This morning I entered the amount for the few little groceries I bought yesterday into EveryDollar. I also checked balances in my envelopes. I'm doing very well with my spending. When I funded my envelopes last Friday I got $60 for groceries. I'd budgeted $75 for two weeks but wanted to come in under that if possible so $60 seemed like a good goal. I still have $40 of that so I feel as though I've accomplished something. However, there are a few things I need before Friday, the next pay day and I'll probably get those later today or tomorrow before work. I budgeted $25 for gas for two weeks and still have $15 of that and $10 of the $15 I'd budgeted for Sammy the cat. Yeah, all in all I'm doing great!
I posted some clothes and household goods on a local free stuff group. I hope someone wants it all because I very much want the stuff gone. Decluttering is pretty easy for me but I have a few emotional issues with some of it, especially kitchen items.
My apartment is about 540 square feet with a seemingly impossibly small kitchen. It has few cupboards, a tiny amount of countertop, two drawers and no pantry. But I love to cook and do it daily. Fortunately, most of my cooking is simple so all I really *need* are basic items. The problem, though, is that I'm so very attracted to kitchen gadgets and doodads! An all expenses paid trip to Bed, Bath and Beyond is my idea of a great contest prize! Ha ha!
Over the last few years I've managed to calm down that crazy side of myself but I still have things I rarely use. For example, I found a blender at Target three years ago for $6. It gets pulled out a few times a year, generally to make hummus. Keep it or let it go? And there's my KitchenAid mixer. I'd wanted one for many years and scrimped until I had enough to get the red one that made my heart sing. The problem is that I haven't used it for over a year and prior to that its main job was to make shortbread, my all time favorite treat, and that was done only between Thanksgiving and Christmas. The thought of getting rid of that beauty causes anxiety so I keep it. It sits on a counter and takes up space but I smile each time my eyes spy it. I think it needs to stay, at least for now. Maybe soon I'll feel ready to sell it but not yet.
And then there's the electric digital pressure cooker. Another tool I love and one I rarely use now. It produces the best tasting and most tender roast I've ever had but I don't eat much meat now. Of course, I could use it to make vegetable soup. Hmmm, maybe I should try that today. And what about the stovetop pressure cooker? One of my sisters gave it to me a couple of years ago. I've not used it but can't seem to part with it because it was a gift. And let's not even get started on the slow cookers and coffee cup collection!
See the problem?
That darn kitchen. I have so much affection for the inanimate objects contained within it and have saved that corner for the last of the big push to simplify. I thought I'd be ready by now but I don't feel ready. Yes, I know it's just stuff and I know that each item can be replaced easily, if not cheaply, if necessary. But it's still so hard to even consider letting some of those things go.
I think I'll list the kitchen items to which I have no attachment (like a few of the many whisks I have and the wine bottle opener thingamabopper I've used once..what are those even called?) and enjoy the freedom of that for awhile. Maybe then I'll feel ready to rid myself of the other stuff. We'll see. It's a process and for me it's been a long one.
In the meantime, I'm enjoying a day off work and am about to head into the kitchen to give vegetable soup in the pressure cooker a try!
Happy Sunday. :-)
How do I love thee, kitchen items? Let me count the ways!
April 12th, 2015 at 03:52 pm
April 12th, 2015 at 06:31 pm 1428863490
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April 12th, 2015 at 07:44 pm 1428867872
Petunia, it's a curse, I say, a curse! ;-)
April 12th, 2015 at 09:10 pm 1428873030
Space forced some hard decisions. We all agreed on 'how much was enough,' Can you do 'baby steps'? If you have too many coffee mugs, I wonder if you're willing to say "X" is enough and relinquish the mugs that are excess. Donate to one of the Thrift/Charity shops and let someone else enjoy those mugs.
Hope you understand that once a gift is given, it belongs to the recipient. Say no to guilt, take a photo and post an ad on your local FB sale page or CraigsList to sell the stove top pressure cooker. With summer approaching would you commit to using the blender to make an AM Smoothie? Healthy, delicious, choose ingredients that work in a blender like frozen blueberries rather than ice.
Since the Kitchen-Aid represents more to you than to most, smile, keep it, until you're ready to sell it to someone who will use and love it nearly daily.
April 12th, 2015 at 10:29 pm 1428877743
April 13th, 2015 at 02:01 am 1428890471
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April 13th, 2015 at 02:48 pm 1428936509
VS_ozgirl , I looked at all sorts of mixer recipes yesterday and not surprisingly almost all are high in carbs. They're either desserts or high carb potato dishes but I haven't given up. Ha ha!
LivingAlmostLarge, I forgot that I do use the blender now and then for making creamy soups. I love soup so maybe that's something I need to just make more often. Thanks!
Maranatha, I've seen some of the attachments and have thought about getting some. I might do that in the near future.
CB in the City , the mixer is definitely staying for now but I think the large food processor needs to go. I can always keep and use the Oskar for my pimiento cheese spread and other things.
April 13th, 2015 at 09:49 pm 1428961776
I once had an apartment with a woefully bad kitchen and zero counter space. I managed to grab a cabinet off of the curb on garbage day. We retrofitted it into a kitchen island and that solved a lot of our problems.
April 14th, 2015 at 03:27 am 1428982046