Desire vs. A Good Deal

This is something I've been struggling with for a while -- and while I don't like the tone that my sister used when she said it, I do agree that it's probably something I inherited from my dad who is notorious for this behavior. He loves to shop. He loves getting a good deal. He'll buy almost anything if he thinks that it's a good deal/cheap/free. Amazingly enough, his house isn't too terribly cluttered, but I think a lot of that has to do with his wife, who is a Virgo and all about being 'neat'. But for me, it was a realization today. A singing colleague's husband is offering a deal on headshots to build his portfolio. Do I need new headshots? Only if I'm going to cut my hair. Am I going to cut my hair? I haven't decided yet but it's an $85 expense I'm not yet ready to deal with yet. So, while it's a Good Deal, I don't think I need it. Zulily is having a sale on a shoe brand I like. The sale is pretty amazing and there are a couple of pairs of shoes that I could probably be happy with owning. One pair in particular caught my eye, but they only have a size 36. I could wear that, but my other size 36 shoes from them are a little snug to wear all day. I also have over 30 pairs of shoes right now. While they're cute and a fantastic deal, I'm not sure that I NEED them. I think this is where I'm going to need to change a lot of my shopping habits, especially when it comes to non-perishables. Having a candy/chocolate stash is one thing, but buying more and more clothes when I don't have the space to put the clothes I have is another. Do I need more clothes? I don't think so. Do I need more shoes? Probably not although I wouldn't mind replacing a pair of Birkenstocks that died. Do I need more yarn? Only if I'm working on a commission. The hardest thing is going to be when I come across 'hard to find'/'one of a kind' things, such as hand-dyed yarn/roving or art pieces. Those, however, aren't often on sale, and I will need to sort of deal with those on a catch-can basis. Did I need a Lazy Kate? Sort of. If it doesn't fit my bobbins, then I'll have to find a way to get rid of it or still use it. Do I need a hand-mixer? No. I have one. It's a cheap one, but it works. This is something I need to cross-stitch and hang up or tattoo somewhere. Food is different...I'm getting better about trying to eat what I've bought and not eat out all the time. It's meant getting creative, but it's also meant less strain on my wallet. Fresh food at the Farmer's Market also doesn't count, but I may need to pull back on the amount of homemade candy I've been getting. If I don't need it, I don't need it. Period. Whether or not it's a good deal or free. Basta. Fini.

Finding Initiative

After the Big Clean with my mom's help, I've been trying to at least maintain the most-used rooms in my apartment -- meaning the bathroom, living room, and my bedroom. Despite picking things up off of the floor in my bedroom, my dresser drawers were still bursting with clothes -- they wouldn't even close! I knew I had to go through them since I had all seasons of clothes in there and probably some things I would be able to give away/consign. So, the other night, when I actually didn't have any evening plans, I went home and did it. All the drawers were emptied one by one and piles were made on my bed: Keep, Donate, Consign, Seasonal. I had a lot of Keep. Granted, what I kept did not overflow my drawers, especially as I took a bulk of the 'seasonal' clothes and put them in the other room. I did have quite a few items to donate/consign, which was also a good thing. But clearing those drawers out wasn't too bad. Did I run across the brown cords my dad got me and the odd sleeved-thing my sister got me? Yes. But I put them into 'Consign' since they weren't my colors and I never really wore them. Brown cords are fine, but the shape wasn't that flattering to me...and the brown sleeve-thing was fun, but totally not my colors. But it wasn't really hard to get rid of them. That was kind of nice to realize. On Saturday, Beth came over to help me clean. She was prepared to do scrubbing and stuff, but I actually talked to her about what I was going through and being on the Hoarding spectrum and feeling ashamed, but since she was helping, I felt that she needed to know. She was actually pretty wonderful about it. She asked me a couple of questions but then said that I didn't need to be ashamed of anything with her. So that helped quite a bit. I managed to give her some of the clothes that I was going to get rid of as well as my old, yet perfectly workable DVD/VCR combo which was replaced by the Blu Ray player. She even took a bag of things to Goodwill...and far too late did I realize that a pair of shoes in that bag could have been consigned. Oh well. I guess the point is that someone should get them. She then helped me take out all the trash/recycling that was left in the Living Room and finish cleaning that out of all papers and crap under/behind the sofa. I finally called it quits after 2 1/2 hours. She then offered to come back and help me with the kitchen, saying that it wouldn't take that long at all. I hope she's right! But that part, again, wasn't so bad. I know I need to figure out what to do with the stuff in the spare room and get rid of things...like the computer desk and computer. I also need a place to get a new dresser for all my off-season clothes, but I bet if I clear out the plastic sets of drawers in my room and closet, I might have more room for things. I did end up getting some organizational tools from a Zulily sale and I hope that will help!