Lightening the Load

I missed getting a blog post in the past couple of days, but with good reason.  We have been turning our apartment upside-down- cleaning, organizing, gifting items, sorting other items for sale, separating items to donate to good will, and bagging items for the trash and recycling.  It has been go-go-go from rising in the morning to my head hitting the pillow at night.  And... we're not even close to being done.

I've been itching to reorganize, and here's why:

• What if there were an emergency and we had to leave our home in a hurry? 
• Can we access our important papers and belongings quickly? 
• What if there were a flood and our basement storage unit turned into an indoor pond?  
• When we move, do we really want to wait until the last minute to shed our extra stuff? 
• We could use the cash from selling some of our things to make an extra payment to get rid of the last remaining credit card faster. 

We cleaned and organized all of the closets, moved some furniture, repacked the clothes we had in storage in water-proof, vacuum sealed bags.  The clothes were originally stored in boxes, which have now been broken down and stored flat, and can be used to pack our belongings when we move.  Between the change to the storage bags, and flattening the boxes, we gained a ton of space.  And when you live in an apartment, space is always at a premium.

After we attend a Memorial Day remembrance tomorrow morning, we still have more work to do.  We have many more plants to get in the ground, which will give all of us a chance to get outdoors.  That still leaves me the task of purging old documents and revamping the filing system.  At least, we have access to a commercial shredder.

We will do a purging like this once a month from now on.  This will help us raise funds and get us ready to move.  Moving can be a real pain in the neck.  There's no need to make it more of a pain by having to purge items at the last minute.

Live better, a little every day.