New Year - Less STUFF... SIMPLIFYING!

Happy New Year! 

2013... kind of crazy.  Lots of possibilities in the new year, and in the craziness of the "old" year of 2012 the past few weeks (Christmas, events, sickness, travel, etc.), I never have actually started to think about the new year until last night, when I asked my husband what he'd like to do in the new year (changes, new things, goals, etc.).  In asking my husband, I realized haven't even thought about it myself! 

I read an article in the paper a few weeks ago, which talked about what we leave behind when we die.  Rather than talking about life insurance, etc., it was talking about the sheer amount of STUFF that people have to go through when we pass away, and how much stress & headache it is on the people who we leave to pick up the pieces.  The author of the article was encouraging readers to SIMPLIFY.  She asked, if something unexpected happened to each of us today, would someone (husband, parents, friend, sibling, etc.) be able to come behind us and FIND things that are important? 

Unfortunately, the answer to that question for me is NO.  I do all the bills in my house - pay stuff, keep track of stuff, file stuff, etc. - and while my system could be worse, it could be a WHOLE lot better.  I have pieces of paper tucked into multiple drawers, I have two checkbooks, I don't have dates for paying bills written anywhere but in my head.... I have multiple savings accounts, multiple credit cards, ETC.  It would be a real headache for someone to try to learn my system.  Additionally, I just have too much stuff - even though I try to "purge" multiple times per year, we still keep ending up with too much stuff.

So, in this new year, I pledge (again....I'm sure I've done this before) to SIMPLIFY.  I want less STUFF, less HEADACHE, less PAPER, less clothes & gadgets that I don't LOVE.  And, while I think getting a few things to help me get organized might help, I think the main thing I need to do is to go through every room and GET RID of stuff I don't need.  I'm going to start today.  AND, I'm going to go through my home office, file by file, and start getting organized - writing down dates bills are due, seeing which accounts I can close, and making things easier on me now, and anyone who might have to come behind me.

January 1, 2013 - let the simplifying BEGIN!