Excess Baggage

Since the beginning of the year I have been working on getting rid of stuff both mentally and physically.

I've been purging a lot of the physical stuff we have in the house that is just creating clutter.

I have made several trips (and in fact am in dire need of making another trip as I type this) to Goodwill where I have left a ton of stuff I have no idea how I amassed to begin with.

What's amazing is that by just evaluating that part of the purging process, I realized I have a lot of worthless stuff or I have spent A-LOT of money replacing the items the kids break on a daily basis.

Point of fact, we have been able to purchase the appliances that we have partly because I stopped replacing items that they broke (although in truth, buying one of those appliances, coughdishwashercough, did replace something a child had broken but it was O-L-D too) AND I stopped rewarding children who didn't deserve or appreciate what they had. Can you imagine?

I've even been able to sign up for a vision and dental plan for myself (still looking on the healthcare front but have a pretty good idea where I am going to get it from).

It's comforting to know that even though my budget for my job still hasn't been renewed and is nowhere near in the process of being renewed that we are still going to be ok and all because of the little things I didn't realize added up.

I haven't trimmed all the fat (extras) yet because it's all about baby steps. lol

Well, really it boils down to the fact that I haven't decided what fat is. I mean I went out and bought a new set of pots and pans because Hubs and I have the set (coincidentally the very first thing we bought as a couple) we bought forever ago that are worn and honestly, having one dutch oven and one large pan no longer cuts the mustard when you jump from feeding 2 to 7.

At first I saw it as something we don't need because we already have some, but then I realized we aren't getting rid of the old ones anytime soon and have just supplemented what we already have and in turn could then be construed as something that was needed.

yes?

I am lost...lol How do you decide in your household, do you spend freely or do you have to justify each purchase?

Inquiring minds want to know...

When I was single, I never bought anything. Seriously, it was my car and the house payment and no, I wasn't rich. But now that I am building a home and there are so many of us, I need a plan.