I am very excited to write this particular post since it’s the kind of mode I have been in recently (namely the reuse or repurpose part). Last year I got a crazy smart idea that 2011 was a save, save, save year. In previous years, we always allotted some money to go to vacationing and home projects/decorating. We set some new long-term goals and this was just the way to kick-start it off! It’s been an interesting year….not really buying/decorating much (which is soooo hard since I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE to do do these things) but what I have learned this year really has been such a blessing! I myself and my savings account are so much better for it. I hope to share with you all that I have learned this year about living with less on a later post. 
1. Reduce
This one is pretty straightforward-going forward, limit what you bring into your home; when you see something you like, do you really need it, do you love it? And purge what you do have. You will feel so much better living with less clutter & “things”.
2. Reuse or Reimagine
This has been a “lightbulb” idea for me. I spent the better part of this year not doing too much decorating because of this whole not buying thing(besides the small spending allowance we each get). When I started decorating for fall I decided to take everything down and reimagine what I had in a whole new way. I have a large shelving unit in the basement that houses all my home accessories that I switch out seasonally and some I haven’t used in years…Once I changed my perspective that I WANT to use what I have, I was so pleased I was able to reimagine accessories when I had been feeling like I needed some “new” stuff for the house. So challenge yourself to see what you can do to stuff you already have. Can you just rearrange it? Paint it? Slipcover it? You get the idea…maybe this would be an idea for a link party??? Your thoughts? Do you have some projects you would love to re-do? I know I have several ideas swimming around in my head on what I am going to re-purpose next!
Besides this being great for your wallet, it’s so much better for the environment not to just dispose of stuff you think you have no use for.
3. Recycle
Of course recycle your trash, papers, etc but also think of recycling in terms of all the stuff you have ultimately decided to "purge”. Sell it or donate it so that it doesn’t end up in the landfill and someone can repurpose your cast offs and not have to necessarily buy new. No wonder Craigslist is such a HIT!
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