As a craft enthusiast, it is very easy for me to get sucked in with all of the great deals that my favorite craft stores have every week. Before we became organic-aholics and spent all of our extra budget on just groceries, I always had a little bit of extra change here and there that I would occasionally spend stocking up on craft supplies. Now I have bins full of them, and these days, I hardly have any time to even start on any craft projects. So here they are taking up room in my clothes closet (and sadly, part of my daughter's closet), waiting to be opened and used.
As I struggle to make a decision about whether or not I should just go ahead and sell them at our next garage sale, I am doing better with the "One In, One Out" rule with other areas in our home. Before bringing in anything into our home (bought or given for free), we have made sure that something else was going out. The kids needed new summer clothes, so out went the winter attires. They wanted to new books to read, so we sold some of their old ones to
Half Price Books store. We are wanting to switch their play items to non-toxic, BPA-free toys only, so we have been slowly gathering up as much as we can to bring to children's consignment stores. This one is more of a "One In, Three (or even Four) Out" rule, as the kids have too many toys. We have been focusing more on the kids, as most of the stuff my husband and I have been getting rid of we didn't care too much to replace.
Since the hot summer temps have arrived, here are some items that are easy to "want" new, but sometimes we forget that we have their older counterparts from past summers that need to be removed from our homes first:
- swimsuits
- swim towels
- wide-brimmed hats and baseball caps
- beach toys
- beach bags
- gardening shoes
- gardening supplies
- luggages
- backpacks
- coolers
- picnic baskets
- kites
- sports equipments
- summer clothes
- flip-flops and sandals
- books
- DVDs
- BBQ grills
- outdoor patio furnitures
- cookware and cooking utensils
- fishing gears and supplies
- camping gears and supplies
- surfboards, wakeboards, skis
- cameras and video cameras
- and everything else under the same
It's easy to get caught up with deals and sales online and at stores, but if you follow the "One In, One Out" rule before purchasing something you thought you just had to have, chances are - when you return home to get "something(s)" out, you may end up forgetting what it was you wanted in the first place.
