Back in June, I decided that it was time to clean out the closets in our house. Now, it’s January – and it’s time to do it again. This time, however, it’s going to be fun. Why? Well, I’ve lost 27.8 pounds (so far) since September 29, and I none of my pants fit. This, my friends, is a great problem to have!
For January, I’ll have to increase the clothing budget, so that I can buy three or four pairs of slacks – and maybe a couple of smaller-than-I-used-to-wear dress shirts. By the way, depending on how old you are, you might refer to slacks as pants, dress pants, church pants, or britches. My MeMa, when I was a kid, used to call blue jeans dungarees. To this day, that’s what I call them. When I get to heaven, I hope that God gives me a pair of dungarees to wear – and a house right next to my MeMa’s. (Does the above paragraph confirm that I live in the South, or what?)
I have three big trash bags filled with mainly dress clothes – and I think I’m going to donate them to a local rehabilitation center. The young men in the center go to church most Sundays, and there might be a person or two at the center who can wear the clothes. There’s nothing wrong with most of the items, except for the fact that they no longer fit me. I’ll take them to the local donation center, if the rehabilitation center can’t use them.
Isn’t it strange how much better it feels to have an uncluttered closet? Why is that? It must have something to do with our desire for balance. We like things to even out. Heck, when I transfer money from my checking account to my savings account, I always like for my savings account to have an even amount of money in it. If the balance is $3,457, I’ll transfer $43, just to make it an even $3500.
I hope you are having a wonderful start to your year. I know that I am. I guess, now that I think about it, I’m working hard, in all areas of my life, to find balance.
Alright, enough about finding balance and cleaning out closets. Tomorrow, I promise, it’s back to the personal finance grind. Today, however, I’m going to buy a new pair of pants – or two.
Congratulations on the weight loss! Not having any clothes due to weight loss is great.
It seems the less clothes I have in my closet, the more my wife has!
My wife started befor New Year Great Cleaning in our apt. It continued 3 days. It was terrible. I did not want to meet New Year in such mood. I hope I will not clean my apt whole year 🙂
There is absolutely no doubt that just by adjusting the way we live or looking into our own reserves, Americans have more that what they are using.
Now is the time to develop your own savings plan. Pay off all debt you can, but make sure you have the corrected-for-inflation (and conditions) emergency savings fund. We recommend that you work toward having 15 to 18 months of expenses as “dry powder” for the troubled times ahead. Don’t get overwhelmed. If you don’t have it, start saving now. Look for ways you can save and ways you can generate passive or additional income.
Thank you.
Loyd Ford
http://www.STICKYASSET.com/blog
The line about making sure your savings accounts are at an even number made me laugh out loud. I have several ING sub accounts for various savings goals, and when the interest payments go in at the end of the month, I transfer enough from checking to round them up to the nearest $5. I have one for Vacation, Car fund, Freedom fund and Emergency fund and I love seeing the balances at an even dollar amount. It helps when I do my budget in “You need a budget” to have the round figures on the register tabs too.
I have just started to lose my weight. Really well done!!!
I’ve started to clear out my closet. I listed some of my really nice office clothing/suits on eBay. Two things sold, so the rest are being donated. I’m really getting sick of living in this clutter. Congratulations on losing weight!
You may want to check out Freecycle (freecycle.org) for clothes; I picked up quite a bit of clothes in my size this way. You’d still need to budget some money for the immediate need for smaller clothes, but it may be something worth looking at. Congrats on the weight loss!
I am also cleaning out my closet. We have 5 trash bags full of clothes and I don’t think our closet can accommodate them. I think I have to decide what clothes to part with.
Congrats on your weightloss. I also cleaned out my closet when I lost my 66 lbs, actually I did it several times:-) And enjoyed it everytime.