The Burden of Abundance

I think I may have stolen that phrase from someone - if it was you, it's a great line - please be flattered :-). As the "lazy days of summer" seem to be only for young children these days, and even very few of them, I have been wondering about that. As I am OCD about being cheap and saving money, it naturally includes some of that. Recently, some friends had a garage sale, and the woman is so wise! She was telling me about how she kept her goal in mind, "get rid of it." Too true. We overvalue some of the things we don't even want and then have the burden of taking care of it & sometimes the burden of just seeing it. She had a clock that had "negative energy" (which made her husband roll his eyes and me nod fervently) that was worth quite a bit, but she sold for $20 to a woman who then backed over a bike rack they were intending to sell & broke it . . . Yes, she was irritated, but then again, it was gone, along with its negative energy. How does this relate to being cheap? Well, I'm not having a garage sale, but if you are - good for you. I am cleaning out things we don't need and just plain don't want & using my free eBay listings each month - then, we'll use that money for other things. We are also using some of our "free time" to declutter (psychologically proven to reduce stress & therefore medical bills), and get a little bit back toward things we really want. We are also enjoying what we have that much more - prioritizing. I still cannot use my right arm, and we got a Wii just after my injury. Yesterday, I decided to move on & I am now a left-handed Wii player . . . not that great, but I was learning anyway - I guess I'll just be a lefty there & my daughter & I had a blast! I also found free book clubs for summer, and we're getting extra incentive to read what we already have. One reading award requires specific books, so we're using the library for those. I intentionally left space for time with the people we never see enough of, and although some of them are too busy to join us, others have shown up and are making plans. Hanging out with friends can be super cheap and its immensely more satisfying than an overabundance of toys - my daughter doesn't enjoy playing on her own nearly as often - some chalk, a driveway and a friend are much more satisfying. Join me in trying to recreate a little bit of the lazy days of summer & let me know your ideas - I need help with this one!