Amy Slenker-Smith

Let’s stay in the kitchen for Day 4. If you didn’t get through all the plates, mugs, tea cups, bowls and glasses from yesterday, keep working!  Today’s challenge is what I affectionately call the Food Inventory Challenge. Take a long hard look at the freezer, fridge and pantry Throw away expired or freezer burned items Make a list of entree-items (ground beef, chicken, pizza etc) Plan at least 3 meals from current inventory No grocery shopping Borrow ingredients from a neighbor Check online for ingredient substitutes or try a different recipe Here in the mid-Atlantic, the roads are icy and it’s freezing! I have no desire to leave the house for the next three days. So, it’s the perfect opportunity to declutter the fridge, freezer and pantry. When you take time to meal plan and reduce the volume of food, these spaces have a way of organizing themselves. Clients often tell me their pantry is too small, but I would argue that we stock pile too much …

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Yesterday, I laid out the plan for my decluttering and downsizing challenge. Build momentum by first addressing common spaces used every day. Day 1 - Clean Sweep the house. Return items to their proper home. Set up Donation Box Day 2 - Clear your Exit Path. Establish a landing spot for keys, wallet, phone etc. Declutter your work bag/purse, coat closet and car. How many donation boxes are loaded in the car? I have two. Day 3 takes us back inside the house to the command center of most homes, The Kitchen.  Let's talk dishes. How many people live in your house? Mine, just 3 and yet we have a lot of glasses, plates, cups etc. Collections I’m embarrassed to admit that we own three sets of dishes (everyday, wedding china and Christmas dishes). My husband loves our wedding china so we use it often. We drastically reduced the number of pieces and agreed we won't keep it forever. Neither of us want our possessions to be a burden on our son. I would be content to …

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Landing Spot It's Day 2 of the Decluttering and Downsizing Challenge! Today, I'm going to recommend some tips for getting out the door quickly and easily. These tricks help me feel more organized and start the day off on the right foot! But first, we'll declutter that space and create some best practices. One of my favorites and most effective is the landing spot. Did you know? In our lifetime, we will spend a total of 3,680 hours or 153 days searching for misplaced items. We lose up to 9 items every day—or 198,743 in a lifetime. (The Daily Mail) If the challenge feels too slow, keep in mind that you did not accumulate all this clutter overnight. So, it will take time to get rid of it and new habits to keep it away! Stick with me this month and you'll get there! The Simply Enough Challenge is about more than helping you to declutter and organize your home. It’s about challenging you to live differently. Living with less but having more. I didn’t call this …

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I've participated in a lot of decluttering challenges over the years. Every time, they reinvigorate my downsizing efforts. I embraced living simply and a minimalist lifestyle for the positive effects it has on many aspects of my life. New Year's is a great time to refocus my attention on what matters most. For me , that's living simply, living intentionally and living with less. I continue to clear clutter because what we have is Simply Enough. Simply Enough Challenge 2018 This year, I decided to launch my own Decluttering Challenge for the month of January. I'll use FB and Instagram with the hashtag #SimplyEnough2018. Each day will offer a new challenge with videos and photos. It will be something that I'm doing in my own home. Monday-Friday will be shorter challenges. We'll save the bigger, extra-credit ones for the weekends so that everyone can play along.  I'd love to see your posts and progress. Feel free to tag Simply Enough on Instagram or FB and use …

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