum; less looking, more tossing. In the tossing frenzy, I had decided that if I really liked any particular magazine, I could subscribe again and get the new issues. I quickly began to feel a liberating sense of freedom. I wouldn’t have to haul these magazines to the storage unit or hotel room, “That’s a relief”, I thought, “Less for me to deal with, because I have enough on my plate…Whew!...I really need to simplify my life”.

Eureka!

Score: Taffi-1. Stuff (a.k.a. magazines)-0. What a great feeling! Ah, to be free of that burden! Those magazines were just there, no longer useful-neglected and abandoned-just taking up space and cluttering……My Life!

So why am I putting all of this out there for everyone? Exposing my personal life to the masses? The reason is two-fold: First,I figured that I can’t be the only one in the universe with this kind of problem. Second, if I admit to it, in public, then I become instantly accountable. What better motivation? Especially for something I am not really keen on doing, and especially since it’s been hidden away so well for so long….

I mean, it’s pretty easy to conceal. There are creative ways of hiding away material things, lots of ways. All of our stuff was hidden away somehow-drawers, little baskets, underbed storage, the garage, organizer containers….you name it. It was hidden away in a cutesy kind of way, but stuff is stuff any way you see it (or don’t!). It’s really when you begin to clear out things that you see just how much stuff you really have and just how buried it was. There were lots of things that had been hidden away-a distant memory…..and consequently re-bought. (Imagine “doom” music here.)

There are even more creative ways of hiding away emotional baggage-you just pretend it’s not there-or explain it away when someone on the outside sees a glimpse. We are all aware of the truth behind our actions-we just have to open our eyes and be ready to face it.

I am NOT the type of “hoarder” or “pack-rat” of reality television fame, I am simply using the gradual accumulation of “stuff” as a way to calm whatever emotion is driving me to collect it. Whoa! I really admitted it, I am emotionally attached to this “stuff”. It is sucking away my energy, like a black hole. Well, maybe not a black hole-maybe just a Dyson. But you get the point.

Hence; we commence on this Purge Project together…one aspect of my “New Year, New Life” adventure, (not sure what the other aspects are, I’m sure I’ll figure it out as I purge and make more room for them-just kidding). “We”, you say? Yes, I say “we” because I am now accountable to you, those of you who will read what happens in my life in the coming year on my journey I have so creatively named the “Purge Project” because I am purging and it’s a project. You may now be asking why this purging nonsense is relevant to The Budget Queen System and the lifestyle of saving money and developing a smart spending mindset...

It is quite pertinent, because as a consumer, unless I streamline my accumulation of stuff and stop wasting time and money by duplicate purchases or failing to utilize what I have in the most efficient way possible, I’m wasting money and wasting time, and a lot of it! Gasp!!

Lately, I have been feeling stagnant, a bit robotic, really. I have come to realize that a major source of stress for me is that I spend so much time worrying about accomplishing as many tasks as I can in one day and getting from point A to point B, that I have lost much of the enjoyment that comes with a simpler life. I get so lost in the “doing” that I can’t enjoy just “be”-ing. I want to recapture that part of my life-more enjoyment and relaxation, so that I can be with my family more and be what my family needs me to be: present (physically and mentally) and what I need me to be. I long for organization, simplicity and peace…each leads to the other, and that peace will flow into the lives of those closest to me. Peace folds into happiness. The more I purge (albeit a material or emotional), the more I can focus on what’s truly important. Clear away all of the baggage, and then there will be a clean slate.

So now that you know how all of this goal-setting came into play and you are now asking “Alright, already…So what is this Purge Project really, and why do I care?”

1) Every week, for the next year (52 weeks), I will choose a new item to purge from my life. It may be material or emotional baggage, whatever the case-it’s going bye-bye.

2) Plan B-(you must always have a Plan B)-just ask anyone from the A-Team…

-Go through the alphabet twice-and choose something to purge based upon the first letter of it’s name. (Conveniently, as there are 26 letters, I could go through twice, if needed. Obvious, I know, but I am attempting to leave myself little room for weaseling out of this….)

By taking on this project, I truly feel that I will no longer be feverishly swimming toward a mirage; an oasis in the distance. I really want to make the change to live simply and more efficiently, so that I can continue to build my savings and really enjoy what’s important in life-the “stuff” you can’t replace, and help to secure a promising future for my family-which includes eventually becoming debt free.

Right now, I see my goal, and I know it exists, but until I am actively doing everything I can possibly do to reach it, it is going to remain out of my reach and will forever be an illusion.

I am determined to take action and make that illusion a reality, and it starts today. Here we go….

“PURGE PROJECT” 2010 (Complete with step-by-step instructions to myself)

Warm up: Magazines

Plan of Action:

-Open recycle bin.

-Decide on importance of keeping magazines. Choose wisely. Ponder, then purge and purge some more.

-Continue this action until all magazines are in recycle bin. (Don’t you just love it when a plan comes together? ;)

-Bask in the glory of purge-ality.


Thursday, December 31, 2009

1) Become less of a Ms. Fixit.

Plan of action:

-Choose 3 things that do not truly require your personal action to say “No” to. (Meaning the actions people pretend they need your help on, because they know you will say yes, but they are really too lazy to do it themselves. And let’s face it, you’re predictable.)…..Not anymore!

-Discontinue one thing that repetitively takes time away from my family.

-Give someone who continues to come to me for help one tool to do things on their own: empower rather than enable. Then walk away. Nope. Just walk away.


I will continue to keep you posted on my list, and on my progress. I am aware that this journey will likely have some pitfalls, and that’s another reason why I don’t want to do this alone. I’d like to invite you all along for the ride.

Perhaps I’ve inspired you to take on a “Purge Project” of your own.

Perhaps you’d just like to check in every now and again to see how things are going for me.

Perhaps you think I should have abandoned this whole writing-a-blog-thing while I was ahead… (That would be just after the title, ….and right before the first paragraph.)

Perhaps.

Either way, I hope that you’ve enjoyed reading about my new venture…more to come.