Frugality vs. Organization

With the end of the Christmas season I find my house filled with boxes, wrapping paper tubes, left over ribbons and bows, Christmas cards and more. As I look at each of these items, I see so much potential in arts and crafts projects for the children and DIY decorating ideas for the next season. My creative side sparks and I consider keeping each item in order to find a purpose for it. After all, my frugal side hates to be wasteful.

Until my organized side tunes in and I realize I need to find places to keep all of these items until I one day use them. I want to be sure they are not forgotten about, but I do not want them visible or in the way. I ponder the areas I could keep them, some needing to be stored until next Christmas, wondering what I will have to purge in order to hold onto these possibly, though not definitely, useful items.

Frugality and organization must now duel it out.

There are many areas of our lives where being frugal may cause our organization to go lax and vice versa. We want to keep items in case we some day need them so we can save money in the future. But each item we keep must be stored somewhere in our home. The more stuff we store, the more storage equipment we may need to purchase. The less stuff we keep, the more we need to buy later.

It truly is a battle that can so easily be lost but is so satisfying when it is won. How do we win this battle?

Prioritize.

Of course it would be great to use those wrapping paper tubes and boxes for an arts and crafts project for my children, but if I threw them away, could I not come up with another fun and free project for them to do? I would love to keep all those beautiful Christmas cards and ribbon for a DIY project next year, but is it worth sacrificing other decorations to make room in my holiday storage box?

Each person will answer these questions differently, but the key is to make sure you ask yourself the questions. If you throw everything out on a whim, you will wind up spending more money than you need to on similar items later. If you keep it all, we may be lucky enough to watch you routing through it years from now on an episode of Hoarders.

In order to be successful in our homemaking, we have to find a healthy balance between frugality and organization, saving and hoarding. Only in this balance can we find relaxation, freedom and joy in our lives.

For more great homemaking and frugal tips, check out: Women Living Well, Don't Waste Your Homemaking and Life As Mom