After coming home from work today and finding the aftermath of my wife’s anger in my closet, I got to thinking. Wait, what? Oh, I should probably start out by saying that it seems my wife was very angry at my pants today.
(Letting that sink in for a moment)
In my closet, there stood a ladder so my wife could reach the top shelf. At the bottom of the ladder were about 5 pairs of my pants, thrown all about. No shirts, no socks, no boxers, just pants. Many pairs of pants, which somehow sent my wife into a pants-throwing fury. ( I have no idea why the pants were on the floor in reality – my wife isn’t a crazy pants-hater. )
So I started to think.
All these pants were work pants, and I had several more pairs hanging up, and sitting on lower shelves. Why in the world do I need 8-10 pairs of pants? I wear each pair 2-3 days ( its not dirty, it is easier on your electric bill, better for the environment, and makes your clothes last longer ). Since I work 6 days per week, 2 pairs really should fit the bill just fine. Three, if I want to be on the safe side.
What about shirts? Socks? Belts?
I’m afraid to count the number of shirts in my closet. I’m even more afraid to count the number that I haven’t worn in months. And remember, this is after I recently purged my closet. My goal for the future? Buy nice clothes. But buy very few clothes. I don’t need more than 3 pair of work pants, and a single pair of jeans. Just a few shirts. A single belt. Maybe 3 ties.
Simplify your wardrobe, and your closet will seem bigger. No longer will it be a source of stress when you look at the incredible clutter. Instead, it will be spacious, organized, and peaceful.
But would you? Over the years, I often find myself saying things like : “If I had the iPhone, I could take pictures of everything and share them with the world.” Sure, I could. But would I? Turns out, not so much. Here I am, the proud owner of the iPhone, and I don’t share very many pictures with the world.
“If I had a shiny new Macbook, I could work while sitting on the couch watching TV with my wife.”
Sure I could. But would I? I rarely worked from the couch when I had a functioning Dell laptop – what makes me so sure this time around?
Don’t fall into the “If I had this, I could” trap.
Chances are, you won’t do whatever it is that you’ve convinced yourself you will. You’re just trying to justify buying something, which is never a good habit to get into. If you find yourself making that dreaded statement, always follow it with “But would I?” I’ll bet you’ll talk yourself out of 90% of those types of purchases.
Who cares if you buy something else?
I don’t really care how you spend your money. It’s your money after all, and you’re entitled to spend it how you want. But you wouldn’t be reading The Simple Llama if you didn’t feel that Stuff was starting to take over your life. You wouldn’t be here if you weren’t interested in doing things differently, to hopefully live a better life.
If you really are going to do the things you say you will, great. If the purchase really does make some progress toward simplifying your life, then do it. Don’t buy it if it’s not going to simplify your life, if it’s not going to make things easier for you. You don’t need more Stuff to take up space and time. Remember, simplify your life, and you gain time – something you can’t buy at any price.